Imagine pouring your hard-earned cash into crafting a marketing video for your small business, only to have it gather dust in the dark corners of the internet. Without the right publicity and exposure, even the most creative and compelling video might never reach its intended audience. Nowadays, simply creating content isn’t enough. Videos can do many things but without an audience behind it, your efforts will go unnoticed. As a small business owner, understanding the nuances of publicity—distinct from marketing—is crucial to ensuring your message doesn’t just speak, but resonates far and wide.
Publicity vs. Marketing: Understanding the Difference
While publicity and marketing often intertwine, they serve fundamentally different purposes and achieve different outcomes. Marketing involves strategies and expenditures aimed at promoting products or services to a targeted audience. It’s a controlled and paid effort, from ads to direct mail.
Publicity, on the other hand, focuses on gaining free exposure through earned media. This could be a feature on TV, a mention in a newspaper, or a viral post on social media. It’s about catching the public’s eye, often without direct costs. Unlike marketing, which targets specific demographics, publicity aims to elevate your business profile across a broader spectrum. It helps build your reputation and can even bring your business into the limelight unexpectedly, through newsworthy acts like hosting significant events or receiving prestigious awards.
Essential Publicity Strategies for Small Businesses
Crafting a PR Kit: A public relations kit is your first step towards organizing an effective publicity strategy. This kit should include essential information about your business, such as your business name, logo, contact details, and a brief description. Include compelling images and links to significant work or projects. This kit becomes particularly useful when media outlets show interest in your business, allowing for quick and effective communication.
Writing Effective Press Releases: Mastering the art of the press release is critical. A well-crafted press release notifies the media about upcoming events or important business developments. The key is to make it engaging and newsworthy. Provide all necessary details— who, what, where, when, and why—clearly and concisely to increase your chances of getting featured.
Distribute: Small businesses should distribute PR kits and press releases strategically to maximize their reach and impact. Firstly, identify your target audience, which may include journalists, bloggers, influencers, and industry experts. Create a digital version of your PR kit that’s easily accessible, perhaps hosted on your website or a cloud storage platform, and include a link in your correspondence. For press releases, use email to send them directly to media contacts and consider using online distribution services like, PR.com, Business Wire and PR Newswire, that can enhance visibility. Additionally, maintain and regularly update a media contact list, and personalize your communications to increase your chances of coverage, making sure each message highlights why the story is relevant and newsworthy for the recipient’s audience.
9 Low-Cost PR Ideas to Boost Your Small Business
- Highlight Customer Stories: Turn satisfied customers into case studies and share their experiences across your platforms, such as your website, social media, or email newsletters. This approach not only adds credibility to your brand but also personalizes it by showcasing real-life examples of customer satisfaction. Create detailed narratives or video testimonials that highlight the problem your product or service solved, making these stories relatable and impactful for potential customers.
- Engage with Micro-Influencers: Collaborate with micro-influencers—individuals who have a smaller but highly engaged following within a specific niche. These influencers often have a strong connection with their audience, making their endorsements more personal and effective. Identify influencers who align with your brand values and whose followers match your target demographic. Offer them free products or a small fee in exchange for honest reviews or promotional content.
- Develop Brand Ambassadors: Encourage your most loyal customers to become brand ambassadors. Their genuine endorsements, shared through their personal networks, can often be more impactful and trustworthy than traditional advertising. Create a formal brand ambassador program that provides perks, such as exclusive discounts or early access to new products, in exchange for their promotional efforts on social media and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Cultivate Relationships with Journalists: This is a big one. Build personal connections with journalists and bloggers who cover topics relevant to your industry. Start by following their work, engaging with them on social media, and understanding the kinds of stories they write. Personalize your outreach by referencing their past articles and explaining why your business would be relevant to their readership. This personalized approach can lead to more frequent and favorable media coverage over time.
- Implement a Referral Program: Set up a referral program that incentivizes your current customers to refer new ones. Offer rewards such as discounts, free products, or service upgrades that motivate your existing customers to spread the word about your business. Make the referral process easy and straightforward, using tools like personalized referral codes or links that customers can share with friends and family.
- Launch a Co-Branding Initiative: Partner with another business that complements your own to cross-promote products or services. This strategy not only doubles your exposure but also introduces your brand to a new but relevant audience. Ensure the partnership aligns with your brand values and target market. Co-branding initiatives might include joint events, co-produced content, or bundled offerings that provide value to customers of both businesses.
- Use Connectively and Qwoted to Provide Expertise: Register for www.connectively.us (formerly known as “Help a Reporter Out” or HARO), and for www.qwoted.com which are services that connect journalists with industry experts. By responding to journalists’ queries, you can provide insights and get quoted in various media outlets. This not only builds your credibility as an industry authority but also increases your brand’s visibility. Regularly contributing valuable information can establish you as a go-to expert in your field.
- Guest Blogging: Write and submit guest posts to relevant blogs and websites that your target audience frequents. This strategy helps drive traffic back to your site while also building your reputation as an industry thought leader. Focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that addresses the needs or interests of the blog’s audience, and include a call to action that directs readers to your website or social media profiles.
- Engage on Social Media: Maintain active and engaging social media profiles by regularly posting content that is relevant and valuable to your audience. Use a mix of content types, such as images, videos, and articles, to keep your feed interesting. Engage directly with users by responding to comments, participating in conversations, and even sharing user-generated content related to your brand. Social media not only helps promote your business activities but also builds a community around your brand.
The Bottom Line:
Crafting a killer video is an excellent start, but it’s only part of the battle. Here at Rocket House Pictures, a video production company in Denver, we specialize in creating outstanding video content for small businesses. However, without the right publicity, even the best videos might not achieve the desired impact if no one knows your business exists. Publicity and marketing are intertwined, each bolstering the other. Skipping either can mean missing out on vital opportunities to enhance your brand’s visibility and impact.
For small businesses, effective publicity is not just about being seen; it’s about being noticed in a meaningful way. It involves crafting a narrative around your business that resonates with the general public and aligns with your core business values. While navigating the world of publicity can be challenging, the rewards—increased brand awareness, enhanced customer engagement, and ultimately, business growth—are invaluable. Armed with creativity and persistence, and by employing these strategic PR practices, you can ensure your business thrives beyond the limits of traditional marketing approaches.
