A Practical Guide to Preparing Your Brand for National Media Exposure From preparing your website for an influx of traffic to updating your social media profiles, we'll cover the key areas you need to focus on to ensure your brand is ready to shine when the spotlight hits.
By Nick Heethuis Edited by Kara McIntyre
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In today's digital age, national media exposure can catapult your consumer brand into the spotlight overnight. For many of my clients, preparing for such exposure is a regular part of their marketing strategy. But is your online presence ready to handle this sudden influx of interest?
Let's guide you through the practical steps to prepare your brand for national media exposure. Whether you're gearing up for a specific media event or simply want to be ready when the opportunity strikes, we'll cover the key areas you must focus on. From optimizing your website for an influx of traffic to updating your social media profiles, we'll cover the key areas you need to focus on to ensure your brand is ready to shine when the spotlight hits.
Related: 3 Step Process to Get Exposure and Press Coverage for Your Business
Preparing your website for increased traffic
Your website is your brand's home base. It needs to be ready to handle an increase in traffic without crashing. Check with your hosting provider to ensure your plan can handle a surge in traffic. If necessary, consider upgrading to a plan with more bandwidth.
The website design should be user-friendly, with straightforward navigation to important pages like product details, your "About Us" page and your contact information page. Load times should be quick, as slow websites can deter potential customers. Use tools like Google Page Speed Insights to check your site's speed and get specific recommendations for improvement on your site.
In today's mobile-first world, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is not just an option but a necessity. A responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes is essential. To make your website more mobile-friendly, consider the following:
- Simplify your design: A cluttered website can be challenging to navigate on a small screen. Keep your design clean and simple, with plenty of white space.
- Make buttons and links large enough to be easily tapped with a finger.
- Use larger font sizes: Small text can be hard to read on a mobile screen.
- Test your website on various devices: Use tools like Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site performs and get specific recommendations for improvement.
Also, consider adding a FAQ section to address common questions and reduce the load on your customer service team.
Optimizing your product listings
National media exposure can significantly increase traffic to your product listings, whether on Amazon, your website or another platform. Optimizing your listings is crucial to make the most of this opportunity.
For Amazon listings, begin with a compelling product title incorporating relevant keywords. This enhances your product's visibility in search results and helps it stand out in the crowded marketplace.
High-quality images are also vital. Showcase your product from multiple angles, including close-ups to emphasize unique features and depict the product in use to provide potential customers with a comprehensive understanding of what they're purchasing.
In addition to images, Amazon's A+ Content is a powerful tool for enhancing your product listings. This feature allows you to add additional images, comparison charts and more detailed product descriptions. Use it to tell a compelling story about your product and brand, enticing shoppers to add-to-cart.
The bullet points on your product detail page should be clear, concise, and packed with valuable information. Optimize them for Amazon SEO by including relevant keywords but remember to keep them shopper friendly. These bullet points often form a customer's first impression of your product, so make them count.
For product listings on other platforms, the same principles apply. Use high-quality images, write compelling descriptions and incorporate relevant keywords. Ensure your product listings are easy to find and navigate and provide all the information a customer might need to purchase.
Here is some additional context for optimizing your product listings on various platforms:
- Use clear and concise titles: Your product title should be descriptive and include the most important information about your product.
- Write detailed product descriptions: Your product description should tell a story. It should highlight the features and benefits of your product and explain why it's better than the competition.
- Use high-quality images: Images are often the first thing a customer sees, so make sure they're high-quality and showcase your product effectively. Include multiple images from different angles and consider using videos.
- SEO quick tips: Use relevant keywords in your product titles and descriptions to improve your search engine rankings. However, avoid keyword stuffing, which can harm your rankings and make your listings less appealing to customers.
By optimizing your product listings, you can improve their visibility and capitalize on the influx of attention due to your national media exposure.
Related: How to Optimize Your Site for Search Without Actually Doing SEO
Maintaining consistent brand messaging across platforms
Consistency is key when it comes to branding. It's essential that your brand messaging and visual patterns remain uniform across all platforms — be it your website, Amazon listings or social media profiles. This creates a unified brand experience, reinforcing your brand identity every time a potential customer interacts with you, regardless of the platform.
Start by ensuring your brand's voice is the same on every channel. This voice should reflect your brand's personality and values. For example, if your brand is playful and youthful, your voice might be informal and energetic. This voice should stay that way across all platforms, from the tone of your social media posts to the language in your product descriptions.
Next, consider your visual branding. This includes your logo, color scheme, typography and recurring design elements. These should be consistent across all platforms to create a recognizable brand pattern. For instance, if your brand uses a particular shade of blue in its logo, that shade should appear in your social media graphics, website design and even your product packaging.
Consistent branding not only helps increase brand recognition but also builds trust. It shows that your brand is professional, reliable and focused. It also makes your brand more memorable. When your brand messaging and visuals are consistent, they leave a stronger impression, making it easier for potential customers to remember your brand.
Remember, every interaction a potential customer has with your brand is an opportunity to reinforce your brand identity. Maintaining consistent brand patterns and messaging across platforms allows you to make the most of these opportunities and build a strong, recognizable brand.
Setting up coupons and discounts properly
Coupons and discounts can be a great way to convert interested visitors into customers. However, it's crucial to set these up properly. Avoid allowing shoppers to coupon stack to avoid unexpected losses unless that's part of your strategy. Ensure the terms and conditions for each discount are clear to prevent confusion. Set expiration dates for your coupons to create a sense of urgency.
Promote your discounts effectively through social media, email newsletters and on your website. Consider using a countdown timer for limited-time offers to increase the sense of urgency. Also, track the performance of your discounts to understand which ones are most effective and why. This will help you refine your discount strategy over time.
Updating your social media profiles
Social media is often the first place people go to learn more about a brand they've seen in the media. Make sure your profiles are up-to-date and reflect your brand accurately. This includes your bio, profile pictures, and any pinned posts. Your bio should communicate what your brand is about and what makes it unique.
Regularly post engaging content and interact with your followers to build a strong online community. Use a consistent tone of voice that aligns with your brand personality. Respond promptly to comments and messages, showing your audience you value their engagement.
Consider using social media management tools to schedule posts and monitor your brand mentions. This will help you maintain a consistent posting schedule and stay on top of any conversations about your brand.
Related: How to Create a Standout Social-Media Profile
Why preparation is essential
National media exposure can be a game-changer for consumer brands, but only if you're prepared to make the most of it. By optimizing your product listings, preparing your website, setting up coupons correctly, updating your social media profiles and maintaining consistent brand patterns across platforms, you can ensure your brand is ready to shine in the spotlight.
Remember, preparation is key. The more prepared you are, the better you'll be able to handle the surge in interest and convert shoppers into customers.
