Shout About It When You Finally Do Get Positive Media Attention Extra! Extra! Read all about it. When your company good press it's your job to make sure everyone sees it at least twice.
By Jonathan Long •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Every brand craves press and media coverage. Many companies spend enormous amounts of time and money on their PR effort but stop once that coverage is secured. Simply being featured in the media isn't going to automatically generate new business, and more importantly, revenue.
Whether you are paying a PR firm or handling it on your own, these tips can help you convert that media coverage into dollars, which is essential for business sustainability and growth.
Related: 5 Excuses Entrepreneurs Make to Not Do PR
Get in front of everyone connected to your brand.
There are three very simple things you should do each time you receive media coverage.
1. Share it across all social media outlets. You have a captive audience at the end of each social media channel -- people that have connected with or followed your brand because they are interested in what you offer. The odds are very low that they will organically stumble upon the media coverage you receive, so put it in front of them.
Whether they are current customers or planning to become a customer in the future is irrelevant; seeing your brand featured by major media outlets helps to build trust, which eventually leads to conversions.
Don't just share it once, either. This is a mistake I see a lot of companies make. They get the social sharing part correct, but they don't repost each piece of press nearly enough. Use a tool like Hootsuite to schedule your social media posts in advance, and re-share your media coverage weeks and months after you initially shared it.
2. Add it to your website's press section. Create a page on your website that features all of your media coverage, and continue to add to it as you accumulate new media coverage. I'd also suggest creating an "As seen on" section, and include the logos of all major media outlets that have covered your brand. My company does this in the middle of the homepage.
Related: 5 Ways to Amplify Your Media Coverage
3. Put a link to your most recent media coverage in your email signature. Think of how many emails you send every day. Include a link to your most recent press in your email signature. Every email you send now has potential to stir up some brand awareness. Don't forget your mobile email signature as well -- personally, more than 80 percent of my emails are sent from my tablet or mobile device because I'm constantly on the go.
Add as many email addresses as possible to your list.
Solid media coverage is going to drive traffic to your website. You need to try to, at the very least, get an email address from as many of those visitors as possible. How do you do this? By offering something so compelling that your target customer can't -- and won't -- turn the offer down.
Don't be afraid to give away your best information for free. A financial company could put together a comprehensive guide on how to pay down credit cards and become debt free that also includes a multi-part video series, for example. It's all about value. An ecommerce company can offer an attractive discount or a free product.
Want to know if your offer is good enough to attract the maximum amount of emails? Ask yourself, "Would my target customer actually pay money for what I am offering?" If the answer is no, then you need a new offer. Value is an email submit magnet.
Related: 4 Ways to Dramatically Increase Email Subscriptions
Send warm leads an email highlighting recent media coverage.
Every business has warm leads -- those that are on the fence, and just need a little nudge to convert into a sale. If you are selling a product, and you received press for a particular item, send that to every warm lead that has expressed interest in purchasing it in the past. This is why email segmentation is so important!
If you provide a service, such as consulting, and you were highlighted in the media, it might be just what your leads need to see in order to sign on the dotted line. You should always be following up with your leads on a regular basis anyway, as it takes anywhere from seven to more than 13 "touches" before a lead converts.
