There’s no such thing as free publicity. At least that‘s what the PR gurus want you to believe. We’ve been programmed to believe that to make money, we have to spend money. And that programming has convinced us that the more we spend, the more we’ll make. Sometimes, this is true. But if your company has limited marketing capital, what are your options?
Good news! There are plenty of extremely effective options available to you. Many PR gurus will attest that they work. In fact, these same gurus use the following techniques. Each of them will save you money and help to build your business. They will help to generate new, positive publicity. And when used over time, they will help build trust and credibility.
- Win an award
Admittedly, this could be a tricky one, especially if you’ve not been around long enough to disrupt your market. But, you can still apply for awards. In fact, just receiving credit for being a nominee can help garner you new attention. You don’t have to win the award for the ‘Best Marketing Firm of 2019’. Instead, you can use ‘Voted as one of the Best Marketing Firms of 2019’ and it will definitely make a difference to your status. Geographically speaking, if you’re one of the only options, then your public clout will go through the roof. Winning is good but it’s not just about winning. It’s can simply be a matter of being considered, and then using such consideration as free marketing fodder.
- Connect with high profile people
As a business owner, you want people with deep pockets and tight connections to your community to know you and to trust you. But if you don’t connect with they, they won’t know you…Take the time to find out your local elected officials are, and make contact. Let them know you appreciate all the hard work they’re putting into the community. You can turn the conversation to the nature of your business – it’s not a sales pitch but make sure they know who you are, what you do, and where you can be found.
- Give back to the community through volunteering
One of the fastest ways to become a household name is to volunteer in your community. Newspapers and social media outlets are quick to report on most local volunteering efforts. If your name is mentioned in the newspaper or through social media sharing, you’ve received an immeasurable amount of publicity for free.
This is an area of boundless opportunity. Figure out what you and your employees are interested in, and go all-in. From mentoring, food shelters, helping out the less fortunate in your area, you should be able to find a volunteering opportunity every month. It’s a win win.
- Get involved in your community
Above and beyond volunteering, become part of the community wherever you can. The more people know you, the more they will trust you. Find a way to get involved with planning groups for your community. Find out what annual events you can support. It may take a couple of events for you to become a trustee or a valued committee member, but once your name is on that list, your credibility will rocket.
- Create your own publicity through press releases
There’s no reason why you can’t toot your own horn. In fact, creating your own press releases can maximise your publicity chances, even when others might have overlooked you. If you’ve done something noteworthy, create a press release. Afterward, connect with different news outlets that might be interested in some new, noteworthy content. Even better, they may even decide to interview you. Just make sure you do not sound the horn too often. The point is to keep your name in the media without bragging too much.
Proven techniques which bring results
Every one of these techniques is proven, and they will work for any business, whatever their size. You don’t need a huge marketing budget to make them work. One thing is key – be authentic with your community in every interaction – the power of positive publicity is huge and when used properly, will drive a lot of traffic your way.
Four Business Solutions
Four Business Solutions helps small and multi-national organisations enrich the way they work. From supply chain to procurement and contract management, we have decades of experience helping companies forge ahead in the global market. If you’d like to find out more please call John O’Brien at Four Business Solutions on 0800 6250 025.
John O’Brien is the CEO at Four Business Solutions, global business consultants and software integrators providing business processes improvements in Finance, Supply Chain & Operations, across a broad range of industries.
