WHAT’S THE BEST WAY OF PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS, WOULD YOU SAY?

by Simon Hall Creative Warehouse

Testimonials from happy customers are great. Word of mouth is lovely. Advertising is OK, although people are always a little wary.

But for me, by far the best form of promotion is media coverage.

One company I work with, Fluidic Analytics, has fantastic cutting edge life sciences, right out of the University of Cambridge. Our angle there was:

- A faster, better and cheaper technique to develop treatments for humanity’s most feared diseases.

It’s authoritative, it can reach hundreds of thousands of people, and best of all…

It’s free. Apart from an hour or two of your time.

Yep, that’s all it can take to get your business in the news. Just a couple of hours.

Don’t believe me? I’ve done it plenty. And here’s your five stage guide to how. Did we get coverage with that angle? You bet!

Ask yourself what’s the most important, interesting and impactful thing about what you’re doing. Use that for your angle and you won’t go wrong.

Headlines Good one hugely increases your chances of coverage.

The All Important Angle You love your business. You think it deserves to make the media on its own merit. I get that. One of my favourites was for a Cambridge course in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which I helped to promote.

But sorry, on its own the fact you’ve got a business isn’t going to interest journalists. We played on one of the most famous AI villains, and for a headline used:

Instead, you’ve got to answer this fundamental question:

- Why should anyone care?

That’s your angle. The difference you’re making to people’s lives.

My latest book is about business communication, and I was chuffed with it.

But if I approached the media saying, Hey, I’ve written a book, I’d get diddly squat interest.

If I put it this way, though:

- I show businesses how to sort all their communication needs and really get noticed, from winning media coverage to raising investment, in one short and simple read. I get featured on the web, radio and in newspapers. Believe me, I know. Because I did. - Taming The Terminators

That worked a treat, helping to get coverage aplenty.

When dealing with journalists, never forget it’s one of the most time pressured professions. You’ve got to hook your hack fast, or you won’t get them at all.

Which means your headline should be based on your angle, and:

- Interest, inform, and intrigue In other words, it’s got to catch the eye of the editor, tell them something of what the story is about, and intrigue them into reading on.

Use the headline as the title for your email when you send it out, to ensure your story gets noticed.

Opening Line Again, there’s no time to mess about here. No space for polite introductions or waffle. Just get straight into your story and build on your headline.

For example, with the AI course:

- The UK’s first Master’s degree in one of the biggest issues of modern times, the responsible use of artificial intelligence, is being launched.

Keep your opening short, sharp and simple and from there tell the rest of your story.

Media Storytelling The basis of media storytelling is the inverted pyramid structure, which looks like this: In other words, get the most important information in first, then tell the rest of your tale from there.

You should also cover all the relevant facts. This rhyme,

courtesy of Rudyard Kipling will help:

I KEEP six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

Other Essentials Don’t forget to include a picture of yourself, or product, a paragraph of quotes, and your contact details, including your mobile number.

It’s the convention to date, locate and make clear when the story can be used. For example, here:

Cambridge, UK, 4th March, 2021. For immediate release

Now find the email addresses of your local, regional and sector specific media, from tech to transport, get sending out your release and good luck!

The Value of Values Some companies have a handful, others more than a dozen. But if you haven’t drawn up yours yet, or they don’t quite nail the ethos of your business, you’re missing an important trick.

“In my next article, I’ll look at the power of values in promoting your company, positioning you as a market leader, and bringing in business.”

About the Author; Simon Hall runs his own business communications agency, Creative Warehouse, and is a journalist, author, business coach and university tutor.

He teaches communications, media and business skills at the University of Cambridge, for government departments and agencies, and private business. Simon has eight novels published, all in the thriller genre, and a non-fiction book on business communication, with follow ups on public speaking and presentations, writing blogs, appearing in the media, and business storytelling due out in 2021 and 22.

Previously, Simon was a broadcaster for twenty years, mostly as a BBC Television, Radio and Online News Correspondent, specialising in business and economics, home affairs, and the environment.

He has also contributed articles and short stories to a range of newspapers and magazines, written plays, screenplays, radio comedy, and even a pantomime.

For more on Simon and Creative Warehouse see www.thetvdetective.com