Anthony Mora Communications - Los Angeles public relations firm

Articles: Anthony Mora Communications

Turning One Media Placement into PR Gold

By Anthony Mora
3/30/06

Synopsis: Let's say a magazine or newspaper ran a story on you or your business. You were confident that this article was going to be a big one, and you were prepared. So, the story came out and - nothing. Not a single call. As far as you know, not a living soul read it. You are crushed. You are the consummate illustration of a media failure story. Right? Wrong!

One media placement does not an effective PR campaign make. It's impossible to overemphasize that fact. For example, let's say a magazine or newspaper ran a story on you or your business. You were confident that this article was going to be a big one, and you were prepared. You went so far as to add additional phone lines to handle the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of calls that you knew would be jamming your lines. So, the story came out and - nothing. Not a single call. As far as you know, not a living soul read it. You are crushed. "That's it!" you yell, pounding your fist on the desk. "No more PR!" You've been spinning your wheels, wasting time and money, and for what? For nothing! You've had it. No more media. It doesn't work and you are a prime example that it doesn't work. You are the consummate illustration of a media failure story. Right?

Wrong. But, understandably you feel that way. Anyone would be disappointed if a media placement did not elicit a great response. But that article is not a campaign. It's a stepping stone. You now have an article that is a great tool to help land you other media.

To be effective in any marketing program, you have to look at the big picture. Your short-term goals were not met by the particular article in question, but it affords you new, powerful ammunition to reach your long-term goals. It helps establish you as an expert in your field and separates you from your competition. It gives you yet another media tearsheet that you can use, another article that you can pull quotes from for your press releases and bios.

But if nobody saw it, what good can it do you? Plenty. It will help garner you more and bigger media interviews. Plus, you don't know who saw it. You never know. In five days, three weeks, or six months, you may start receiving calls. I've seen this happen over and over again. An article in a small or regional publication can lead to coverage in a national publication, or in a TV segment.

Let's say you never receive one call as a result of that article. It's still valuable. You just need to work it. Become the story's distributor - and I mean distributor in the most basic sense - circulate your story, spread the word, mention the story in your biography and fact sheet, use it when pitching other stories, let other media outlets know that you were featured in the article. Duplicate it and use it as a press sample. Use quotes from the story in your mailers, newsletters, ads, and marketing to help you cement your existing client base. If you have employees, distribute it through your company as a form of internal publicity. If used correctly, you can turn this article into a most powerful marketing tool.

Perhaps even more importantly, if you want to truly turbo-charge your inbound marketing efforts utilize that article to create and establish validation and credibility online. Your media coverage will separate you from your competition, allowing you to more effectively develop a social media presence that communicates with consumers on a different type of PR (personal relationship) level.

By utilizing that one article in your social media strategy you can begin to create a powerful two-pronged marketing approach which will result in more followers, more buzz, more customers and more business. Utilized correctly, that one article can be spun into PR gold.

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www.AnthonyMora.com

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