PR pros rejoice when they place a positive article in a respected media outlet. But the task doesn’t end there. PR can take many additional steps to amplify most any positive media mention.
Social media. Share the media mention on social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. It’s best to include the social media handle of the reporter and media outlet as well as relevant hashtags. Share each article a few times throughout the following month or two by varying the text and/or images for each post and use a scheduling tool to automate the process, recommends Alex Jones, head of earned media at Hallam Internet. You can also reach out to influencers in your sector to encourage them to comment on and engage with the article.
“Why not thank people who shared it, and generally help increase the social buzz around the coverage? You can take advantage of engagement and discovery features like Twitter hashtags, or moments, to cite the journalist and/or publication you got coverage from,” Jones advises.
Leverage LinkedIn. You can add a list to your LinkedIn profile to name news mentions and use the Experience section in your profile to link to the press coverage. It’s also worthwhile to mention the media coverage in a post on LinkedIn’s publishing platform, Jones adds. Your press coverage also may be picked up by LinkedIn’s Mentioned in the News feature that automatically detects when members or organizations on the site are featured in the news.
Internal audiences. Share the news with company colleagues, business partners, perhaps even friends and family. That could mean including the news in the company newsletter, sending an email announcement or publishing a link to an internal site like Yammer or Slack. Employees outside the communications department may be unaware of the positive news mentions, so it’s essential to use appropriate employee communications methods to keep them informed.
Blog posts. Write a blog post that elaborates on the topic or offers a different viewpoint. Remember to include a link to the story. You can also consider updating an older blog post on the subject by adding the news media mention and other new information, and then re-promoting the post.
Industry newsletters. Pitch the article to an industry newsletter. Most industries have a newsletter that rounds up daily or weekly news – and sometimes publish in-depth feature articles. Pitch a more specialized version of the article, including interviews with well-known industry experts. If your industry niche lacks a newsletter, there may be a content marketing opportunity in creating one.
Company website. By posting a summary of the article and link to the original article on the company’s online newsroom, you can announce the news to website visitors. It can also lead to additional coverage. Journalists frequently visit online corporate newsrooms, also called online media rooms, to conduct background research and find story ideas – though not as often during the Covid-19 epidemic.
Comment on the article. If comments are available, add to the conversation by contributing to the comments section, suggests Lisa Banks, marketing manager and executive editor at Enjuris.com, a law firm directory. Say something along the lines of: “Thanks for including me in this article. This is such an important topic, because ….” Your comment helps reinforce your expertise, and it also shows you are approachable.
Advertising. Promote the media mention through social media advertising with a link to the placement. Advertising on Facebook, Twitter and other networks can be highly targeted, allowing you to reach your most desirable audience. Hollywood film promoters recently used that technique with promoted tweets that linked to favorable reviews of the movies “The Disaster Artist” and “Lady Bird.”
Podcasts and videos. Use a podcast to interview a subject matter expert or corporate executive who can provide additional context and detail to the story. Pitch the interview to radio and TV. Do the interview yourself and publish it on YouTube.
Pinterest. Create a relevant infographic with a link to the full press release, then pin it on Pinterest, advises digital PR consultant Carrie Morgan. If you have more than one release, you can create a corporate newsroom pinboard. It can mirror your website’s newsroom, or contain fresh material. A newsroom pinboard can include news clips, blog posts, and other materials. Just make sure that anything pinned to your newsroom is legible enough to entice clicks, properly trademarked and approved for public use, Morgan cautions.
Marketing collateral. Consider developing the favorable news article about your organization into marketing collateral or a promotional piece. You might be able to include it into a company brochure, case study or other marketing literature that your sales staff can distribute to prospects. You probably need the publication’s permission and may have to pay for republication rights.
Gain more coverage. Use the successful media placement to pitch the story to other media sources with a different angle, broader context, different subject matter expert or new case study. This tactic works best when the mention first appears in a leading news source. For TV news broadcasts, offer eye-catching visuals.
The Importance of Media Monitoring & Measurement
Ongoing media monitoring and measurement reports media mentions across all types of media, including social media. PR experts agree that Google Alerts fails to reliably report mentions. In addition, it doesn’t monitor television or radio broadcasts or social media and lacks analytics.
PR measurement is essential to determine the effectiveness of press releases and overall PR strategies. Media measurement demonstrates the value of public relations campaigns by analyzing brand mentions, brand sentiment, share of voice and other metrics. Mere anecdotal reports don’t convince numbers-oriented corporate executives of the value of public relations. Solid data does.
Bottom Line: Winning press coverage is challenging and worth celebrating. But it’s only the first step in getting your message out to your audience. PR teams have many techniques at their disposal to amply positive media mentions.
Download the 2020 Ultimate Guide to Media Monitoring, Measurement & Analytics for PR & Marketing
This article was first published on March 18, 2018, and updated on May 4, 2020.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
