Media coverage is always welcomed by any agency, and as your brand’s profile goes up, so will your sales. However, paying for marketing campaigns and advertising can be costly. This is why being able to gain free publicity is a huge gain for agencies that have tight budgets or that want to save money.
Here are five ways you can generate free publicity for your brand:
1. Utilise press releases
This is a great way for an agency to get free publicity, as there are many publications who are willing to publish releases at no cost — as long as it is relevant to their mandate.
Press releases serve two purposes: firstly, you can add them to the news section of your site, if you have one. You can then link press releases from your website to your social media pages. The second purpose is to send one to journalists, so ensure that your release has an eye-catching headline and a strong first paragraph summarising the story.
You need to decide what kind of coverage you want and which publication you want to post your press release on. Once these two things have been established, it’ll be easier to tailor your press release for your targeted publication.
Whether it’s the launch of a new product, a big anniversary or a competition win, you need to make sure it is relevant to the readers of your target publication.
It would also benefit your business to ensure that the press release you send is both online and print-friendly.
2. Make use of video marketing
We are living in a visual world, so why not take advantage of that and gain some free publicity out of it? With platforms such as YouTube, you can easily upload videos that promote your business — for free.
YouTube is the third most visited site in the world and has around 50 million visitors every day. This means that you have a big pool of potential viewers at your fingertips.
It would be a good idea for your brand to make ‘how to’ videos or explainer videos about your company’s products or service. Not only does this give you free publicity, but it also gives your customers a chance to see how your products work.
3. Become a guest poster on authoritative or high-profile websites
Authoritative websites have the trust of the public and will be a source of information for many. Therefore, getting posted on these kinds of websites give you a ‘seal of approval’, which shows that your brand is trustworthy.
Being allowed to guest post also offers an opportunity to increase traffic to your own website as you’ll be able to include a link from your post to your site and social media pages.
Your post can also include other information about your product or service, which a new audience will read.
To do this, you need to contact the people who work at the publication and ask for their permission to post content on their website. Or, you can submit a post and the publication will then decide if your content is relevant for their site.
4. Take advantage of social media
Setting up a social media account costs nothing and is an essential tool for all modern brands. Social media is a great way to build relationships with your customers and encourage word-of-mouth publicity.
Joining groups on social media is a good way of reaching people with similar interests and who might be interested in your brand. Social media makes finding and reaching out to new customers easier; it also means that, at the touch of a button, you can post a picture, video or article, promoting your brand for free.
5. Create valuable content
Circulating information about your brand is a huge part of publicity. One way to do that is by posting relevant and valuable content on your website. This will give you a way to share all the information about your agency and the products and services in more detail than in a normal advert.
If the content is valuable, more people will be likely to share it with people they know and on their social pages, giving your brand even more free publicity.
What other methods do you use to generate free publicity? Let us know in the comments section below.