CEO of Next PR, an award-winning, full-service public relations firm with offices across the U.S.
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You’ve landed a great piece of media coverage in a high-profile publication or perhaps a series of placements around a recent announcement. Congrats! With so much competition, getting media coverage is no easy feat, which is why it’s essential you maximize the impact of every media mention. In today’s fast-paced news cycle, even top-tier coverage can fade quickly from view unless you act strategically to give it legs for a longer run time.
In our agency, we focus heavily on integrating marketing and PR, allowing the two to piggyback off one another and boost brand awareness. But did you know that media placements can actually help drive lead generation?
Media mentions are often how customers first become introduced to a brand, and reinforcing or redistributing that coverage through marketing tactics can build brand affinity and, ultimately, draw leads into your sales funnel. Even better, with the right tools in place, you can directly measure the lead generation value of those placements to prove ROI on your media outreach efforts.
Here are a few ways to extend the life of media placements to gain marketing traction and maximize their value:
Post media wins on social channels.
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Sharing articles that feature your company on corporate channels and on executive or spokesperson channels (when applicable) can greatly expand their audience reach, particularly among followers who may not subscribe to the publication. This helps build credibility among potential customers who may see the article on your company’s or spokesperson’s profile or through relevant hashtags.
You can even link to previous media placements on future social posts regarding trending news. For example, your CEO might tweet something current or visionary and include something like: “as discussed previously in this @NYTimes article …” While you’re at it, always tag the publication and reporter directly to build stronger relationships and help expand their reach and audience as well. And, if the reporter shares the article on their personal channels, like and engage with the content to further cultivate the relationship and propagate the content.
Share media placements with sales.
Articles that demonstrate your brand’s capabilities against your competitors can be extremely valuable for the sales team to share with prospects to showcase your product’s value proposition. Product roundups, prominent mentions and endorsements are ideal because they offer an unbiased, credible source to substantiate your claims. Case studies, client success stories and even customer quotes featuring your brand can help your sales team to illustrate business value for prospective customers. Encourage sales professionals to share key media placements with customers and prospects directly by email, mention coverage in their next webinar or sales pitch, and add major placements to their email signature.
Strategically, your PR and sales teams should also be collaborating to identify which types of placements would be most beneficial in the sales process. By clarifying which are the most valuable for lead generation upfront, the PR team can then prioritize those topics, messages and media outlets for maximum sales value.
Post placements on your website or blog.
If they’ve seen your brand featured in a media outlet, the next step prospects will likely take is to visit your website for more information (bonus points if the reporter or publication will link directly to your site in the piece!). This is a great chance to wow them with more media mentions and news about your company’s growth and innovation. Highlight major wins with a homepage callout, including the logo of marquee publications, and post direct links or links within a synopsis of the story to help boost SEO.
Your website shouldn’t only highlight company mentions. If your team has been quoted in media placements, link to those stories directly in their online executive profile or on your company’s leadership page. This establishes third-party credibility that they are recognized thought leaders and subject matter experts.
A great PR strategy goes beyond landing the placement—it includes maximizing value beyond the one-time hit. Start by working with your PR team to strategize on what types of articles and which publications would be most valuable for driving leads or sales. And once the coverage starts rolling in, your entire team should leverage every available opportunity to share it with the audiences that matter most.
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Author: Heather Kelly, Forbes Councils Member
