Ever wondered why certain companies seem to be in the news, and generally more visible online, than others?
It’s not always because they have more products to launch, research to reveal or exciting company updates. Often, it’s because they are good at filling the gaps between the ‘big’ stories with useful, timely information and expert opinion.
That does several things. It keeps the company on the radar of its target audience, but just as importantly, it keeps it on the radar of journalists, publishers and other relevant websites. Regularly sharing useful expertise can generate media coverage, brand mentions and valuable links back to your website, helping to build both your reputation and your visibility in organic search.
If journalists, writers and bloggers regularly hear from you with relevant, useful information, they are also more likely to think of you when they are planning their own features and looking for expert comment. Likewise, genuinely useful advice gives other websites a reason to reference, cite and link to your content.
If you only contact the media and other third parties when you have something to promote, the relationship can become rather one-way. Someone I used to work with called good media relations ‘itchy scratchy’, essentially, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Give journalists and publishers useful material that helps them do their job, rather than only getting in touch when you want something from them.
So, when the product launches, data and case studies have dried up, here are five words that can become your best friends:
Warns
‘Company X warns businesses about…’ immediately gives you a reason to talk about something happening in the wider world.
A warning doesn’t need to be alarmist. Perhaps regulations are changing, a deadline is approaching, the weather is creating a particular risk or you’re seeing customers repeatedly make the same mistake. Explain the issue, why it matters and, crucially, what people can do about it. You’re demonstrating expertise while providing genuinely useful advice and creating something that journalists and other websites may want to reference or link to.
Advises
‘Advises’ is perhaps the most versatile of the five. Think about what your company knows that its customers or target audience would benefit from knowing too.
This could be practical advice linked to the season, new legislation, economic conditions, changing consumer behaviour or something currently dominating the news agenda. The trick is to look beyond what is happening inside your own business and consider what is happening in your customers’ world. Then ask, ‘What would we advise them to do?’
Urges
‘Urges’ gives a story a little more impetus. You aren’t simply explaining an issue, you’re encouraging people to take action.
A company might urge homeowners to check something before winter, employers to review a policy following a change in legislation, or businesses to prepare ahead of an important deadline. It works particularly well when there is a clear reason to act now rather than at some unspecified point in the future.
Again, the focus should be on helping the audience, not shoehorning your product into the story. If the advice is genuinely useful, the coverage, mentions and links can follow naturally.
Welcomes
Not every story needs to tell people what they should be doing. Sometimes the opportunity is simply to have an informed opinion about something that has happened.
A company can welcome a government announcement, regulatory change, industry initiative, funding commitment or shift in policy. The important part is explaining why you welcome it and what you think it will mean for your industry, customers or wider society.
This allows you to demonstrate that your company is engaged with its sector and passionate about the issues affecting it, rather than operating in its own little bubble.
Missed opportunity
And sometimes you don’t agree with what has happened.
‘Missed opportunity’ is a useful phrase when you want to challenge a decision without sounding unnecessarily confrontational. Perhaps a Budget failed to address an important issue, new legislation didn’t go far enough or an industry announcement overlooked something significant.
Explain what was missing, why it matters and what you would have liked to see instead. A strong, well-reasoned opinion can make excellent media material, particularly when journalists are looking for different perspectives on a breaking story.
Look outside your own four walls
The common thread running through all five approaches is that the starting point isn’t your company, product or service. It’s what is happening in the wider world and how your expertise can add something useful to the conversation.
That is valuable from both a PR and SEO perspective. Relevant, authoritative commentary gives journalists something they can use, but it can also earn brand mentions and links from trusted, relevant websites. Rather than trying to manufacture something purely for the sake of getting a backlink, you’re giving people a genuine reason to reference your business and its expertise.
This type of activity can take time to build momentum. You might not get coverage or a link every time you comment, and you certainly shouldn’t manufacture opinions simply for the sake of issuing a press release.
But keep providing informed, authoritative and genuinely helpful commentary and journalists begin to understand what you know about and what they can come to you for. Your business also starts to build a wider footprint online, with relevant coverage, mentions and links helping to reinforce its authority and support its organic search visibility.
And that’s when things can start to snowball. You’re no longer only contacting people when you need them. Increasingly, they start contacting you when they need you, while the coverage and links you earn along the way continue working for you long after the original story has disappeared from the news agenda.
