How to Make People Aware of Your Small to Medium Business

Earned Media (public relations, social media and content marketing) and advertising work in combination to help build awareness for a company, its products, services and events. The key difference between the two is that with earned media, you don't pay for placement of articles and other information. However, there's a cost if you hire someone to help you do it. It's also often perceived to be more credible than advertising.

Advertising is anything you pay for, from creating brochures through buying TV and radio spots. In most cases, we suggest small businesses explore all their earned media options before considering paying for media advertising. Before you spend a dime on advertising, consider the key points we've outlined below.

If you need help figuring out how to tell the difference and which option makes sense for you, contact us.

Earned Media

Public Relations, Social Media, Content Marketing

You can start promoting yourself by publishing content on your own site, which will help your organic search results. You can also freely publish content on sites like Medium or LinkedIn. The key is to publish where your audience is hanging out. Here's a free download for figuring how to find content publishing opportunities.

You can also leverage the traffic that other sites get through social media marketing. Public Relations starts with the following.

Press Kits

The fundamental tool of any PR effort is the press kit described below. Unlike your website, the materials should be written for the benefit of the press (not the consumer) and should be factual -- that is, no marketing-ese or promotional copy. Incorporate appropriate keywords where you can, since this makes them easier to find. You'll also want to make the materials available to the press on your website, in the form of a media room.

The following information is based on Marcia Yudkin's book "6 Steps to Free Publicity":

Press Kits may include:

• Product photos (high resolution)
• Key people photos (high resolution)
• Company backgrounder (also include info about company store, manufacturing process, etc.)
• Fact sheet (for easy reporter reference. Include facts about industry, trends, etc. Offer statistics, explode myths, recite research)
• Bios of key people (condensed and full length)
• Articles or other press about the company
• Press releases from the company
• Quote sheet (testimonials from authoritative figures or from reviews, with names, title, company)
• Perhaps a list of key distribution points where products are available
• If you're going to do an actual printed press kit (which could be appropriate for a trade show), I would include rubber samples, like that rubber business card

Tips for Creating a Media Room

A media room is basically the place on your website where the press can find information about you. The materials should be written with journalists and editors in mind -- skip the marketing hype.

• Make it easy to find by placing a link in the footer of your website, for example.
  
• Post all media materials, except photos, in HTML (not PDF's)
• Make photos downloadable
• Offer specific contact information: name, personal email, phone and location
• Include links to media coverage at their websites
• Make it easy to find basic facts, such as: physical location, date of founding, key personnel and the spelling of names for articles they write
• Audio or video clips
• Include statements on current controversies (of course this is optional)
• Remember that the Web is global; make sure the language and dates are universal; explain acronyms, etc.

---

Tips for Finding PR Opportunities

• Make a list of media in your local area or by subject area that would be interested in carrying a story about you and your business. At their websites, search for names and emails of editors and journalists who cover your subject. They may also provide you with information on how to submit your information.
• At the websites of your targeted publications, look for their editorial calendars. This will tell you what they plan on publishing in the coming year. Look for stories related to your topic, and approach them with your story pitch.
• Don't forget to include bloggers who cover your subject. Search Blog Catalog for blogs by subject.
• Help A Reporter Out (HARO): Get notifications about reporters and journalists looking for stories.
• Reporter Connection: Similar to HARO, but not as well known.
• Source Bottle: ...and another one.

Advertising

$$$

Is it worth buying online ads for a small business?

It can be, but before you do, consider these points:
​

• Budget — make sure you have done what you can to drive organic traffic, then consider paying for advertising. Then figure out what you can afford to spend in relation to the rest of your marketing budget.
• Conversion “formula” in place — make sure your website is set up to achieve your goals first. There’s no point in paying to drive traffic to a site that isn’t converting.
• Faster results — advertising can be used to short-cut the time it takes to get traction, vs. the time it can take with other means, like social media, PR or other “earned media.”
• Make sure you understand your objective and advertising strategy: For example, generating “likes” or growing your email list may be a more achievable than trying to generate sales immediately by advertising on Facebook.
• In competitive industries, it may be essential to advertise, especially if you're finding it difficult to ranking with just organic efforts alone.
• Landing pages — make sure you have created pages that specifically relate to the ad(s) you’re running. Don’t link ads to your home page.
• Prioritize ad spend: Facebook, Google, Amazon (they each have their targeting capabilities as described in this article we wrote for Go Daddy).
• Don’t forget smaller sites too for better targeting (advertising on Meetups or in newsletters that target your audience, for example).
• Once you run ads, be sure to measure everything (i.e., with Google Analytics), including leads or sales.