Today, it is impossible to discuss marketing or even any one aspect of it without talking about media outreach. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to state that both of them go hand in hand.
As someone who is just getting started on marketing either a product, service, or idea without having much experience with social media or media platforms, then you might find media outreach to be just a buzzword or the latest trend that every business is going after.
However, the truth is that targeted media outreach is an effective and valuable marketing tool and has become quite expected among customers.
It is no surprise that the internet is an excellent place for advertisers. In fact, 2 million businesses turn to Facebook alone for advertising their product or business. Keeping the fact that the internet is the ideal place for advertisements, you must realize that the essence of the internet has become quite social and that’s not going to change anytime soon.
The internet, today, has become a place for not only exchanging information but for so much more too. Thus, you’ll find more users than ever spending their time on such websites that can allow them to engage socially.
Public relations & media outreach – crucial today!
What media outreach focuses on is relationships. The truth is; relationships have the ability to increase the authority as well as the trust of a message sent out by any business. These relationships also ensure influence and reach within a group of people. Thus, building relationships via media outreach is a strategy that is now commonly used by start-ups, big enterprises, small businesses, as well as enterprise customers.
You’ll find many companies talking about public relations and targeted media outreach when it comes to advertising and marketing. The problem is, a majority of businesses are unaware of the importance as well as the benefits of the too.
Public relations, when done right, can spread your company’s message to a wide audience without spending money on traditional marketing or advertising.
Building and improving your business practices as well as reaching media outlets can help to expand your brand and make way for new opportunities too. People will not be willing to do any business with you if they’re unaware that you exist in the market. This is exactly where media outreach comes in, but what exactly it is and how businesses, ranging from small companies to enterprise customers, benefit from it.
What exactly is media outreach?
Basically, media outreach is an umbrella term encompassing a range of diverse activities that aim to capture the attention of different media representatives. These media reps would be keenly interested in your newsworthy items and will be eager to share them with the target audience.
There are great chances that you’ll easily find various influencers, bloggers, publications, and journalists on social media websites that are quite interested in your niche and can easily spread the word about the product or services you have to offer.
Importance of targeted media outreach
Targeted media outreach essentially has two important aspects.
- Lets you connect with more people
Media outreach, particularly on social media, provides you the access to those people who don’t know who you are or what you do yet have a high possibility of becoming an engaged member of the community you have created. Such people might already be involved in discussions around your niche or industry and might even be attending conferences where you’re present too. Thus, social media lets you engage with targeted customers with just a few keywords.
And the number of people you can engage with in this manner is phenomenal. Think about it; 22% of the total population of the world uses Facebook, and with the right media outreach, you can easily capture the attention of many.
- You get the chance of enjoying great opportunity cost
Your targeted customers are essentially people that have the highest chance of engaging with you and your products and eventually convert to being your customers. For example, by using Twitter or LinkedIn search, you can target a particular kind of customer group and then systematically converse with them one on one. Again, statistics suggest that both Twitter and LinkedIn can work as ideal platforms for targeted outreach. Statistics suggest that 81% of the millennial scrolls through Twitter at least once a day.
With the help of this engagement, you can easily build a following or community of people interested in the conversations and content that you have to offer.
Why opt for targeted media outreach?
There are many reasons to incorporate targeted media outreach in your marketing plan. Let’s break them down:
- You understand your target audience
When it comes to marketing your idea or product, one of the earliest things you must establish is who you will be marketing to. Social media websites, ranging from Instagram to Facebook, make it extremely easy to determine your ideal customer base. Once you understand exactly who your consumer base is, you can make your marketing strategies accordingly.
Plus, as mentioned above, using the keyword and the search features on social media sites like Facebook, you can effortlessly find new customers that might be in search of a service or product that you offer.
- You can actually get people to listen
People don’t perceive social networking websites as marketing hubs. Thus, it is highly likely that your messages won’t seem like advertisements. In addition, media outreach gives consumers the chance to inquire about your services and products that you can answer promptly. Plus, when you respond to your customers in a timely manner, it shows them that you care.
- Suitable for all budgets
Media outreach, particularly using social media, can easily be included in not only big marketing budgets but in small ones too. So, for those of you just starting, this is good news! Hiring an external marketing team can escalate your budget quite quickly plus they will most likely be focusing on building your presence online.
- Helps build your brand awareness
When people first hear about any product or the business responsible for that product, they first hit the internet and research the two. For this reason, you have to ensure that you have such a forum where customers can get the answers to their questions as well as see what other consumers have to say. To put it simply, social media makes your business look established as well as genuine.
Once you are sure that you want to incorporate targeted media outreach in your marketing strategy, you can start off by defining your consumer base and then working out which platform they spend the most time on. Finally, you can select the option which fits your business in the most ideal manner.
Benefits of targeted media outreach
As mentioned earlier, targeted media outreach can be beneficial for all kinds of businesses including small businesses as well as enterprise customers. Some benefits include:
- Make yourself seem like an authoritative figure
The more you incorporate media outreach techniques, the greater chance you have of positioning yourself as an expert that people are compelled to pay attention to. It isn’t difficult to become an authority in your niche if you offer services, information, and products that are proof of the fact that you are on top of all the latest trends.
- Build loyalty and trust along with relationships
Once your target audience learns more about you and starts to put trust in your expertise, they will want to form a relationship with you. Eventually, this relationship will give way to loyalty and trust. Moreover, the more they see, the more they will start to like. Ultimately, this translates to increased sales and subscribers.
- Boost in customer following
While social media sites are important, an ideal way to build a good and genuine relationship with your customers as well as with other people in your niche is to include them in your email marketing list. Once they are present on the list, you can then send them the information as well as the special offers that meet their needs.
One aspect of a successful outreach program is to show that you clearly understand the troubling factors or points of the people present in your niche. Show them that you’re not just after selling stuff. Instead, you are offering the genuine answers they need. Know that happy and satisfied customers can easily become some of the best advocates for your brand. Plus, they are a good source of testimonials, genuine reviews, and effective endorsements.
- Boost sales
With loyalty and trust as well as satisfied customers increasing awareness, you can boost sales further. According to studies, on social media, people believe more on word-of-mouth recommendations instead of any marketing content that the business releases on its own. Since this is the case, it’s best to target influencers that can spread the word about your business, and then wait and see how targeted media outreach helps flourish your business even further.
- You know what to expect
Targeted social media outreach has a financial benefit as well. When it comes to general advertising, it is possible to purchase impressions with a very general target audience. However, doing so just means that you are spending money on such advertisements that are less targeted. Plus, it is unclear which gender or age group is actually engaging with your advertisement, so it is unclear what you pay for.
Meanwhile, with targeted outreach, you get to know exactly who is interacting with your advertisement.
- No need to be established
When it comes to media outreach, there’s no need for you to be established on social media sites to engage with potential consumers. Unlike other kinds of social media marketing such as reactive or broadcast engagement where having an established customer base is crucial for success, media outreach lets you build the right following from the ground up with such people that are optimized for the product and conduct you have to offer.
It is up to you to select who you reach based on their activities, how they define themselves, and what they have to say about your niche.
Two important aspects of media outreach
Now that you know the benefits and importance of social media outreach, you must focus on two components to get started.
- Who do you wish to reach?
One way to find relevant websites and influencers is via media monitoring. Media monitoring aims to filter online discussions to find relative ones that identify the keenest participants and vivid websites and blogs that focus on your desired topic.
Some factors to remember when looking for potential partners include:
- Topics they frequently talk about
- Outbound and inbound link of respective websites
- Their interaction and reach on various social sites
You must also remember that social media value is not necessarily judged by how many followers they have. Instead, it is measured by the interaction rates, list mentions, and following-to-follower ratio.
- What’s your CTA?
CTA or call to action is another important aspect. You must determine what you want your targeted customers to do once you have engaged with them. For instance, do you want to ask them questions or make a contribution to your blog? Similarly, do you want them to sign up for a mailing list or newsletter, or attend a conference or event you are hosting? You must leave a clear goal for customers so that the confusion is minimized.
Conclusion
To sum it up, media outreach is all about leading the business in the correct direction. It doesn’t only involve promoting your company but is also about creating strong and effective brand awareness. It is all about getting your organization in line!
We at PRDistribution.com can cater to a variety of industries. If you haven’t incorporated PR in your marketing program, then it might be the right time to think about implementing targeted media outreach to take your current marketing plan to new heights.
Have questions about press release distribution, or any of our other services? Our team at PR Distribution™ is ready and happy to help through email, live chat, support tickets and phone! Contact us