If you’ve been successful placing stories in the press, you’ve probably experienced the same disappointment I have. Where are all the phone calls?

The fact is, most PR placements do not generate large numbers of sales leads. It’s hard to say whether people don’t see a reason to call after reading an article, or whether they’re just not reading them. Strangely enough, though, it doesn’t really matter. The most valuable thing the media can give you is credibility, not circulation. You can make sure that your customers and prospects see these articles, and if you do, they will respond.

It’s relatively easy to get the word out once your story is in print. Almost every publication will sell you reprints, either in printed or pdf form, and most will give you permission to do your own, often at no charge. You have a lot of options on how to use them. Try these strategies for starters:


Put them on your website

• Link new stories link from your home page.
• Add a “press,” “customer gallery” or “product reviews” section and add it to your home page navigation.
• Be sure to add links from related product or technology pages you already have.

Send them to customers and potential customers

• Mail or email them directly to your prospect list.
• Include articles or excerpts in your newsletters; link to the full articles on your website from email news.
• Use excerpts or short quotes in brochures and catalogs.
• Use printed copies in new customer packets, press packets and at trade shows (anywhere you’re trying to start up new relationships).
  

Send them with quotes and proposals

• Put all your pdfs on one easy-to-access server.
• Encourage (or require) your sales people to attach them to e-mailed quotes for relevant products or systems.
• Make sure they have access to printed reprints (or a good color printer for the pdfs) and encourage them to include them with written proposals.
  

Send them to your suppliers, banker and financial backers

• Reinforcing the idea that you’re a growing concern can help with credit and product availablitity issues.
• It can only help to show them what a great investment your company is.

Choosing a target publication

An interesting twist in your PR strategy is how you choose the publications to send your stories.

If you’re choosing a place to advertise, you need to be very careful about circulation, demographics and cost per interested reader. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend money on a publication that isn’t read by your target market.

But in PR, the rules are different. Great circulation is always a plus, but if we start with the premise that what we really want are the reprints, then we can be a lot less worried about readership. What we need is media that our target market will recognize as credible. It doesn’t matter if your customers actually read these publications or not, as long as they respect the name.

For this reason, placing stories in the AV trades can be very effective, even if you’re a dealer and most of the magazine’s readers are other dealers who would never buy from you. Most end users will see Sound & Video Contractor, Pro AV, and System Contractor News as credible, reliable sources of information, and they will respect the fact that these magazines published stories about you, your products or your customers.