4 tips to get free PR for your business

 

In today’s competitive business landscape, gaining attention and visibility is crucial for success. Public relations (PR) plays a pivotal role in building brand awareness and credibility. It’s also an important tactic to get your message, announcement or new product out there. PR expert Marshall Thurlow shares his top tips to attract media attention.

By publishing a relevant and timely press release, you may be picked up by a local journalist and get published online or in print.

Traditional PR services usually come with a hefty price tag but there are several ways I’ve discovered that I can get free PR for my business. 

In this article, I’ll teach you these four effective strategies that I use to boost both my business and my clients’ businesses without breaking into the marketing budget.

Four PR tips to boost your business

Try answering PR callouts on SourceBottle

SourceBottle is an innovative platform that connects businesses with journalists, providing a unique opportunity for free publicity. It works as a matchmaking service, linking journalists in need of sources with businesses seeking media coverage. The benefit is that they may publish your quotes and a link to your website, which gives both a brand and search engine optimisation boost. 

To use SourceBottle, you just need to create a profile for your business on the site. Then you can sign up for relevant alerts when journalists are looking for someone in your field to speak to for a story, or trawl the current list of requests, and contact journalists through the site.

When offering yourself as a source, you should create a concise and compelling pitch that highlights your business’s unique selling points. Journalists receive many pitches, so it’s essential to stand out.

It’s also important to respond promptly. Journalists often work under tight deadlines so it’s often a case of first in, best dressed. Same day responses are the norm. Monitor your SourceBottle alerts closely and respond quickly to relevant opportunities.

Establishing relationships with journalists can also lead to recurring PR opportunities. Follow up with journalists who have covered your business and thank them for their coverage. This helps them remember you, and makes them more likely to contact you again in the future.

Help a Reporter (HARO)

Help a Reporter (HARO) now known as Conectively, works in a similar way to SourceBottle in that it connects businesses with journalists seeking expert opinions and insights for their articles. The major difference between the two is that SourceBottle tends to link you with Australian publications, while HARO offers a much more global reach. 

To optimise your HARO usage, you’ll need to create a detailed and compelling profile that showcases your expertise. Journalists often browse profiles to find suitable experts for their stories.

Regularly check HARO for relevant queries and respond only to those where you can genuinely provide valuable insights. Quality responses increase your chances of being featured. Be wary of the thrice-daily emails – it can feel like a lot!

Note: there are several other free sites operating similarly to SourceBottle and HARO. Check out Qwoted and Featured as well.  

Social media 

Don’t forget to use your social media platforms. These are powerful – and free! – tool for PR. Engage with your audience, share valuable content (including your press releases) and leverage user-generated content to amplify your brand message.

Some tips for effective social media engagement:

• It’s important to maintain a consistent brand voice across your social media channels. This helps in building brand recognition and trust.  
• Interactive content such as polls, quizzes or live videos will encourage audience participation and boost your visibility and engagement.
• Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences on social media. User testimonials serve as authentic endorsements and can attract media attention.

Free press release sites

Distributing press releases is a timeless PR strategy, and several platforms offer free press release distribution services. Leverage these sites to share company news, product launches or exciting milestones without paying a cent.

Some of the most popular ones are PRWire, PRfree, PRLog, IssueWire, openPR, PR Fire, 1888 Press Release and Newswire Today.

The trick to making the most of these sites is to select reputable free press release distribution sites, such as the ones listed above. Ensure they have a good reach and cater to your industry.

Then, you’ll need to write attention-grabbing press releases that focus on newsworthy elements. This could include product innovations, partnerships or community initiatives, but really anything that you think is relevant and will stand out.

Make sure you incorporate relevant keywords into your press releases to enhance search-engine visibility. This can attract additional attention from both journalists and potential customers.

How to write a great press release

Write a compelling headline

You need to capture the essence of your announcement in a single, catchy line. The trick here is to be specific but succinct, use active verbs and keep it interesting. Aim to write the headline in 9 words or less. 

Add more context with a subhead

While your headline is meant to draw readers in, your subheadline should give them more details of the news you’re sharing. You should aim to support your heading and encapsulate your press release in one sentence. 

Convey the news value to the press

If you want your press release to be newsworthy, you have to encourage readers (particularly the press) to care. To do this, write your release using the reverse pyramid formula, going from the most important information to the least important.

Reporters don’t have time to pore through waffly content, so make sure your first paragraph gets all the salient information: who, what and where. 

The second paragraph can hit the why, then you can add detail and colour (but no new crucial information) after that. 

Add a quotable quote

Bring your concrete facts to life with a quote that reporters can use in their articles for context around your announcement.

Try to source quotes from key stakeholders in your company, your executive team, project leads, those directly involved in whatever you’re announcing. Make sure you include the speaker’s full name and title.

Your quote or quotes should shape your narrative and emphasise the main point of the announcement.

Add background information

Don’t add new pieces of critical information here, but you can add details that strengthen your narrative or add colour to the story. Maybe some information about the lead-up to whatever you’re announcing, or any future implications of the announcement.

If you cite any data, make sure you include references with a link (if possible).

Add a summary boilerplate

Finish with a boilerplate that clearly and succinctly describes who your company is and what you do.  

Include contact information

Provide all your media contact information to make it easy for journalists to get in touch to request additional details, imagery or interviews – which is exactly what you want.

Proofread

Thoroughly proofread (or better yet, have someone else proofread) your press release before hitting send. This gives you the chance to improve writing, fill in any missing information, fix any confusing parts, double-check the formatting, and ensure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Distribute

Then just use the free PR sites we discussed above and your social media platforms and let your press release work its magic.

I hope these tips are as helpful for you as they are for me. Embrace these free PR strategies, and watch your business garner the attention it deserves in the competitive market.