Mindful Goods webinar blog—With 2023 fast approaching, brands are in full throttle preparing and figuring out how to make the most out of the new year and the holiday season. There’s not a more critical time than now to get a business ready. With all the critical consumer events that are fast approaching such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, brands need to identify how they can tackle these and have a stellar start to 2023.
Very recently, Publicity For Good’s Heather Holmes (formerly Heather DeSantis) teamed up with Amazon Growth agency, Mindful Goods, and its Founder and CEO, Daniela Bolzman in a webinar to take brands through a tour of how they can prepare and grow for the incoming year through the power of PR.
According to Daniela, 99% of brands need to have great, scroll-stopping content to be recognized by Amazon. Good is no longer good enough; content has to be great. This is where both Mindful Goods and Publicity For Good come in.
It’s important for any brand to build trust for its consumers. Moreover, it’s essential to be positioned as a leader in its space. This simple rule applies not only to traditional markets but is especially important for finding success in an online platform such as Amazon.
Through the power of effective public relations, brands can earn consumer trust and establish credibility that can identify them as thought leaders. But where should brands start?
Identify what’s most important for 2023
Look out for trade shows and list out new product launches for your brand. Look for seasonal opportunities such as holiday gift guides. With the abundance of awareness days and events, it’s impossible to now find an opportunity every single month to share your story. Build your marketing and PR calendar based on these critical factors and craft your message to share your values, beliefs, and brand story. More than ever, people care about a brand’s ethos and its human element.
There’s a multitude of advantages to be gained from pursuing media opportunities. The following are just some that reap long-term benefits from your brand:
- You have the chance to be seen as an expert and thought leader and gain recognition
- Spread your message and story en masse both nationally and internationally
- Increase your visibility and be able to boast “as seen on” to your online presence
- Growing your email list and producing content for digital marketing
- Boost your SEO by scouting places that provide high-quality backlinks to your site
- Having perpetual ownership of the published story which you can continuously reuse
- An abundance of collaborators who will be eager to work with you because they saw you in the media
Publicity For Good’s Heather Holmes identified 4 primary factors that can spell out success for brands with regard to their public relations which she calls the RICH Formula.
Some go-to tactics to go into a PR plan
Media opportunities come in many forms. Depending on how you use them, they can reap you benefits that last. Below are just some of our favorites that Publicity For Good promises its brands:
Newsjacking
Associate your brand with a timely and relevant news story. Ride along with stories that can position you as an expert and relevant figure. Reference breaking news stories so your brand can be identified as well. Newsjacking has a particularly high pick-up rate for pitches so long as your brand is quick in crafting effective pitches to stay timely.
Thought Leadership
Use your credentials and the expertise of key members of your company to create stories that tackle critical issues. Pitch relevant and relatable stories that can allow your pitch to be both relevant and urgent. Purpose-driven brands have an edge in thought leadership due to the critical nature of their missions and advocacies.
Personality-driven Stories
Craft stories around notable personalities and tie it back to your brand. Unique founder stories fit perfectly into personality-driven stories. Pitch yourself to be a guest for outlets so you can share your brand and your story to people who need and want to hear it.
Product Reviews
One of our personal favorites, product reviews from relevant figures in your field highlight the best things about your brand and product and gain the voice of authorities to talk about them to their audience. Influencers especially have great penetrative power for consumers since they operate as voices of the masses. With respect to transparency, however, brands shouldn’t expect an all-positive review since these tend to be highly comprehensive.
Brand Collaborations
Gain attention and mileage through partnerships with other, but related brands to promote stories and marketing opportunities. Collaborations can be in the form of a gift with purchase, combined outreach campaigns, merchandise selling, new product development or even contest.
Publicity For Good’s RICH Formula
Reflect
Look back to who you are as an entrepreneur and a person. Founder stories are absolutely crucial in effectively communicating your brand, mission and story. It’s important for brands to start with why before starting publicity.
Look back and answer the following questions—
What things have you gone through that you can share? What can you teach others? How can you be of service? Use these to create a list of core topics that you’d like to discuss in the media
Investigate
Bridge the gap between what you want to talk about and what’s happening in the world right now. Remember to keep your pitch relevant. Make use of tools such as Google Alerts and Google Search. Identify relevant news and topics related to your business or your field of expertise. Sift through news and gain insight and inspiration. Essentially, get in the eyes of the media to see how they’re talking about brands.
Connect
Reach out to media members. Have a list of your ideal media outlets and trade publications. Identify where you want to be featured and follow them EVERYWHERE (tip: media members, journalists and producers are particularly active on LinkedIn. Make friends with the media and foster relationships. Make sure to follow up and ask them how they’re doing. Always be accommodating and come from a place of service.
For example, if you’re looking to be featured in the regional press, watch the morning news and watch how the show flows. Call the producer or search for “news tips” to gain access to their email address and build a relationship with them from them.
Help and Hunt
To emphasize what was said earlier, it’s all about coming from a place of service. You’re filling the need of media by allowing them to tell your story, so be welcoming and a pleasure to work with. Media needs content that inspires and motivates their viewers. Ask your contacts what they’re working on and adjust your message to keep yourself relevant.
Hunt or be on a constant search for opportunities. Show up day by day and pitch yourself to the media. It’s important to note as well that media is evolving. 8 of 10 brands in a roundup usually has an affiliate program. Media outlets look to gain impressions and reach for their works. Affiliate marketing earns media outlets affiliate money, so be of service and incorporate affiliate marketing into your outreach and pitching. Though it may cost you initially, you can expect quicker and continuous success.
“But am I ready for PR?”
Are you a brand who has an excellent product and is looking for a cost-effective way to tell people about the benefits of what you’re offering? Do you believe that you have a story worth telling to your target audience? Are you ready for people to see you are a human brand created by and for humans? If you said yes to all three inquiries, then you are definitely ready for PR!
Now that you have the basic insight you need to formulate an effective PR plan for the coming year, you should be ready to embrace the year and say yes to success for your brand. Beyond all these, the world of PR is very nuanced and this is where Publicity For Good is here to help. PFG’s here to demystify the craft and bring brands effective PR whilst they do the many other things that make their brands great.
Together, let’s become a category leader in 2023!
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