Further Your Reach with These Publicity Platforms

We’re always looking for ways to help new customers discover us and establish ourselves as experts in our disciplines. To enhance and expand our marketing strategy, we can increase visibility in trusted and frequented digital and print media by using services that provide the information we need to pitch content to media writers. First, we need to understand the services available, then how we could incorporate them into a larger marketing strategy, and, finally, how to carry it out by walking through suggestions for successful pitches.

Publicity Platforms

Several services exist that connect media writers and sources—aka, us. The platforms range in cost and features, but all can potentially improve our reputations as experts in our fields and extend our audience (and hopefully future clientele). This article highlights three such services that are either completely free or have paid options.

Help a B2B Writer

Help a B2B Writer is a free notification service for media professionals and sources. By creating an account and selecting relevant categories, you receive email notifications of new requests, including category, media outlet, and contact information. I’ve found the notifications particularly useful for marketing-related questions, which may benefit marketing consultants. While the site suggests providing a link to the source’s site as “payment,” not all editors permit this.

Qwoted

Qwoted is a database of opportunities, sources, and media professionals. After signing up and creating a profile, you can receive email notifications or search the database for terms like “civil engineering” or “landscape architecture.” High-profile media such as BobVila.com and USA News, as well a smaller sites are available. When you’ve found a request you’d like to answer, you can pitch the representative of that media outlet. The free version allows you two pitches per month with a short delay when responding. Paid versions offer unlimited pitches with no delays.

Source of Sources

Source of Sources (SOS), is an email notification service, that sends a list of media requestsfrom media outlets such as US News, Yahoo!, and MSN including contact information. Createdafter the sale of its successful predecessor, Help A Reporter Out (HARO), this service is freeand simple to use.

Marketing Strategy Incorporation

Integrate this into your overall marketing strategy by considering which disciplines are most likely to receive requests, who will prepare responses, how often your team will respond, and the time you want to spend on each request. This may require some initial primary research and trial and error. Keep this activity flexible, because you never know when a relevant request will come.

Pitch Responsibly

Always be respectful when pitching to any writer, but especially when using a service such as these. Complaints that you are pitching without reading requests or having expert knowledge can lead to your removal from the service. Read the requests carefully, only respond to those that match your expert knowledge, and always follow any specific instructions for providing a pitch. When you respond, answer all questions thoroughly with background and details such as an illustrative example, quantitative information, illustrative images, or sources.

For quotes or short articles, include your response in the body of your email and not as an attachment. This increases the odds your response will be read. For a longer pitch, summarize your article in the body of the email with the completed article attached–not a rough draft.

Be concise in explaining why you are an expert on a given topic. Avoid being too self-promotional about yourself or the company, product, or service you represent. Specify how you would like to receive credit, such as a link to your website or LinkedIn account, understanding that writers may not always be able to accommodate the request.

Conclusion

This type of publicity is like a call from a client who has “just one quick question” about something unrelated to any current project we have with them. We, of course, answer the question because, though seemingly small when viewed individually, the return on investment of being a responsive consultant pays off in dividends. While a minor part of your marketing strategy, providing expert quotes over time would help build that relationship with media writers and may lead to requests for additional information, including full articles. Incorporating these services as flexible additions to your overall marketing strategy, and pitching responsibly can enhance your firm’s reputation as experts in your discipline.