Use It or Lose It: How to Convert PR Hits into Sales

When you dream about getting your name in a publication or your product on a national morning program, what do you envision? Potential customer X reading or hearing about your service that he must have, whereby he immediately picks up the phone to execute a three-year contract with your company?

Yes, this could happen. But what could also happen is that you’ll become frustrated by the number of people contacting you to sell you their services.

There’s no guarantee that getting great recognition from media hits will garner new business. But you can improve your chances by being proactive. Here are several ways you can leverage your investment in public and media relations to improve your corporate and executive positioning, internal and external communications, and sales and marketing materials.

Promote your news at your Website
• Develop an online newsroom on your company Website. It can include announcements, press releases, headlines of recent media coverage, and headlines of articles by company executives with links to the full text or an option to e-mail you for the full article. Tip: An e-mail from a site visitor requesting a copy of an article is a warm lead.

• Scroll your news. Create a scrolling feed or text bar on your landing page so that anything new or newsworthy will be the first thing your visitors see.

• Blog about your news. Mention your media placements in your blog with a link to your online newsroom. Tip: Blogging about your media hits also gives other bloggers a chance to track back to your article, aiding your search engine optimization efforts.

Communicate the success to your customers and key contacts
• Repackage press releases as articles for newsletters.

• Create electronic newsletters and highlight the news in a special section.

• Write a letter from the president or CEO and send it along with recent articles to show customers how your company is growing, helping the community, influencing the industry, etc.

• Compile your articles and company news in binders that you can show to customers at company meetings, events, or trade shows.

• Create a book of media articles (clippings) for the lobby; this will impress potential employees, clients, investors, and others as they are waiting.

Add credibility to sales materials
• Enhance sales presentations with images of important articles (include a listing of headlines, bylined articles, speaking engagements, and sponsorships).

• Boost the credibility of your sales and marketing kits or proposals with bylined articles, source quotes, and other media placements.

• Produce a “one-pager” that shows the company’s extensive media coverage with the heading “[Company name] in the News.” Also include this information in a section of your sales brochure.

Pump up your direct marketing
• Distribute press releases as direct mail, e-mail, or fax campaigns to prospective customers (opt in, of course).

• Mail relevant executive bylined articles or news of PR events or placements (such as brochures featuring your executives as speakers at future industry engagements) to prospects with a brief note.

• E-mail your current or potential customers a PDF version of a recent article, notification of your company’s participation in an industry or community event, or information about a forthcoming media placement (such as a radio interview airing in their market). Include a personalized note with relevant information, such as the station broadcasting the interview in their geographic region.

• Send article reprints with invoices or other correspondence to reinforce customers’ beliefs that they are working with the best.

• Have a lot of clippings or updates? Create a CD featuring company successes, and send to prospects.

Position your executives for success
• Include media coverage and information about past speaking engagements in your packages and proposals for future speaking engagements.

• Add bylined articles and source quotes to key executives’ bios to help demonstrate their experience as a published, industry expert.

• Include your company’s media successes in award submissions.

Keep your employees informed
• Create an intranet or another internal communication tool, such as an employee newsletter. Share awards, customer comments, speaking engagements, and media hits in a summarized format.

• E-mail successes in the media to employees; this gives them a new opportunity to follow up with a prospective customer or stay in touch with existing clients.

• Line hallways, conference rooms, and waiting areas with framed articles and awards to highlight company achievements.

• Post articles in the employee break room, and highlight references to employees or company accolades.

• Add a component to company sales meetings that addresses how employees can use these items in their sales pitches.

Turn your positive PR placements into positive cash flow by continually funneling the highlights of your media placements, industry accomplishments, and speaking engagements to your external and internal customers, as well as to prospective clients. It may take a little time, but we assure you that you will see a much greater return on your PR investment if you follow through with using your media hits as a sales tool.

Amy Chilla and Melissa Gillespie are partners in Innova Communications (www.teaminnova.com), a Ladera Ranch, CA-based public relations and marketing firm.