In its most basic form, public relations centers around reaching people or organizations who shape and influence perceptions and opinions. It is PR’s role to persuade people that your business is the correct answer to whatever you are marketing.
The topics can range from what you want people to know to purchase your product to shaping people’s perception about issues and matters of importance.
No longer, however, can PR firms depend primarily on mass media to help shape opinion.
Targeting one’s most influential media resource now centers on finding and defining “influencers” whose recognition and endorsement can have enormous impact on how folks view your product or service. These influencers can range from specific individuals at a mass media outlet to a lone blogger, whose recognition can make or break a marketing campaign.
Gaining traction with influencers
One cannot simply blast away with emails to media (both mass media and online media) in the vain hope that they will use your information.
Successful influencers are deluged by unsolicited emails, most of which end up in the trash can.
One must gradually reach out to influencers first, build up their trust, before even considering asking them for recognition. You must convince them of your legitimacy as a media resource and the newsworthiness of your product or service. It is a slow, gradual process that requires being in it for the long haul. There are no shortcuts.
Finding influencers
At Wellons Communications, we rely on well-established mass media communications programs to immediately reach media outlets that can help boost recognition of your business.
Beyond mass media, however, we have a well-defined approach to zeroing in on influencers whose recognition can augment your marketing efforts. These steps include:
• Hashtag audits
We search for hashtags that are relevant to your business and narrow them down to those best suited to what you do. It’s a tedious process, but an important step in finding your correct target audience.
• Google Alert communications
We use Google Alerts to identify influencers by keywords. We set up alerts for suitable terms that will enable you to start receiving notifications when somebody posts information related to what you are marketing. From that, we can choose from the list of influencers and contact with what information they are seeking.
• Contact with Blogger Outreach Groups and Platforms
Facebook organizes groups by their interests – from investment seeking information to invest in oil drilling to housewives seeking recipes for air fryers.
We identify those groups best suited for our client’s information and seek to build relationships with its most active members.
• Aggregator and outreach tools
We can call upon specialized outreach resources like Pitchbox and Buzzsumo to help build campaigns targeting specific influencers. By employing carefully selected keywords we can scan the internet to identify and reach out to dominant online influencers with the kind of information they are seeking.
Call us to find out how you can benefit from influencer marketing
At Wellons Communications, we pride ourselves in keeping pace with the rapidly change ways in how people absorb information, particularly in the online marketing arena.
Online marketing is an increasingly sophisticated and complex form or marketing, but we keep our programs simple, easy to manage, and well within the budgets and capabilities of our clients. We want you to understand what we are doing, how it can benefit you and increase your business.
As 2023 winds down and you are looking at new ways or more effective ways to help you sell your product or service, think of Wellons Communications.
Contact us about creating a well-rounded public relations program that includes basic PR strategies and new and different approaches to reach your target audiences…. like reaching the influencers best suited to help you increase your reach and sales.