An effective public relations program is a powerful, cost-effective way to inform and engage your customers, create a strong positive brand identity and build trust, excitement and goodwill. A well managed online PR program can increase your search engine visibility and drive website traffic by enabling customers to find your stories and announcements through active searches and RSS feeds. So why don't more footage companies use public relations as part of their communications strategy? Some typical responses: We're too small. We don't have anything newsworthy to say. They'll never print it. PR companies don't understand my business.
Let's look at these issues one by one.
We're too small for PR
PR is one of the best and most cost-effective ways for a small to mid-sized stock footage company to raise its profile in the marketplace, increase its visibility and enhance its competitiveness. PR is generally less expensive than advertising and carries greater credibility. For the cost of a few magazine ads, you can run a robust PR program.
We don't have anything newsworthy to say
Our first priority is to help our clients identify and develop specific media objectives and news items based on their activities, events and agenda. In many cases, it helps to focus less directly on self-promotion, and more on promoting their association with useful ideas, events or products. For example, sponsorships create great opportunities for generating news announcements. Drawing attention to interesting client projects is another possibility. These kinds of stories help establish an overall narrative through which customers and prospects can better understand an organization and its products and services.
They'll never print it
As more readers get their news on the web and use search engines to find information, getting a mention in a mainstream publication is not the make-or-break requirement it once was. By taking advantage of the increasing number of content-hungry news sites, you can by-pass the traditional editorial gatekeepers and take your message straight to your target audience. Our integrated approach focuses both on generating coverage in the trades as well as achieving high organic search rankings by placing optimized news releases across an array of platforms and publications, including free and paid news wires, forums, briefing rooms and blogs. And your customers are not the only ones that will find you through Google searches. Reporters now expect you to provide convenient and instant access to press releases, updated corporate fact sheets and executive biographies.
PR Companies don't understand my business
Thriving Archives is focused on the the complete PR needs of footage licensing companies. In addition to developing an overall PR strategy, we produce and distribute compelling news releases to a growing in-house list of publications and work hard to build relationships with journalists and media outlets, providing them with relevant story ideas and information. Our familiarity with the editorial direction of our target publications enables us to tailor story ideas and pitches with great specificity.
In 2007, Thriving Archives developed and implemented several highly successful public relations campaigns, helping our clients increase their media exposure and search engine visibility. Our regular and aggressive press outreach and the creation and distribution of optimized news releases was instrumental in promoting and selling the ACSIL Global Survey, as well as in generating interest and attention for the IDA/ABCNEWS VideoSource Award.
