When I ask clients which magazine or newspaper they want to get their business featured in, they always say the same thing.

Vogue, Tatler, Forbes, The Guardian, Grazia.....

Amazing publications I know but when I ask why, they tend to reply describing their love of those publications. When I ask whether their ideal client or customer loves them and more importantly reads them, they usually go quiet!

Getting featured in any press is great, but getting featured in the press that your customer reads is even better!

Today we are talking about PR and how to identify the best publication for your business. Here are the 5 steps to follow:

Speak to your customers and ask them what they read

Sounds so simple but a great place to start is to ask your customers or clients what they read, both in print and online. How often do they read them? What does their partner or family read? This will help paint a picture of where they hang out online. Then when you have the list, it is time to dig deeper to see if this suits your business.

Buy a cross section of publications (papers, weekly and monthly magazines) to review the adverts

Once you have a list, borrow or buy a copy to look at the adverts. Do these align to your ideal customer? No big brands would waste their money (up to 20K!) on a large advert if they didn't know that their perfect customer would be seeing it. For example: if the adverts feature luxury products i.e. cars and cruises then this publication is good for high end products. If the adverts feature washing powder, white goods, nappies, then they are targeting mums. You get the picture!

Ask for a Media Kit from the publication

The next stage is to email the advertising manager and ask for their Media Kit. This will give you the demographics of that publication to confirm what you already have thought (plus prices to understand how much your press mention could be worth!). Beware, you will also be asked (hounded!) to advertise, so you will need to be firm with your reply if you don't want to proceed!

Look to see where your competitors have been featured

You could also look to see where your competitors have been featured; as if it is right for them it could well be right for you. However, when you approach the journalist or publication do make sure you offer a different story or idea from what your competitor has done!

Create a Hit List!

Lastly I would then create a list of all your target publications and focus on pitching to them. This way you will have a PR strategy to get you started!

Of course, you still need to know how to pitch and indeed what to do next. The great news is we are hosting a masterclass non Weds 27th January 2021 called Get Yourself Into The Press in 2021 . It is a live online session (with a recorded replay being sent out if you miss it!) and I will cover everything you need to do next to get yourself into the press. No fancy PR agency - just you getting visible!

In the session we will be covering: