Effective Strategies to Leverage Your Publicity Results

By Kim Dushinski - Jun 15 , 2007

Congratulations! You’ve just landed a media placement!

Maybe it’s a newspaper article or a radio interview – not necessarily a big deal type of placement, but media coverage nonetheless.

First of all, take a moment to celebrate. Be grateful for this, even if it isn’t as exciting as Oprah herself calling to invite you to be on her show. If you’re working with a publicist, thank them without asking about what they’re doing next.

OK, now you’re ready to begin leveraging your publicity results. Here’s what to do:

Send a Thank You Note
Write a quick, handwritten note of thanks to the person who wrote about you or interviewed you. If they ever need an expert on your topic again, you will be more likely to be called than someone else who didn’t make this personal connection. Also, they might recommend you to their media colleagues.

Start Your Publicity Results List
This is your list of all the media placements you’ve received. More than a simple list, your Publicity Results List should also track circulation numbers, minutes of air time, geographical coverage of media reach, location of the actual placement, and/or link to the audio or video file of the interview. (You should also have a Media Contacts List of those who know you personally. Make a firm commitment to yourself to keep this up-to-date.)

With your List, at any given moment you will know exactly how many placements you’ve gotten; what areas of the country you have covered; whether you are doing better in print, online, on radio, or on TV; and how to put your hands on the media placements.

When something newsworthy happens to you, let your Media Contacts know. They may or may not be able to cover you again so soon, but they are like customers who have already bought from you once — they know you and trust you, and it makes their job easier to work with a known source.

Update Your Website and Your Online Press Kit
On your website in your press kit, you will want to include a list of media coverage you have received. Grab the logo of the media outlet and post it with an “as seen in” tagline. Don’t worry if the media outlet seems too small for this kind of exposure. It is all about taking small steps and moving up. As you get bigger and better known, you can highlight the logos of big guys and give less prominence to these first placements.

You can link to the actual article online. Post the audio file or video file on your site. Not only will this help customers to see your credibility, it will also help the media to know you are media worthy and media savvy.

By the way, if you don’t have an online press kit (such as you can find at www.247presskit.com), you should seriously consider it. A recent study by TEKGroup International showed that 98% of media prefer to get information via email and online press kits. Make yourself available where and how journalists are looking, and you’re more likely to get media placements.

Include Your “As Seen In” List Everywhere
As you go about the business of your book marketing, you can use the list of media placements all the time. For example, in cover letters you are sending to solicit special sales deals, outreach to bookstores, in mailings to your list, in your e-zine, or on your blog.

The fact is that people like to be around success. The more people (media and customers) think you are appealing to other people, the more appealing you become to them. Leverage this.

Tell All Your Friends
In addition to your everyday friends, tell all your online friends. If you’re already social networking, you know what I mean. If you’re not, check out next week’s column. MySpace is not the only game in town, and it is not just for kids.

Next Week:
Social Networking to Build Your Platform