5 golden tips to use your Press Hits to grow sales

Want to utilize your hard-earned press hits to increase sales?

A PR hit can be way more than a notch on your belt with a referral, affiliate link or (god willing) printed placement. By tapping into the content itself you can unleash tons of untapped potential from your other marketing channels and achieve better ROI all around. 

As you build your brand equity (that je ne sais quoi: that makes your brand unbelievably desirable), press nods and quote pulls are some of your most impressive tools. I am surprised to see again and again how, for such a valuable asset, it is something brands wield the least.
 

Here is a powerful exercise and guide that you can do yourself:

1. Audit your current Media Placements

First Review the content itself. You main goal is to source quotes that contain a Value Proposition in the form of Reason to Believe (or RTBs) that has been verified and made credible by the publication (for more info about RTB’s please check out this article).

• Separate out what are meaningful and easily digestible soundbites.  

• Pull out longer quotes or even titles or headlines - maybe a sentence or two that offer deep context to your brand's value props in the form of RTBs. You may have multiple from the same article. Break them up into their own relevant commentary. 

2. Review all and organize what you can find by the category of the content:

• Look for content that reflects the Brand in general. Ideally, you would have at least a few golden, compelling soundbites and quotes from trusted sources that can be used to engage your demographic. (i.e.” Cutest socks I have ever worn.” - The Strategist” or “I’m throwing out all my other socks” - Business Insider)

• Separate out product-focused copy especially geared towards any Hero / Core products. 

• Then look for your new products or trending products that could have legs with a little love. 

3. Review what you have and also what you don’t have!

What is missing that you want to strategize to obtain? Do you need a memorable brand press quote about an RTB from publication that your core demographic trusts? Or are you preparing a big rollout of a new product line?

4. Put your press hits to work.

Now here is where it gets fun - time to actually use it! Here are my top recommended placements for PR quotes. 

• The Front Page of your Website. This is classic and always a best practice. If you aren’t showcasing your placements on your homepage you are missing out. It builds credibility for new customers. But don’t just stop at a bar of logos - add some of your MOST compelling General Brand PR quotes or soundbites. This is a cherry. 

• Digital Content. If you are running paid ads through say Facebook/Instagram make sure to test these. Historically I have had a lot of success adding PR to the images/videos, headlines and/or primary text and even a/b testing to find the most impactful quote or publication. Pined Highlight for press hits

• Product Pages (aka PDPs). If you have a gripping quote from a great source - consider adding it to the product page itself. Brands do this in many ways from adding to the description text to adding a creative asset.  

• Email Marketing. Don’t forget to use these here. Everything from your welcome flow to connecting about a specific product. 

• Wholesale Assets. Wholesale buyers want to see that your brand legitimately has high regard in public opinion. They are particularly influenced by where you have been featured and what has been said. Use it for enticing leads or encouraging sales for existing customers on new products. 

Looking for more ways to grow your brand and business?

Kimberly is a business consultant and brand strategist with over 20 years of industry experience, working to successfully propel small businesses to the next level.

She offers many holistic solutions as a consultant and is passionate about supporting small business growth.

Here are a few offerings but please reach out if you need anything else! 

1. Invest in your team to build the dream. Team Skills Training can infuse high-performance skills into your less experienced team members within some of your most profitable departments.

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You can find out more about Kimberly and her consulting company HERE