We learned a few years ago that even if a publication's focus is somewhat outside a client's sector, that doesn't mean that the resulting article won't faithfully demonstrate your skills and abilities.
A good example of this is an article we facilitated for a client who is a general manager of a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City:
One of the Features in his campaign actually appeared in a publication with a technology and business focus.
The angle of the article was "Tips for your C-Suite From A High-Stakes Restaurant GM" or something along those lines.
Though the publication didn't exclusively cover hospitality, the client's feature was both relevant to the publication and helpful in showing off his skills. It allowed the client to be visible to a whole new audience and to this day is one of the more unique articles we've facilitated.
It would've never happened if we'd said 'no' to the publication because they had a tech (vs. hospitality) focus!
What’s important to us for the publications we secure placements with is they’re well written, with great attention to detail that highlights your accomplishments.
We certainly don't expect them to be perfect, but at least something good is bound to come of the placement: Something good for the client and the publication.
What matters most? Surprisingly it’s not all about just what a publication publishes, as we said before, a well-niched blog can still cover things outside of its domain of expertise.
Let’s go over the most important factors that actually help you with your online presence:
Having content about you, even on a major media outlet, can be a double-edged sword if the content is poorly written or crafted to make you look bad.
This is especially true if you're concerned about your digital reputation and the damage that can be done. If the content is poorly written, people are more likely to spread it more quickly, spreading your content to just about everyone.
This is especially problematic on a major media outlet, where a website could potentially reach millions of people and would do so at an exponential rate.
You can absolutely and positively be rewarded if you produce great content, but you will have to spend time and effort working on it. This time can take away from other things in your life, like family time, a fun vacation, etc.
But as we will get to later, many top PR professionals have abandoned traditional media outlets for more niche publications that focus on the content and not the sales aspect.
You can have a great presence and brand that many may relate to, but unless there's a sizable and engaged audience that will come across it, PR won't be very effective.
There are a lot of small websites and blogs that can allow you to reach a large audience on these sites. And these audiences tend to be more engaged with specific niches than other more general blogs.
Also, direct readership isn't even the most important variable.
Sometimes you just need the blog to be highly trafficked for it to be considered a reputable source. If the blog is considered a reputable source, this will increase the chances that the article you are featured in is likely to come up when someone searches Google for your name or brand.
One of the most important aspects of having a great piece of content about you or your brand online is the fact that people can search your name and find that piece of content instantly.
A well-optimized blog will know how to format the content, optimize their blog and make sure that your article reaches the Google SERPs quickly and efficiently.
Everyone wants to be featured in the top-tiered magazines—we get it. NY Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone—the list goes on with legacy media players that would be great to be featured in.
But we are here to tell you as well that getting featured in one of these publications isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Here are some potential downsides for holding out for these major media outlets:
Paying a PR company that has contacts at one of these magazines, or even getting mentioned in the sponsored posts can easily get in the tens of thousands of dollars.
And even then, you are not guaranteed to be featured. Publications change up their priorities all the time and your feature article or mention may end up getting cut.
You may be waiting weeks and months on false promises that your article will go live when in the end they decide to pull the plug entirely.
When it does go live, it may even contain errors or insignificant details that you’d wish to remove. And that removal process may be just as slow or not even possible.
Public relations is a game that may change as often as the Internet itself.
Online media is extremely powerful and search engine optimization is always going to be a necessity to get your name and your brand seen.
If you have reached a certain level of success you will have an edge over your competitors and this can mean great things are in store for you!
