How to Get Publicity: You Invested in a Professional Video, Now What?
Many people know video is a great digital marketing tool, but what if no one comes knocking your door down once you’ve made one? Today we’ll suggest how you can gain more exposure based on where you are in your publicity journey.
Image via: Jonah De Oliveira
Last week I attended a three-part publicity video series with Selena Soo, a publicity expert who supports people and their journey to publicity. I really love her perspective when it comes to this topic because she started similar to many of us – intimidated to put herself out there, to be on camera, or to speak in front of large audiences. (For the rest of you who love public speaking, drop a helpful comment below). But Soo emphasizes publicity as an opportunity to share your unique expertise and story to help others.
If you’re here because you’ve been consistently investing in producing content to promote yourself, such as professional videos, blogs, and other content, but still no one is flooding your site or blowing up your inbox, then this blog is going to help you change that. And, you’ll be happy to know all the work you’ve already put in is the first step in starting your publicity journey.
Note: I use “you” interchangeably with what could mean your business, organization, Services, Art, etc. throughout this text.
“Publicity is a modern tool used to share our passions, expertise and message to help others.”
Exposure and Publicity
Exposure will vary based on where and how you get featured. Take a look at the Publicity Pyramid below, as provided by Selena Soo, to help you visualize the course and different levels of publicity.
PUBLICITY PYRAMID:
Television
Magazines
Podcasts & Videos
Guest Posts
Your Online Presence
Your online presence is where the publicity journey typically begins (bottom), whereas T.V. is the ultimate publicity opportunity because it generally has the most significant reach (top). One level can prepare you and give you the right accolades to reach the next level.
Pinpoint where you are on the pyramid, where you'd like to go, and then focus on the best path to venture forward; every business will be different, each path unique. To give you suggestions on your publicity path, we'll start from the bottom of the pyramid and work to the top.
Your Online Presence
Image via KOBU Agency
Your online presence is the public visibility and profile that you build for yourself. It's a necessary foundation for publicity for two reasons. The first is to help you get the publicity opportunities. The people you contact to write a guest post or get on their podcast will search you up and use your online presence to decide if you're a good fit for their audience. You should have quality content for them to learn more about you, your company, products — or whatever your thing is. And the second reason having a quality online presence is vital is that you need to hook the people who come to your site and socials once they discover you.
As I mentioned earlier, if you've already built a website with high-quality videos, informative blogs, resources, and more, then you're that much closer to publicity. However, if you're at the start of building an online presence or would like to beef it up, here are a handful of ways to grow a professional online presence:
Website
Blogging
Newsletters
Courses
Social media pages
LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, or other relevant accounts
Producing quality, informative, or promotional videos, podcasts, and other media
Representation of your products and services
Reviews, testimonials, certificates, awards, other accolades
Once you've built a solid online presence through your channels, it's time to put yourself out there and get publicity.
Guest Posts
Guest posts are the perfect place to start putting yourself in front of another's audience. They are essentially engaging blog posts you pitch and write for other industry-related websites. These alone can give you massive reach. You have the opportunity to hook new readers and drive traffic to your website, where you can grow your email list and customers. (Selena Soo’s program teaches you how to contact people when pitching and to whom you should send the message).
Podcasts and Videos
Image via: Austin Distel
Podcasts give you anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes to share your industry expertise with a new audience. You have the opportunity to have a candid conversation and have your voice heard. People get to know you better this way and can relate to you easier. Sometimes podcast audiences can be in the tens of thousands — can you imagine how that could impact your business?
Magazines
Being in print magazines is a huge accomplishment and can do wonders for your business. But how the heck do you get into a magazine? Creating a name for yourself (aka your company, products, services, etc.) and building interest in your story and expertise through the above outlets will make you more alluring to highlight.
Television
Image via: Jonah De Oliveira
Again, getting a T.V. interview is the topmost publicity opportunity because of the visibility it lends. The previous channels will help you grow the reputation and community of supporters to give you a greater chance of landing an interview spot on T.V. These are much shorter, generally between 3-7 minutes. You have a short amount of time to pack a punch by sharing the most potent details of who you are and what you’re offering.
Even in the television space, it’s better to start small and continue building up. Begin by contacting local media and other regional outlets to feature you before aiming for a national feature like Good Morning America.
Where do I get publicity from?
Now, how to find and choose the right places to pitch yourself? Selena Soo gave the best advice: search up your industry leaders, the people you learn from, and look up to, and see where they're featured.
Guest Posts: what online magazines and websites have they written for?
Podcasts & Videos: where have they been a guest on a podcast, on a YouTube channel, or in other videos?
Magazines: what are the different magazines that have written about them?
Television: where have they appeared on T.V.?
This information is most often available for any particular industry leader on their website under their media tab. Beyond that, you can learn more about how to pitch yourself by digging into the details of their features.
What kind of guest posts did they write?
What makes their story so compelling?
What did their publicity features focus on?
How should you give a professional CTA to these new readers, listeners, or viewers?
In Summary,
The opportunity to get in front of more audiences can have a tremendous effect on your business. But unless you’re an overnight sensation, publicity takes time. So, start with fleshing out your public identity before taking the subsequent steps to get more visibility. Remember, you want to be ready for more eyes on your website and online presence when they come. Do your research and find the outlets that will get you in front of the right people to share your thing.
Selena Soo was the inspiration for this post, so I’d like to give her one last shoutout. If you’re interested in gaining WAY more insight and expert guidance on your publicity journey, I recommend checking out Selena. She’s offering her Impacting Millions publicity program right now. You can still enroll through this Friday (3.25.22).
(Not sponsored or in partnership with her, but just love her stuff)
Need high-quality videos to hook your website visitors?
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