During the week I asked my friends and my Facebook group: What they would do next after their business was featured on national tv. I was wondering how and if businesses had thought about maximising their media coverage. The results were interesting.

For most it would be their first media coverage and to be honest, it can be daunting. While not necessarily press coverage, I remember seeing my first piece of associated press and not only was I over the moon, but I was completely daunted by the company I was keeping. Seems my reactions were not dissimilar to those I asked.

Most small business owners said that they would celebrate, cry, scream; essentially we all run through a range of emotions. Which is perfectly normal when we get that first media coverage, but then what? How do the best small business maximise their media coverage?

Get your website ready to cope with the media coverage

Some of the people said they’d check to make sure that their website could handle the increased traffic after receiving the press coverage. While the ability to handle the load is important, you need to maximise the press coverage too. Here are a few tips to ensure your website is ready not just for the rush of customers but the associated press too:
– add a link to your media page
– add excerpts to your media page
– add excerpts to other pages or blog posts
– add their logo to your site to say “As seen in”

By adding these points through your site, you maximise the kudos appearing in the media has and it shows associated press that you are interested and will share their press coverage.

Share the press coverage

Only one person said that they would upload it to their social media, they said their Facebook business page first and then their Instagram. No one mentioned uploading the media coverage to YouTube.

The thing is you can’t and shouldn’t just share the press coverage once to each channel and forget it. Here are some ideas:
– share the whole piece of media coverage
– share screenshots with quotes taken from the piece
– share excerpts of your press coverage
– share the story from the media outlet’s channels
– thank and participate in conversations about your media coverage, and

do all of these across all of your social media channels a number of times. The amazing thing about social media, is that your fans will celebrate your media coverage with you and won’t mind if you mix things up and keep your social media posts relevant and engaging. So ask them to share!

Don’t forget to share with your email list too!

Chase associated press coverage

It might seem odd but it’s easier to get press coverage once you’ve already had it. Now you might not get good results straight away and pitching the same story generally has little appeal to associated press, but you need to strike and set seeds while your name is still buzzing.

There are a few ways small business can get their business ideas in front of associated press channels. You can call or email the appropriate desks in the media outlet. You can also monitor sites such as Help A Reporter Out (HARO) and Sourcebottle, where journalists post opportunities to be featured in the media. If you’d like to read more on media pitches, have a read of my interview with Kellie O’Brien.

Write a note to the journalist who featured you. A personal note of thanks is rare and shows that you took the time to put pen to paper and appreciate their work.

In the end, your first media coverage can be daunting but it’s important for the best small business to maximise the spotlight and put their business ideas out there. This media coverage affords you the opportunity to grow your small business and the best small business will run with these opportunities. Media coverage is part of achieving your business goals and growing your business and perhaps if you’re not sure what you’d do if the spotlight was turned on you then you might want to consider getting clear on your business goals and what you would do if you were featured in your local press.

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