Traditionally, public relations (PR) has been thought of as a news vehicle that can do wonders for brand awareness, but not so much for lead generation. That’s actually a common misconception. 

PR is a unique and powerful tool that can actually do a lot to generate leads — if you follow these strategic steps.

1. Identify your target audience:

• • How is your business perceived? How do you want people to see your business?
  • What does your target audience care about, and where do they get their news and information?
  • How does your target audience spend their time?

Once you’ve answered those questions, create a list of media outlets that includes podcasts, news stations, newsletters and social media pages, which are frequently used by your target audience.

2. Position yourself as a thought leader.

What can you teach because you know it like the back of your hand? What makes you different? What are you passionate about outside of work? Is there a particular cause that matters most to you?

By answering those questions, you can make a list of topics that will help you…

3. Craft a go-to-media strategy.

Use the answers to those thought leadership questions to create compelling content for the media outlets you listed in step one. The goal is to promote your business, create buzz and build awareness that can be amplified across a number of channels — including social media, which uses algorithms to show your content to people who share similar interests with your followers. If you create content people engage with, the algorithm works even more to your advantage.

It’s important to note that social media isn’t just for promoting your content. Some outlets like LinkedIn enable you to write long-form posts or even full articles. 

Likewise, there are more ways to promote your content than just social media. You can use an email newsletter — or even simple links in an email signature — to point to content housed on your own website or any channel you want.

Whichever route you choose, make sure you follow search engine optimization (SEO) best practices by backlinking content to your website and vice versa. Search engines like Google factor both of those things into their rankings.

So how does it all translate into leads?

My company, Rosarium, has a client who launched a nonprofit. We promoted the launch by inviting the media and getting content in front of prospective guests. 

After the event, two local news outlets did a write up that discussed the amazing turnout and how the nonprofit would benefit the community. That publicity spurred a number of emails from people who wanted to get involved and partner with my clients on future initiatives. 

And even though the nonprofit had nothing to do with my clients’ actual business — and the media didn’t mention the company’s products — people who did an internet search on the client wound up learning about both the nonprofit and the business. 

So you see, the business enabled the nonprofit, and the nonprofit brought leads to the business. 

You can do the same thing. Just get quality content in front of the right people, and you’ll start getting leads before you know it.

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