One of the goals of every firm is to acquire media coverage. Media attention helps a business prosper, specifically through online reputation. It creates awareness, so more people know about the company. It produces interest, as more people consider the firm and its products. It helps grow sales, as a media suggestion from a trustworthy source can convince consumers where all the commercials in the world cannot.
The trick is garnering media coverage is tricky. Media outlets rightly appreciate the influence they have and typically take one of two outlooks. Some of them omit all mentions of businesses outside of the news to avoid having to deal with conflicts of interest, biases, and the unpleasant world of SEO. Others embrace it and provide any business the option to generate media coverage…for a cost.
That price is often costly. You can be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a single piece of media. Moreover, while it’s on a media site, that piece of media will typically carry a prominent “Sponsored Content” sign somewhere on the item.
This is needed by law in several regions, and hidden advertising and non-disclosure of prejudice and conflict of interest damage the reliability of the journalism the media outlet does. Some are pretty concerned about this! Others, less so.
From a business standpoint, this leaves four alternatives.
You can try writing for the publication
Most media outlets hire writers, and many authors are also business proprietors. Most contributors to massive media businesses like Forbes — who aren’t journalists anyway – are business proprietors. Some of them publish generic articles on their niche to establish themselves as thought leaders. Others utilize it for self-promotion and hence don’t gain much exposure.
The main advantage is that you can do it yourself. You write, edit, come up with topics, and anything else; excellent if you can work in business mentions or links! But, in most cases, these media firms expressly prohibit self-promotion. The best you can hope for is a mention in your author profile.
The disadvantage of this strategy is the time it takes to acquire such a position. You must be notable enough to be a valuable addition to the media firm. To do this takes time. You’ll struggle unless you have deep personal links to the editors, other writers, or the newspaper in general.
Sponsored content may be purchased
Paid material is valuable and easy to obtain. All you have to do is write material according to the media company’s criteria. Pay for it, of course.
Paying for it is a significant issue for many. Small businesses rarely have the budget for high-end sponsored content, and the more economical options usually lack audience engagement or traffic. They can function for general links, but they are generally no-followed and hence useless for SEO. You mainly use them for awareness.
You can use sponsored content to do a sort of “press release” via the blog in a high-value venue if you can afford it. Sadly, most firms cannot afford it.
You can ignore all media coverage
In reality, dozens of businesses prosper every year without any sponsored material. Maybe the media coverage might help them, maybe not. A thousand aspects go into that calculation, including audience engagement, ROI, and more.
Would a corporation that avoids media attention benefit from it? Possibly. You can’t say yes or no because it depends on the firm, reputation, media outlet, style of coverage, and aims.
You are correct in assuming that none of these options are good selections. There is a fourth alternative, which is the most popular nowadays.
Pay a contributor
So, what? This is how it works:
• Choose a media outlet to be covered.
• Identify a writer who covers your industry and is likely to cover you.
• Contact that writer and get to know them.
• Offer to pay the writer if they cover your company within your budget.
Of course, this has been going on for a long time, so there are alternatives. Influencer marketplaces allow great writers to sell topic spots. You can even hire writers from Huffington Post and Forbes on Fiverr.
Paying a Writer Directly: Pros and Cons
This approach has many advantages. That’s why corporations and writers do it.
For starters, it’s generally far cheaper than equal media coverage in the form of sponsored content. A writer can charge a few hundred dollars instead of thousands as a media outlet. This is dependent on the writer, the media platform, and the business. Many options for freedom and choice exist.
Second, the author isn’t you. This saves time while also removing your name from the published text.
Consider the following. Whom will you trust more if they say Brand X is unique and you should buy their products? A weekly industry journalist or the company’s owner? The owner is biased, but the journalist is less likely to be. That’s how it appears. If they are paid to promote the brand, the prejudice is veiled.
Third, the content isn’t clearly labeled “Sponsored.” It’s a big one. Sponsored content is an advertisement; therefore, readers are more inclined to disregard it or distrust it. The media coverage will be questioned.
The audience is more likely to trust the identical content without the flag. Whereas sponsored content is normally no-followed, it may be possible to receive followed links.
This approach has a few significant disadvantages:
• Undisclosed advertising and other business relationships are prohibited. Some are stricter than others. Of course, they require the discovery of the relationship and legal action, which is rare. Also, it’s a civil matter, not a criminal one; therefore, the worst-case scenario is acceptable.
• It usually goes against the media outlet’s terms. The media outlet wants to seem unbiased or make money from sponsored content rather than providing it to the writers. The writer may be dismissed, and your company may be blocked.
• It varies. To reach a writer blindly, you must use a platform where the writer has indicated that they will accept the contract.
It’s not flawless, and many business owners are dubious about it. The negatives aren’t always as awful as they appear, and they’re infrequent.
Should You Use Paid Content?
Is it worth it to deal directly with authors, bypass editors and publishers, and receive media coverage in this way? Or should you use sponsored material or avoid it altogether?
It depends.
Sponsored content can be a good use of dollars if your company has the funding and track the results. The ideal circumstance is one where you get more than you put in. Unfortunately, you won’t know until you try it.
If you can’t afford sponsored content, you can contact the writer directly. If the writer is hesitant or unwilling to collaborate with you, it’s best to go through a platform rather than direct contact them. When it works, it saves money and time.
Despite the harsh penalties for being caught, it is difficult to be seen and punished. From the outside, it’s impossible to differentiate an honest recommendation from a purchased one. That’s the issue, and it’s hard to notice. It must be a leak from one of the parties. Of course, it can collapse violently. That’s the risk.
Is There Another Way?
Is there a medium ground between pricey and risking an administration ban or fine? Is there a way to pay for media coverage without the risks?
Yes! It’s called relationship development and influencer marketing.
First, choose the media outlets you want to target. Those publications’ writers and editors cover your sector, area, issue, and business strategy. This is your goal.
You start associating with your targets. Comment on their social media shares. Be relevant and engaging, so they notice you beyond the daily “nice article!” comments. Reach out to them with more profound comments, contributions, or to talk trends or give them advice.
Your purpose is to establish contact with them. Knowing you increase their likelihood of mentioning you or covering you in greater depth.
Conclusion
This all sounds rather laborious. Fortunately, we have a solution: let the professionals do it. The benefits of hiring an online reputation management business like ours to handle your outreach much outweigh the costs. For starters, we already know which media outlets are most beneficial to you and/or your company and which are a waste of time. We already know publishers, editors, writers, and journalists. We also know how to propose an issue without being biased, resulting in better coverage than you could achieve independently.