Written by Melanie Rembrandt THE Small Business PR Expert – CEO at Rembrandt Communications
Get Ready for a Great, Holiday Season!
As we celebrate summer’s end and back-to-school, it’s time to dive into holiday marketing and think about small business PR ideas.
That’s right! While online and print advertising, email campaigns, and more may be at the top of your list, don’t forget about all of the public relations tools that can give you a competitive edge.
Here are…
5 Small Business PR Ideas to Help You Boost Sales By Year-End
1. Collect Unique Stories.
What are your employees doing when they are away from the office? It’s time to do some digging to uncover unique, personal stories that will set your business apart.
Are they involved in uncommon hobbies?
Do they volunteer at local shelters or travel to help others?
How did they end up at your organization?
Media members and customers love to hear about the people behind your business. Learn more about your employees, and you will find some interesting stories you can share. Not only will you be able to use this information to create case studies, marketing materials, emails, and more, you’ll also get to know your team members better!
2. Make Your Own News.
So you conduct tons of research, and well, your employees are pretty boring. If this is the case, it’s time to develop some newsworthy events of your own.
To start, contact a charity and see how you plan a joint event that helps the local community. There are numerous things you can do like have a fun race, yard sale, “adoption day,” costume or art contest, dog parade, and more.
Once you have a good idea, you can plan, promote and market your event accordingly. Not only will you build positive buzz and assist others, your employees will work together as a team outside of the office and develop stronger relationships.
3. Partner With Others.
Another idea is to contact other small business owners who sell products and services that complement yours and have a similar target-market.
For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you can partner with interior designers and moving companies. If you’re a plumber, you can work with shower/faucet manufacturers, carpenters, contractors, and more.
This way, you can develop events and promotions that serve the needs of your customers and share the time, effort and costs. Plus, you’ll likely get more publicity for an event if you have two businesses involved as opposed to one.
4. Start Writing.
When was the last time you offered your customers a valuable piece of content that makes their lives easier and provides solutions?
Think about what keeps them up at night and create things like a:
– Simple tip sheet that provides helpful information;
– Guide that spells out exactly how to use your products and services to solve various issues;
– Short video that answers their burning questions relative to your industry; and
– Series of emails or blogs that offers useful tips, expert insights and more.
Look at your customer’s online questions and complaints to develop various pieces of content that will help them. Then, publish the information and see what gets the best reaction.
5. Do Something Different.
Look at what your competition is doing, and then do something completely different!
What kind of events, newsworthy stories, marketing materials, online content, and more can you create that will stand out and get noticed by your targeted audience members and the press?
Hold brainstorming sessions with your team members and be open to all ideas. You can even hold a contest for your employees to develop marketing campaigns and give the winner a great prize. Be creative. You may be surprised at all the interesting concepts that develop!
Take Action!
These are just a few, small business PR ideas to help get your creative juices flowing for the busy, holiday season ahead. And while the next, few months may be filled with stress to meet deadlines and sales goals, it can also be a fun time filled with creativity and team-building events.
Develop unique personal stories and newsworthy, charitable events. Partner with other small businesses to create bigger campaigns and media buzz… and share the work and costs.
And most important, think of ways to provide valuable content to your target market that’s completely different than what others are doing.
This way, you can help others, get to know your team members and small business owners in the local area and actually enjoy the process. Plus, you’ll increase positive awareness and see sales soar by year-end.
About Guest Contributor: Author Melanie Rembrandt is known as THE small business PR expert. She helps boost sales, awareness and credibility fast via www.rembrandtwrites.com and her “Simplify Your Small Business” podcast on iTunes. Check out her site for free tips and information.
