How To Get Press Coverage For Your Small Business
Public relations is key to gaining exposure for your brand and building awareness. Often small businesses can’t afford to outsource the service, but this shouldn’t stop you from doing your PR in-house. We’ll admit it’s a time-consuming process, but it’s important to keep your restaurant in the eye of key opinion leaders. Editorial coverage presents a huge gain for little cost and your business will reap the benefits in the short and long term, from brand awareness to booking spikes.
For all those can-do restauranteurs, we want to give you our top tips for gaining press coverage. With Sydney publication Eat Drink Play under our wing, our team sure knows a thing or two about how to gain media attention.
Identify the right media outlets
Identify the most prominent media outlets and journalists in your industry and reach out accordingly. If you want to gain coverage in the hospitality industry, we would have Eat Drink Play, Broadsheet, Concrete Playground, Sitchu, Time Out, Delicious, Gourmet Traveller and Good Food on your hit list. If you’re going to all this effort, you might as well reach the right people.
Introduce yourself & invite journalists to try your offering
It’s pivotal to build a relationship with journalists before you start asking them for editorial favours. Introduce yourself in a professional and friendly manner through email. Attach an updated press release of your restaurant offering and high-resolution images of the venue, food, beverages and team to give a great first impression.
We always suggest inviting journalists to visit your restaurant for a comp meal with a plus one (because no one likes to dine alone). From our own experience, it’s more likely we’ll consider your restaurant for editorial coverage if we know the offering is good. It can set you $300 out of pocket in the short term, however you are now in the front of the mind of key journalists and are more likely to gain editorial coverage that would have otherwise cost you thousands of dollars.
Be newsworthy
Journalists have hundreds of emails coming through their inbox each day and are usually looking for around 8-12 stories to slot into their newsletter each week. You need to make sure your offer is exciting enough to compete against a world-class chef opening a restaurant, or perhaps a new waterfront bar. Another option is to link your offer to an upcoming event, e.g. If Valentine’s Day is coming up, put forward a special offering as they’re most likely doing a round-up of the ‘Best Things To Do This Valentine’s Day’.
Create media release
Writing a media release can be quite daunting so we’ve broken it down into easily digestible steps for you.
Use an attention-grabbing headline
Share the key facts in the first paragraph
Keep it concise at around 400 words
Add in an informative quote
Include a release date
Put your contact details at the bottom
Attach high resoltuon imagery
Proofread for spelling and grammar mistakes
Lead time & follow up
Journalists tend to have their content calendar planned weeks in advance. Ensure to submit your offer at least three weeks prior to the event or launch date to give you the best chance at gaining coverage. We suggest waiting at least 3 days before following up on your email. Journalists are busy people and may not have even got to your email yet.
Persistence
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t receive coverage straight away. This regular contact with journalists helps to build your relationship and put your restaruant on their radar. There’s always a benefit from sharing your offerings, even if you don’t get coverage every time.
Need some one-on-one training on public relations or looking to outsource? Reach out to hello@darlingcrackles.com.au
