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As PR professionals, you've probably had many occasions that you've created a masterpiece of writing and had it placed in a journal, newspaper or trade magazine. The article captures the essence of your product, service or company as well as its purpose. It answers frequently answered questions, explains the business and is thought-provoking as well as remark-able. If you've left it at that, you're wasting a huge opportunity to leverage your article long after its publication.
Articles can be many times more valuable after they were first published than they were being published the first time. The printed word is powerful and persuasive. People will read and believe your article, simply because it was in print.You can leverage this in a multitude of situations. Use it to open a conversation, back up something you're saying, close a sale, block an objection, get someone to call you, etc.
Here's a list of 5 great ways to put the fruits of your PR labors to work!
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Use articles to handle sales objections
Work the solution to a common sales objection into your article (without making the message point sound too self-serving), and voila, you have a quote for your sales people, in print. Then your sales people can let the article handle the objection much better than they themselves could possibly do it.
The magazine that publishes the article is an objective third party. Let objective third parties handle objections whenever possible. The prospect will believe the answer more if it comes from an objective third party than if it came from you.
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Send articles to existing dealer and manufacturer's rep network
Dealers and reps love to sell products from companies that are “in the news”. They feel more confident when they can suggest solutions that are “in the news”. It gives them the feeling that they are “backed up” by you, not out there on their own.
One of the challenges of dealing with this distribution channel is that they are often carrying many competitive products. Sending them articles in reusable form suitable for presentation does two things. First, it keeps you at the top of their mind, and secondly, it gives them credibility with their own customers.
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Send articles to potential dealers and manufacturing reps
If you're still working on establishing your dealer or rep network (and who isn't?), send articles to your prospective dealers and reps. They'll be more likely to start carrying your product if they see you in the news, backing up your dealer network.
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Make a prominent display of your articles in your trade show booth
Put out your press book if you have one. Use the articles to lure people into your booth. Be sure to have a place where people can sit and read articles in your booth. Summarize with a caption what each article says, so the reader doesn't have to read entire articles. Pass out a recent article as people walk by the booth but don't stop. As you hand them out, make some statement like: “Read how XYZ Corp is taking the industry by storm with its new valve assembly.” The article will go into their trade show bag to be read later.
The chances of a trade show attendee reading your article instead of reading the advertising in their bag is about 6 times greater, according to a recent survey.
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Use the articles to establish credibility among your telemarketers
Send articles out before or after the first call along with warm-up letters. There are times when people are interested in what your telemarketers have to say, but they lack credibility. If you get mentioned in Forbes, for instance, you can open the call with: “I'm calling you about a product that was recently mentioned in Forbes Magazine as a price leader in its category. Assuming that there's some potential for a fit with your product or service, you'll have instant credibility and a curiosity on the part of the person called as well as a desire to hear more.
Request the whitepaper using the form on the right and get all 25 uses for your PR articles!
