Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 31

never heard of any industry technical terms
still understand why your announcement is
important? You should focus on the benefits
for your customers, the local economy,
employees, etc.
If it's really big news, you may want to pay
to put the press release out through a wire
service such as BusinessWire or PR Newswire.
There are also a number of free online
press release distribution services. In many
instances, though, you can just email the
announcement to your media contacts and
offer to arrange an interview with a company
executive and/or customer for more details.
What if I Don't Have Anything to Say?
It's easy to think that your little business
doesn't have anything media worthy to say.
After all, you're in the trenches every day
and the projects you are working on seem
pretty routine. It's important to remember
that to people outside your industry, what
you take for granted can seem pretty interesting.
It's all about how you position it.
Here are a few examples of the content
you should share with your media partners:
News: This is probably the easiest category
to identify - when you have hard news
to share. Maybe you are expanding your
facility, hiring a number of new employees,
starting a big new project, securing new
investors or bringing on a new executive.
These are all very specific pieces of news
that warrant a press release.
Press releases are written following a
specific format. You can find examples
and templates online. The biggest advice
I would give is to make sure that your
message is clear. Would someone who
has no idea what an integrator is and has
commercialintegrator.com
Hot Topics: A great way to get into media
coverage is to keep an eye on what topics
seem to be hot at any given time. These
days, there is of course a lot of discussion
about enabling remote work. If your
company has been building out videoconferencing
and remote work solutions for
clients - you have something important to
say on this topic.
Too often, the media is contacted only by
manufacturers who want to talk about their
products. What the reporters really want is
examples of how real companies are using
the technology. You could put together a
" media pitch " describing the critical role
you play in designing and building remote
work solutions. It would be important to
be able to offer not just an interview with
an executive from your company but also
someone from your customer.
The best way you can ensure media coverage
is to pull together all of the elements
of the story for the reporter. When you
have a detailed pitch about the story idea,
your company executive available and also
a customer to interview, your chances of
success increase tenfold.
Thought Leadership: Being considered a
thought leader in your industry isn't going
to just happen like magic. There is usually
a strategy in place for the people and companies
that reach this level. Some of the
elements of this type of plan include:
› Select an executive from your team
who is generally well spoken and would
enjoy spending time with the media over
the next few months and years. Picking
someone on the executive team who would
view a press interview on the same level
as a root canal is counterproductive. Try to
find someone who has some interest in the
role even if they are inexperienced. You can
hire a consultant to conduct media training
to get their skills up to snuff.
› Identify a couple of topics where your
company and executive have an opinion
about where the industry is headed and
how success will be achieved. You want to
work out some key messages long before
the first interview.
› Reach out to media contacts as you
would with a hot topic. The focus, though,
will be more on your executive's visions
rather than a specific project example.
› Investigate speaking opportunities at
industry events whether they are in-person or
virtual - including opportunities to participate
in webinars. The manufacturers you
work with likely have robust PR programs and
may be looking for partners who can speak
about specific implementations. You can
also keep an eye out for the Call for Speakers
announcements for industry events.
Bringing It All Together
Public relations is another of what I have
referred to previously as a " top of funnel "
marketing strategies. It is a way to cast a
wide net to attract potential customers. At
this point in the marketing funnel, you are
trying to catch the eye of prospects but it
is often a long road from initial exposure to
your brand to a final purchase.
The most likely action a prospect will take
after reading about your company in media
coverage is to visit your website. It's extremely
important that your website clearly
communicate your company's areas of
expertise and how you stand out from the
competition. You also want to have some
lead generation activities on the site so you
can capture visitors' contact information.
You should have a couple of educational
downloads available on the site behind
a registration wall. You could also offer
an email newsletter as well as occasional
webcasts that would also require registration.
After putting so much effort into
your public relations plans, it's critical that
when someone gets to your website you
have a mechanism to collect their contact
information. CI
JANUARY 2021 Commercial Integrator
31
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Commercial Integrator January 2021

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