Understanding Niche Publicity
BY Marcia Yudkin
Everyone keeps their radio tuned to station WIIFM -
What's In It For Me. This fact and its implications
hold a valuable secret for multiplying publicity
opportunities.
Let's put ourselves first in the position of the
editor of a magazine for floral shops. His assistant
has collected the day's press releases for him, and he
gives each headline a scan before either reading more
carefully or tossing it. His foremost concern during
his five-second screen: Is this relevant to florists,
my readers?
Naturally anything with the word "florists" or
"flowers" in the headline commands a thorough read.
And since his readers all own or operate a small
business, anything with "small business" in the
headline catches his attention as well. Without these
key words or phrases in the headline, the editor is
forced to translate, to think whether a general
message about a trend, a law, a new service or an
event holds significance for her market.
Likewise, when the editor of a portal site for
financial service professionals peruses the day's
business releases, anything with "finance" or better
yet, "financial professionals" compels her to click
through. In browsing mode, her brain might not think
quickly enough to see "E-Learning Grew 40% in 2001,
Expected to Double in 2002" and understand that this
relates to her readers' ability to obtain continuing
education more cheaply and efficiently. However, if
she saw "Financial Services Professionals Keep Skills
Tuned Through Rising E-Learning Trend," she wouldn't
ever ignore it.
Now let's explore what this means for the smart
publicity seeker. If you want to maximize your media
coverage, begin by making a list of professions,
industries or consumer segments that would benefit
from what you're promoting. Then craft a general press
release and change the headline and at least part of
the contents for each niche so that the
relevance to that group jumps out unmistakably.
For instance, a few years ago a client of mine
released a new video on the home and family life of
the Amish. I watched the video and took notes on the
kinds of magazines that would be interested in
different aspects of the material, then fashioned a
headline for each angle. The reference to "happiest"
in three of the headlines refers to a scientific study
mentioned in the video narration.
1. Travel - New video, "Amish Values & Virtues...
Plain & Simple," reveals the everyday life of
America's happiest, most picturesque community
2. Country - New video, "Amish Values & Virtues...
Plain & Simple," reveals the beliefs underlying
America's happiest rural lifestyle
3. Parenting - New video, "Amish Values & Virtues...
Plain & Simple," reveals the child-rearing practices
underlying America's happiest lifestyle
4. Christian - New video, "Amish Values & Virtues...
Plain & Simple," shows Christian values shaping a way
of life.
About half of the release text stayed unchanged from
version to version, and the rest elaborated on the
travel, country, parenting or Christian content.
Thanks to the niching, this video took off faster than
any of my clients' previous releases.
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More Great Articles by Marcia Yudkin
Marcia Yudkin marcia@yudkin.com is the author of the newly updated classic guide, 6 Steps to Free Publicity
(Career Press), and 10 other books. She has helped
clients achieve publicity everywhere from the Wall
Street Journal to the National Enquirer, from the
Today Show to local news broadcasts, and she herself
has been featured in Success Magazine,
Entrepreneur, Home Office Computing, Working Woman,
scores of major newspapers all over the U.S. and four
times in the Sunday Boston Globe. She performs press
release makeovers and other publicity services through
http://www.pressreleasehelp.com
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