Grabbing Media Attention To Grow Your Personal Brand
By Deepak V. Maddila
Understanding how people behave and getting them to feel a certain way and take a particular action is how I look at Public Relations as a whole. These people can be reporters and journalists, your customers, your internal team, stakeholders and anyone else you want to influence.
Personal Branding is the process of establishing an image for your target audience.
In this chapter, I’m going to talk about social media hacks that help will encourage reporters and journalists to reach out to you for an interview or a feature. I’ll also show you how to fine-tune your social media profiles so that journalists perceive you as an expert in your niche.
Get the Press to Approach You and Not the Other Way Around
I’m going to help you grab the attention of reporters using social media, primarily Facebook advertising, even on a minimal budget.
It can be straightforward when it comes to getting press. If you’re an expert in your industry, you’ll need to prove your expertise to the media outlets, who would want to feature you. Once they see you’re an expert in your field, and your niche is something they regularly cover, they’ll want to reach out to interview you. When they see posts or ads on Facebook that shows your expertise and the big name clients you’ve worked with or interviewed, they’ll understand that you’re great at what you do.
To implement this hack, you’ll need a beginner level understanding of Facebook Ads and how to set them up. It would be best if you were a content creator or someone ready to create content. You’ll also need a “Public Figure” Facebook Page that’s connected to your “Public Figure” Instagram Page.
Why Facebook Ads?
Facebook has advertising options parallel to none. Users are served Facebook Ads based on our interests, behaviors and the demographics we belong to. Facebook has collected data for many years and created the most powerful advertising tool available. Legend says Facebook knows us better than our spouse. Again, the purpose of this hack is to get a reporter or a media outlet to reach out to you.
Here’s the Step-by-Step Process
First, perform research to find which niche your story or message fits with and make a list of the media outlets you want to target. We’ll use Facebook ads to target people who work in these specific media outlets.
After opening ‘Ads Manager,’ click to the main menu on the top left. Click on ‘Assets,’ then click ‘Audiences’ (see images below).
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A new page will open, click on ‘Create Audience,’ then click ‘Saved Audience.’
In ‘Create a Saved Audience’ box, name your audience based on the niche or region, example: India, United States, etc. Find the ‘Detailed Targeting’ menu under options: Age, Gender and Languages.
Click ‘Browse’ in the ‘Detailed Targeting’ menu and unlock the vast array of options that Facebook Ads offer.
When you click ‘Demographics,’ you’ll see options like Education, Financial, Life Events, Parents, Relationships and Work. These options show the vast amount of data Facebook has collected about us. From our work backgrounds to our relationship status, Facebook knows almost everything.
Choose the ‘Work’ option and click ‘Employers.’
A search bar will open asking you to search for employers. Here you will use the Media list that you prepared earlier. Type the names of the media outlets and choose them as shown below. After selecting the ones you want, click ‘Create Audience’ and you will have successfully created and saved an audience full of media personnel. At the end of this explanation, I’ve provided lists of media outlets in India and the United States.
Your next step is to create posts that builds your authority. Your aim is to attract the reporters’ attention, first think about your content from a reporter’s perspective.
What kind of posts will grab their attention and compel them to reach out to you? These posts can be about a major influencer who vouches for you, summarizing your previous press features, an interview you have done with an industry leader, a short one-minute video message that gels with current newsworthy trends.
When it comes to length, short, one-minute videos work best. Humans have short attention spans, which is why Snapchat and Instagram stories are a huge hit. When creating your video, use the first three seconds to hook the viewer, 3-15 seconds to communicate the problem and opportunity, and during the last ten-seconds encourage them to take action with a ‘call to action’.
Choose four posts that perform well with your organic reach and click on ‘Boost Post’ at the bottom right of every post on your Facebook Page.
When the boost post box opens, choose the objective of your post, either send them to your Website or the Contact or Media/Press page. Choose your ‘Saved Audience’ and set your budget at $1.00 or Rs. 70, then click the ‘Boost’ button and the ad will go live within a few minutes.
Choosing a minimal budget is what makes this hack so effective. It gives you exposure to the elite media houses on a limited budget. My mentor, Dennis Yu, CEO of Blitzmetrics, named this: ‘Dollar-a-Day Strategy’.
The great thing about this hack is that it works with all social media channels, even LinkedIn. When it comes to LinkedIn, you can use a similar strategy via paid ads or you can gain from the enormous organic traction that LinkedIn is having right now. Add reporters and journalists to your connections and create compelling posts to grab their attention.
“Understanding behavior, getting people to feel a particular way and take a specific action is Public Relations.” #PublicRelations #TheGrowthHackingBook #GrowthHackingMovement #GrowthHackingDay
Important media outlets found in the Employer section of the Facebook Ads tool:
Indian Media Houses
US Media Houses
By using this strategy, you will position yourself as an authority figure in the eyes of the media. When they visit your profile page, they will see you as an expert, providing you have created it in a way that positions you as an expert.
Fine Tune Your Social Media Profiles:
Social Media Profile: Your profile has to communicate your personality as well as showcase your industry authority.
Headshot: A professional headshot image communicates your confidence. It creates a feeling of trust and helps people believe in you when they visit your profile. Avoid pictures where you are far in the background and can’t be seen. Your face should occupy 60% of the image. A good headshot profile picture is an excellent way to display your professionalism.
Achievements Over Titles in Your Biography: After seeing your profile picture, reporters and other people view your biography. Reporters value achievements and accomplishments over titles. Some people have a terrible habit of showcasing their roles and leaving it there. Instead, mention your achievements first and write about your title and role later.
First Three Posts: After going through your bio, if they are still interested, they will view your posts. Your first three posts are vital so make sure you are talking about your industry and any recent achievements of yours, with wins first. Remove temporary updates or posts from your profile. A significant achievement may compel them to engage with your post. Later, you can direct message them and start a conversation.
I hope these strategies help you in growing your business and gaining more press coverage. Social Media is where a lot of consumers spend their time, which makes it a great tool for getting the attention of the media. News updates, including breaking news, is now first shared on social media and reporters are connecting with various experts online through social media to learn more about them and the products and services they offer. Leveraging social media to share your message can attract many new opportunities for your business, grow your brand and help get you featured by the press.