PR — public relations — has long played a powerful role in brand-building. Brands of all industries and sizes recognize that corporate reputation and brand appeal within the public domain is an essential asset for any organization.
Like marketing in general, PR is evolving, becoming increasingly digitalized and sophisticated. Today, a myriad of advanced PR tools exist for businesses to boost their brand both online and offline.
PR Tools for Small Businesses
Take a look at the following 10 PR tools designed to help promote your brand and extend its reach within your target market.
Bloggabase
Bloggabase helps improve marketer and blogger relations by providing marketers and brands with a simple way to find out what bloggers will and won’t write about. The forum connects bloggers with companies looking to promote their brand through product reviews and blog exposure.
Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
HARO enables brands to seek out journalists looking for stories to report on. Sources are sent out to a large database of journalists daily. HARO is an extremely effective way for brands to secure valuable media coverage.
Business Wire
Business Wire is a long-established PR tool, delivering multimedia news around the world for over 50 years. If your company has some important news it wants to share, simply send your press release to Business Wire, which will circulate your brand’s news through multimedia channels. You are able to track the results and effectiveness of the press release and refine your message if required on Business Wire.
My Blog U
My Blog U is an effective source for promoting quality content. It is comprised of a community of bloggers and writers interested in exchanging stories, case studies and digital expertise to help one another reach their desired targeted audiences. Brands can add their own projects to the My Blog U community and receive assistance with content angles, ideas, resources and exposure.
News Certified
News Certified was founded by journalists with the aim of providing story ideas to a global community of news outlets. The portal connects journalists with both story ideas and ready-to-interview experts. Brands can increase their public exposure by submitting their news to News Certified and allowing it to be picked up by qualified journalists.
Muck Rack
Muck Rack allows brands to discover journalists with ease, as you can search through the database by keywords, locations or topics covered. Firms also receive email alerts when a journalist mentions their brand via social media, meaning brands can respond to the mentions and capitalize on such exposure.
Media Kitty
Media Kitty is another platform designed to connect brands with top journalists in order to find placements for their news and brand exposure. Media Kitty has a large network of journalists on its database who are experts in many different fields, ranging from travel and hospitality to design and technology and just about everything in between!
Blog Dash
Blogger outreach is increasingly becoming an invaluable way for brands to increase online exposure and credibility in their fields by having their news published on external sites and sources. In fact, blogger outreach is widely considered one of the most effective methods of inbound marketing.
Blog Dash is an effective and efficient way for brands, marketers and companies to reach their target audience using blogger outreach. Blog Dash manages blogger outreach campaigns for brands, ensuring they benefit from premier positioning with articles created by the leading trend setters in a brand’s specific field.
PRWeb
Another invaluable tool for brands wanting to share pressing news about their company and enhance public relations is PRWeb. This popular press release distribution platform allows companies to create, distribute and track press releases.
By distributing a press release via PRWeb, organisations and brands can extend their reach and publicity on the internet across the search engines and on different blogs and websites.
PRWeb is a premium service offering a variety of packages for use of its tools. See more information on pricing here.
Radio Guest List
Radio should not be dismissed as an effective medium for promoting brand awareness and creating valuable PR.
Radio Guest List is an innovative platform for brands seeking to broaden their reach and promote their products and services. Similar to the way other platforms seek to connect brands with other media outlets, Radio Guest List links organisations with those working in radio, including producers, hosts of podcasts and broadcast journalists.
From providing contact information for leading journalists to uncovering media opportunities for greater exposure, a variety of tools can help your band spread its message to the world. Review the above list and pick the option best suited to your needs.
Team Meeting Photo via Shutterstock
