This is a guest post by Lisa Simone Richards, a publicity expert for fitness, health and wellness-preneurs.
Collecting ‘As Seen On’ media logos for their website is a huge goal for a number of coaches in the health and wellness space.
When a potential client logs onto your site and sees that you’ve been featured in major media like SELF, SHAPE, or mindbodygreen, you build instant trust and credibility in your brand. Not to mention that editorial coverage in these kinds of publications is typically free!
But without a personal publicist on hand, how can you go about getting this kind of media coverage for your health coaching business?
There are a lot of myths around getting featured as an expert in the media, but the truth is you don’t need to hire fancy, expensive PR or pay thousands of dollars for access to a media database.
With a bit of social sleuthing, in just 10 minutes a day it’s totally possible to find and establish media relationships that can build buzz, brand awareness, and ultimately lead to press coverage that puts you in front of your perfect target client.
How To Use Social Media To Get PR For Your Business
Wanna know a secret that not a lot of publicists want to share?
Between Twitter, LinkedIn and Google, you can pretty much find and connect with any media gatekeeper, whether that’s a journalist, editor, writer, blogger or producer.
Establishing relationships with these individuals is the perfect first step, before pitching yourself or your brand for coverage.
Once you’ve decided on your desired media outlet to get coverage in, here are the next steps you’ll want to take:
Find and Follow
Follow your target media outlet on social networks – like their page on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and any other relevant network
Figure out exactly which editor or producer covers health, nutrition or lifestyle content. An easy way to do this is to do a google search and review the content they’ve created in the past
A lot of people overlook the handy-dandy search function in Twitter. For example, if your goal is to get featured in Shape magazine, type ‘nutrition editor Shape’ into the search bar, and then click on ‘Accounts’. Editor Marnie Schwartz comes up and you’ve found your contact!
I always recommend creating a private Twitter list to find and follow all of your target contacts and check it daily – media often use Twitter to share their latest content and reach out looking for sources.
Engage and Befriend
Make a point of engaging with the media on your private Twitter list daily – whether that’s to retweet their content, answer a query they may have, or comment on their latest articles. Consistent engagement definitely does not go unnoticed! Who doesn’t love when someone champions their work?!
Are they tweeting about something personal? Maybe sharing a picture of their pet or news about their kids at school? Comment on that too!
One of my BEST media relationships came from bonding with a national newspaper editor over a mutual love for our cats – not only did we connect based on that, but my clients got featured in her section of the newspaper every few months because our relationship moved from professional to personal (we’re still great friends six years later). Whenever she needed health content, since we were friends she was happier to feature me and my clients over a stranger’s or from a cold pitch
Pitch!
Now that you’re engaging with these sources semi-regularly from a genuine and authentic place, you have an in to make a pitch, whether that’s being interviewed as an expert or suggesting a story that would be super informative to your audience, highlighting your business where it fits into the story
Getting featured in the media isn’t reserved for a special few – social networks make it super easy to find every health and wellness coach to connect with the right contacts and get positioned for media coverage.
The beauty about press features is that media tends to beget media, get coverage once and your next press opportunity will be easier to secure!
Curious what to do and what specifically not to do when engaging with the media? Check out this post on 30 Social Media Dos And Don’ts.
About Lisa
Lisa Simone Richards is a publicity expert for fitness, health and wellness-preneurs who want to see themselves and their businesses featured in magazines, on TV and around the web.
As the principal of PR agency Vitality PR & Communications in Toronto and the creator of Make Media Friends, an online PR school for health, fitness and wellness entrepreneurs, she’s here to teach you how to connect with the right media personalities and use the power of publicity to get your brand in the spotlight and attract your perfect clients.
PS. Looking to promote your services on social media? Then don’t miss grabbing my FREE Done-For-You Social Media Swipe File by clicking the button below!
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