Encore: How to Leverage Free Publicity to Boost Your Bottom Line

Let's talk about why free publicity matters.

It doesn't take much time on social media, driving down the street, going through your mail to understand that our world is completely flooded with ads, constant sales messages from different businesses that need something more powerful than paid promotional loan.

to build genuine connections with their audience.

When you think about something like reach, right? Like I'm paying for eyeballs, visibility with advertising.

Reach is literally like reaching out and touching someone.

It's not connecting with them.

That's really where PR comes in is that we want to connect with people, not just reach them.

And free publicity, unlike paid media coverage, is something that can deliver really powerful results for your business, but it can also help your business be seen, be respected, and ultimately be trusted through the endorsement of third-party voices.

And unlike ads, which can feel very transactional, I mean, ads are meant to be transactional, free publicity is much more authentic.

I love the way that business expert and shark Barbara Corcoran describes this.

This is a quote from her where she says, When The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal quotes you as an expert, it's far more powerful and convincing than you paying for a full page ad that's like $80,000 trumpeting you as the expert.

So when others talk about your brand, it really does help reinforce authority.

It helps create trust, and it sets you apart from your competition in a way that resonates deeply with potential customers.

In fact, 68% of consumers say they trust earned media mentions more than branded content or advertising.

Trust is so important when you are building a brand.

If you have a consumer's trust, it makes selling so much easier.

So let's pause for a moment.

So think about kind of like your own habits.

When's the last time you flipped through a magazine, saw an ad, and immediately ran to the store and bought something? Or you're scrolling on social media and you see an advertisement on social media, right? It's probably not common that you went straight from ad to purchase if you were initially unfamiliar with the brand.

Even at Factor PR, So when I get prospective clients that reach out to us, what they often tell me is like, oh, I saw you on Google or someone referred me to you.

And then I went and looked at your content.

I went through your content, liked what I saw, aligned with what I learned about you.

And then I reached out to you, right? So there's usually a step in between.

And that step is something related to building trust between consumer as well as brand too.

At its core, free publicity builds one of the most valuable assets for any business, and that is trust.