Which One Suites Your StartUp Business, Publicity or Advertising?

The process of building a startup company can seem difficult and make one feel intimidated and overwhelmed. It’s not so easy to convince people to buy into your new idea or solutions.

Building credibility for your business can be a tough venture. However it is very important for your customers to have trust in your brand. One of the ways of hacking this is through good publicity.

Publicity is the means of conveying information to the general public through the media. Media here being print media (newspapers, journals, magazine etc), television, radio, email, websites and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, blogs et cetera. With the aim to have the media attract the right attention for you.

Normally, publicity is done through a third party who may not have anything to do with the company,thereby their responses and reviews are given high weight. For instance consider going into television where you are featured because of the new product you have introduced or to give expert advice in line with your product. This gives you massive exposure at nearly no cost. It generates sales and creates awareness for your product.

With advertising, you pay for space or airtime so as to promote your product or service. This can be through print media, television, radio or billboards. This kind of marketing costs a lot of money and companies end up paying lots for this. It is a cost driven adventure, one which would be a hard nut to crack for startups.

So unlike advertising, with publicity we enjoy, a cut in expenses since it goes with nearly no cost and other benefits that come along with that.

How do we do this?

Here are some of the ways of doing this:

List events that may offer good speaking opportunities. Scout for such opportunities and use them wisely. Have you ever been into an event where the speaker spoke about a certain product or service, and then you later searched for more information about those companies? Well, that’s how this works.
Identify publications, reporters and bloggers who cover subjects that are relevant for your company. Offer good information that they can use for their releases. They quote you or an expert from your company and you hit the market. Be sure to prepare well and thorough. Write stories in their interest and offer it to them.
Event sponsorship. This is a great way to spread word of your product or service without actually organizing your own event. It’s a form of partnership where for a simple investment of funds you exchange for marketing. What’s important here is ensuring that the market targeted by the primary organizers is your target group too. Clearly know them and prepare accordingly.
Importance of publicity.

Publicity helps in building credibility and brand awareness putting you in a competitive position.
Publicity is the low cost or no cost strategy option.
Publicity can eventually help in the development of key partnerships.
Publicity places you as experts in your field.
It helps your business stand out and be noticed.
Be intentional.

Like all other things you have to be intentional about publicity. For instance if you have a story about maybe the solutions you offer and how they are better than your competitors, look for journalists. The work of journalists or bloggers is to find such stories. Make a call and present your pitch. When they say yes, this definitely becomes a plus for your business.

Used well, publicity can generate sales and place your business on the map.