76% of consumers search for a company’s online presence before going to a physical location. Regardless of industry and size, your company has no choice but to build trust online.
How do you build this trust?
Well, one of the best practices is to guest post on top-tier publications such as TechCrunch, Forbes, and WSJ. The same applies to industry-specific media outlets.
Yet, these results aren’t won with a walk in the park. As Conrad Egusa, CEO of Publicize says, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” Knowing that you have something different to say and laying it out in a bulletproof pitch to storm the gates of top-tier media takes practice. The good news is that boosting creativity can allow you to get there more easily.
The question is – what do we really mean by ‘creativity’? And how does it reward you in the hunt for front-and-center features in the world’s most prestigious media?
First, a note on creativity
Creativity might be daunting for many, but let us tell you that it doesn’t have to be.
After all, it’s just about combining two different things and producing something new. Take a joke that made you laugh, for instance. It was nothing more than bringing two unrelated thoughts together humorously. Or look at jazz music. It emerged from a blend of various types of music.
So how is this related to securing better PR results and increasing your online presence?
Well, top-tier publications are well-respected because they provide their audience with unique stories and the latest news. The ability to connect various topics will help you find the distinctive angle you need to secure your spot on their landing pages.
Blending ideas together will help you stand out from the competition
For one, creativity in PR is a non-negotiable as it wins placements. Bear in mind that journalists and editors of top-tier media outlets are bombarded with hundreds of emails and pitches every day. And associational thinking can draw the line between getting left on reading and success. To illustrate this, let’s take a look at two ways that we can convey the same message:
Case 1: Intention & Purpose
There is a maze of challenges for people with disabilities in the modern world: They are more likely to be unemployed, face pay gap issues, and lose their jobs than people without disabilities.
The Co-founder of Company X, a startup aiming to make the world’s software more accessible by providing a suite of integrated tools, is on a mission to make the world of work accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. She is interested in demonstrating how employers may unconsciously be excluding people despite their best intentions.
Case 2: Emotion & Attention
When Israeli minister Karine Elharrar tried to attend COP26, she waited outside for two hours before returning to her hotel 50 miles away because the venue couldn’t accommodate her being in a wheelchair.
While Elharrar’s story sent shockwaves through the summit, it highlights how easily accessibility is overlooked. The Co-founder of Company X believes that if the organizers of one of the most prestigious events in the world make this mistake, so do businesses.
Company X is a startup making the world’s software more accessible by providing a suite of integrated tools for software designers and developers. The Co-founder has been published in Forbes and TechCrunch and would be interested in discussing how tech companies are unconsciously excluding people with disabilities.
By linking a trending issue with a real-life example of a common problem or solution, businesses can show journalists the bigger issue at play and have more chances of grabbing their attention. That’s exactly why the second pitch enabled our team to score a guest article opportunity in Harvard Business Review, which has over 10 million monthly visitors.
How to foster creativity to get top-tier media coverage
The journey of boosting creativity starts by breaking your thinking patterns. This means staying open-minded and knowing things aren’t always what they seem.
For instance, one of the world’s most famous broadcasting companies published a story about eggs at Easter. You might think there’s nothing newsworthy about them, but BBC knew how to make something as simple as eggs intriguing.
Rather than seeing Easter eggs from a traditional viewpoint, BBC dove deeper into the importance of eggs, how they were at the center of creation stories in ancient civilizations, and how their shape has inspired artists and architects before getting to the main point. “At Easter, the egg will always come first.” And the result was a success—the video, Do eggs contain the secrets of the universe, got more than 240k views.
Before writing an article or a pitch, aim to see your topic through a different lens—be it historical, feminist, psychological, cultural, moral, philosophical, or symbolic. This way, you can show your audience there’s a bigger picture and tell your story in a unique, engaging, and memorable way while catching the eyes of A-list editors and journalists.
Combine two subjects from unrelated industries
Suppose you own an accounting company and pitch a story about accounting trends for 2023. In that case, you’re likely to mention how automation of accounting tasks, such as month-end closing processes, can help companies save time and money. However, a quick Google search can show everyone is already talking about it.
Instead, you can connect HR trends with accounting trends. 60% of employees opt for remote work, and automation of accounting can help finance departments work from home more efficiently. This way, companies can retain talent while saving time and money. Although the message is the same, you offer your readers a fresh perspective by blending topics from different industries.
To improve this technique, sign up for a variety of newsletters, such as Next Draft and WSJ, to stay up to date with what’s happening around the world. No matter what you read, ask yourself these questions:
- Is this going to affect my business positively or negatively?
- Can it change the way my customers behave?
- Is it a buzzing topic? If so, how can I use this to tell my story or solve a problem?
Wrapping up
Boosting creativity is core to producing high-quality pitches and articles. At first, the process might be intimidating but remember: The more you try to combine unrelated ideas, the better and faster you’ll get at generating unique ideas that’ll allow you to get top-tier PR results and build trust online.
Contact us now if you’re looking for effective PR strategies to increase your online presence.
