You have a great project that you know would be a hit if only people would see it. But posting on social media and sending cold-call emails hasn’t worked. So what now?
From apps to albums, promoting a project independently can be time-consuming, grueling work. When you’re doing everything yourself, you have less time and resources available to you compared to full-timers. Despite this, you want to run an effective PR campaign to get people invested in your project.
So how do you run a successful campaign by yourself?
There’s a few tactics that you can implement from the ground up, without turning to an agency. With just a little time and the right tools, you can utilize these tactics to give your DIY PR campaign a boost.
Build A Network
Sure, you’re the sole person behind your campaign. But the DIY community is full of creators and entrepreneurs promoting their own projects and wanting to lift each other up.
Getting involved with the DIY community through LinkedIn or local groups can give you needed support when you’re just starting out.
Know Your Audience
It’s easy to say that your project is for everyone. But even if it is, you can’t target them the same. Teenagers are different from employed adults, and they respond to different things.
So before you waste your time targeting everyone, try to narrow down your audience. Figure out what demographics would be really interested in your project and which would be interested in buying your product.
Create Measurable Goals
The goal of your campaign is to get more media coverage, social media following, and sales. But how do you know that you’ve reached the goal? When does "more" end?
Vague goals like these can stunt your growth and make you feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle. Instead, aim for clear, measurable goals that you can achieve on a timeline. Instead of aiming to increase your social media following, set your goal to increase followers on Twitter by 20% over the next three months, for example.
Personalize Your Outreach
If one of your goals is to get journalists and publications writing about your project, you should consider changing up your outreach. Sending a release to a publication’s general email might not get you a response, but emailing a journalist directly could.
Develop curated email lists of journalists that might be interested in writing about your product. Keep track of how often you’re emailing each person. And if it works for journalists? It might work for potential investors and clients as well.
Invest in Your Campaign
Hypothetically, all you need is a good email client to run a campaign. And it’s very tempting to run everything right out of the comfort of your inbox. But in order to keep growing your campaign, consider investing in it with an earned media platform like Cision.
An earned media platform would allow you to track the effectiveness of your campaign as well as target specific demographics. Instead of having to manually keep track of data, your platform would automatically compile and store those numbers for you, ultimately saving you time down the road.
Just Keep Moving
It’s easy to get burnt out and frustrated with the DIY style. Don’t forget to breathe and take time for yourself amid all the stress. Even if you’re a team of one, you have all the skills and tools you need to give your campaign the boost it needs, without burning yourself out.
