As I savored my cinnamon raisin Belgian waffle at a local diner, it made me wonder why I had hardly ever visited this place. The food was great, service attentive (bottomless cup of coffee? Yes, no problem), and the ambience was positively nostalgic.
How did I get there that morning? It was a friend of mine, a guy who did not grow up in my city, who really liked it and wanted to catch up at this restaurant I had avoided for most of my life. And now, since then, I have been back repeatedly with other people.
This is the power of word of mouth.
If you are doing amazing work, providing a life-changing service, or making a transformative difference for individuals and communities, you should be talking about what you do. But others should be talking too!
PR is word-of-mouth on steroids. But instead of one person at a time, it has the same kind of impact multiplied by thousands and millions. A trusted news site telling your story using their airtime, their bandwidth, and their reporters is like a friend with a nationwide megaphone saying, “These people are awesome.”
We can talk about ourselves, and we should, but when someone else talks about us, people take note.
This is why influencer marketing has become so powerful. A person with credibility and an audience that matches your demographic talking about what great work you do draws attention and dollars to your cause. While influencer marketing is a viable avenue, there is also a cost.
But with public relations, you have respected reporters and news outlets giving you a shout-out to constituents who matter, and typically at a cost that is significantly less.
I will give you an example. One of our clients battles child trafficking in the United States and around the world. While they do transformative work rescuing and restoring young people from this despicable trade, they are not as well known as some other organizations in this space. In years past, they had participated in a cycling race that started on the West Coast and ended on the East Coast to raise awareness about who they are and their great work.
This big platform event had worked to a small degree. Their amazing mission caught the attention of the media in the community where most of the cyclists lived. The local newspaper published hard copy and online stories—word of mouth from a trusted resource—and that attention helped. But this was a nationwide ride.
They reached out to us about developing a public relations campaign that would go cross country. The plan was put in place, a timeline developed, online resources created, and stories written. Media outreach began four weeks ahead of the event.
Then they were off.
From the Pacific Ocean to Monument Valley in Utah, up the Rocky Mountains, through the windblown plains of Kansas, over the mighty Mississippi, past the cornfields and soybean fields of the Midwest, climbing the Appalachian Mountains, and downhill to Chesapeake Bay.
The press coverage on radio, television, podcast, streaming, newspapers, and online preceded them and followed them everywhere they went.
Millions of people who did not know about this group prior to the racing event now knew about them. And some were so moved that they dug into their wallets. The director of marketing said they received 500 first-time donations through their website alone. That does not factor in others who may have given before but were moved to donate again.
Public relations made the connection between a powerful cause and the journalists fascinated by their journey and their purpose, who then shared it with audiences who trusted them.
Word-of-mouth on steroids indeed.
Let Infinity Concepts be the megaphone that starts spreading the word about the great work you do.
CLICK HERE or call us today at 724-733-1200.
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