Does your company website have a press page? If not, you’re not alone. Many of our clients come to us without one. But you definitely need one — ASAP.
Why you need a press page
Reporters work on tight deadlines, and the last thing they have time for is searching your site for contact information. At the very least, your press page should have a dedicated press email that goes to your media relations team. But why stop there?
Think of your press page as an advertisement for your company aimed at a very specific audience — the media. Use it to position your company as an industry leader with a unique message and deep expertise. Putting some time into building an awesome press page increases your chances of being found — and contacted — by reporters working on relevant stories.
Everything you need to build a press page
While press pages vary across different industries, standard sections include the following:
Contact Information – Here’s where you list your dedicated email, which can be as simple as [email protected]. Some companies use fill forms, but we advise against it as they can be difficult to complete on mobile devices and deter media from reaching out. If possible, include a phone number as well.
In the News – This is where you show off all your media hits. It should include images or logos of publications, article headlines, and brief descriptions of the editorial placement. This section needs to be updated in real-time. Some brands will “pin” highlights (the most notable coverage) to the top of this page with reputable news logos showcased in the creative.
Press Releases – This section should include all past company press releases organized by year, with the most recent first, and be searchable. Collecting all your press releases in one place helps strengthen your company narrative.
News Feed – Consider integrating a social feed into your press page to show your brand personality and how you interact with consumers. Choose the social platform you update most frequently.
Media Kit – A media kit provides reporters with all the information they need, so they don’t have to spend time asking you for it. In addition to standard logos, company boilerplate, and images, consider including video (b-roll), executive headshots, fast facts, a company timeline, and/or honors and awards the company has received. Make sure your media kit is downloadable!
Let us take your brand’s visibility to the next level. We’re here, ready to help your company showcase your “why” and share it with millions of people.
How much does a PR agency cost? It’s a question that every potential client wants to ask on the first call but rarely ever does, so here’s a look into my truth as the owner of a midsize PR agency.
A boutique agency has the ability to be flexible with pricing
While some agencies won’t take clients for anything less than $25,000 a month, the boutique agency pricing is slightly different. This is because:
We’re growing, so we’re eager to land interesting clients that help grow our reputation.
We generally don’t have the overhead of a large agency — people who are not “billable” like a CFO, CIO, and Head of People, so we can be more flexible with pricing.
We usually don’t report to a board or investors, so we can choose to work with brands we believe in.
That said, boutique agencies also don’t have the financial buffer that larger agencies have. Meaning clients coming and going matter more.
By being flexible, we help our clients balance their desired results with their budgets.
What is the average retainer at Segal Communications?
At Segal, we have three main practice areas – consumer, tech, and executive visibility. We provide media relations, influencer programs, social media management, and creative campaigns for each of these.
Our clients fall into one of six categories:
Industry Specific Technology with 100-1,000 employees, focused on growth
Emerging Industry Technology start-ups that are investing in public relations to build awareness
Trusted Consumer Brands with 100-1,000 employees, focused on omni-channel purchasing (online and brick-and-mortar)
Growing Consumer Brands with great products that need to get into the hands of those who influence
Informers and Educators who have logged their ten thousand hours of expertise and then some and are working to share their experience and knowledge with a larger public audience
Passionate Founders with a product or service that warrants staning
Most Segal Communications baseline retainers currently hover between $6,000-$12,000, but there are exceptions to that rule. The exceptions include being a longtime client who has been with us from the start, someone or something too cool to pass up, or a mission-driven organization working on something for the greater good.
On the lower end of the price range are consumer clients that have a desirable product that we can get into the hands of influencers and media. On the higher end are B2B clients with unique audiences and customers.
Agencies offer the most comprehensive range of services
The baseline retainers are just that — baseline. Most clients want more than PR; they want social media, blog writing, bylines, sample campaigns, and creative. All of these elements have additional pricing structures. Working with an agency is valuable because we are a one-stop shop for all of your communications needs. We provide our clients with a fluid ecosystem of communications services that can ebb and flow with the needs of the business. By being flexible, we help our clients balance their desired results with their budgets.
Let us take your brand’s visibility to the next level. We’re here, ready to help your company showcase your “why” and share it with millions of people.
An active social media presence is essential for businesses in the modern age. As a consumer of social media, likely your first instinct when hearing about a new company is to look them up on social media. Social media is also valuable for telling your story and connecting with your customers. Customers who feel seen and heard are more likely to become brand loyalists. With so many social media platforms at your disposal, how do you know which ones to prioritize and which may not benefit your business? Here are the fundamental points to consider when determining which social media platform is best for your business.
What industry does your business fall under?
Understanding where each industry is most active on social media is the first step in determining the ideal platform on which to focus the majority of your time. Are you selling a product or service? Are you selling to other businesses?
If you’re a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, you’ll want to focus on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Especially if you are selling a product- these three platforms offer a shopping feature, making it seamless for your customers to purchase directly from your posts. On the other hand, a business-to-business (B2B) company should focus its social media efforts on LinkedIn and Twitter. LinkedIn allows your brand to get directly in front of company decision-makers, and you can analyze your audience demographics based on job title and function. Twitter is a great place to send real-time updates about your company and seek out conversations your customers may be having about pain points your company could resolve. It’s also an excellent opportunity to speak directly with potential customers by inserting yourself into the conversation.
Who is your target audience?
Knowing your audience’s complete demographics is essential to understanding where they likely spend most of their time on social media. Sprout Social’s blog on social media demographics is a valuable resource for determining which social media platform is best for your business.
Analyzing audience demographics and engagement metrics is key
If you’ve been posting consistently to multiple platforms for months now, your analytics will tell you exactly where your audience is strongest. While follower count is a vanity metric, it’s the first sign of where your customers are most active. Next, take a look at your engagements and engagement rate. Engagements on a post consist of likes, comments, saves, and shares for most platforms, and engagement rate is a percentage calculated by the number of times users engaged with your content compared to the number of impressions it received during its lifetime. You can find these analytics on each post when you are logged in to a business account on most platforms.
Take a risk
It’s okay to take risks and test out content on each platform to see how your audience will react to it. You just might find that your followers take well to a cheekily-captioned Instagram post.
Need help getting started with a customized social media program? When we work together, your brand does more than show up. It shows up with a story, a purpose, a unique reason for being – and it makes an impact. At Segal Communications, we become an extension of your team – we work fast to become brand experts and make sure we’re keeping your company relevant on social media.
The fast-paced nature of the internet has created a consumer demand for Google search results to be delivered instantly and precisely. A survey found 60 percent of mobile users were very likely to click on the first two to three search results they saw, and more than 90 percent were likely to click on the first set of results.
Leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) to boost your visibility online has become a highly valued and sought-after strategy for companies. Traditionally, SEO has been a marketing practice but this is no longer the case. The ever-changing nature of today’s digital landscape offers new possibilities for PR pros to incorporate SEO tactics in their work to strengthen their clients’ presence in search results.
The ever-changing nature of today’s digital landscape offers new possibilities for PR pros to incorporate SEO tactics in their work to strengthen their clients’ presence in search results.
The Relationship Between SEO and PR
SEO and PR can work cohesively to increase brand recognition. They are reliant on one another, often more than we think. How effective can PR efforts be if consumers cannot find your company on Google? There is little content and opportunity for SEO to grow organically without PR.
Including SEO tactics in your PR strategy can differentiate between how you and your competitors stand in search rankings, ultimately deciding which sites both new and returning consumers choose to visit. PR pros can incorporate two components in their daily practices to achieve optimal SEO for their clients:keywords and backlinking.
Keywords and backlinking are essential in the relationship between SEO and PR as they are easily manipulated and offer significant influence when utilized correctly.
Identifying the Keywords You Want to Rank For
Keywords are phrases included in your content that make it possible for search engines to list your company as a reliable and accurate result. This is where most will look to start in their SEO journey.
You first will want to audit the keywords your company is already ranking for. This builds your foundational understanding of which keywords are influencing your ranking. You are likely to see your company rank highly for obvious keywords relative to your company, like your name, service, or product. An audit can provide insight into what phrases are commonly addressed in already published content and help in identifying new opportunities to focus on in the future to target those infrequently used keywords.
It’s crucial to note keyword selections are not set in stone. They can be adjusted to cater to new product offerings or different PR campaigns, but be careful in selecting which ones and how many you want to monitor. The best practice is to start basic and simple before expanding to longer, more complex keywords.
Optimizing Earned and Owned Coverage Through Backlinks
Your search ranking is also determined by the number and quality of outside websites that link back to your website within their published content. Backlinks from credible and trustworthy sites positively influence your SEO ranking, making earning digital media placements one of the most beneficial SEO-boosting tactics. These placements work to increase your brand’s searchability, ultimately enhancing the quality and quantity of website traffic you receive. To ensure a published story results in an SEO-boosting backlink, your PR rep can ask a journalist to include a link to your company’s website along with including relevant links in their pitch for the journalist to reference and embed.
Owned media, which includes things like press releases and blog posts, also presents opportunities for PR pros to help you drive your SEO rankings. Linking to other relevant content you own within a piece of media on your website can increase domain authority and traffic to other landing pages. Overall, we see this as a win-win!
The Takeaway
Your SEO ranking determines your accessibility, affecting how both new and returning customers can find you. Working with the right team of PR professionals can ensure your company ranks for relevant search terms and generates a healthy stream of backlinks to achieve maximum visibility.
At Segal Communications, we’re here to help your business reach its full SEO potential. Ready for a custom audit to identify your business’s optimal keywords and assess backlink health?
As a social media professional, I’m constantly having to adjust my clients’ social media strategies based on new trends and algorithm changes. This is arguably the most valuable way to grow your audience and increase engagement on your posts. I’ve seen it and experienced it firsthand: the brands that fully embrace these changes on social media experience growth at an exponential rate compared to brands that stick with their outdated social media strategy.
If you don’t keep up, you’ll simply get left behind.
The rise of short-form video on social media
During the height of the pandemic, TikTok grew immensely in popularity. All other social media platforms were forced to catch up and began offering their versions of short-form video content similar to the format of TikTok to do so. A recent report from HypeAuditor shows that Reels generate the most reach on Instagram, beating out both static image and carousel posts. Instagram, specifically, is working to keep up with its top competitor, TikTok, so it’s no surprise its algorithm pushes Reels out to mass audiences more than other post formats.
As all social media platforms have moved in the direction of short-form video content, posting videos on social media has quickly become a top priority in the social media strategies we create for our clients.
How do social media algorithms work?
Gone are the days of your social media feeds appearing in chronological order. Simply put, social media algorithms work to show you content they think you will be most interested in based on how you’ve interacted with content on your feed. All social media platforms have one objective in mind: keep users on the platform for as long as possible. When the algorithm picks up on a piece of content that is accomplishing this objective, it will continue to put it in front of even more users.
Understanding how the algorithms work and keeping up with new algorithm updates is the name of the game when it comes to any content strategy. While we tailor our plans for each client to reach their specific goals and needs, we always keep algorithms at the forefront of our strategies.
Investing in your content plan
It is vital to frequently produce new, quality content to support your social media strategy. In order to gain large numbers of Impressions on your content and grow your audience, you need to be publishing posts at least two to three times per week, and ideally three to five times per week (depending on the industry). Unfortunately, you can no longer get away with posting a single image. You simply won’t see the growth you’re aiming for because these types of posts no longer gain a substantial amount of traction.
Since we work with clients with a variety of content budgets, we’ve gotten creative with the ways in which we source content. I’m fortunate enough to have an awesome team in-house that is creative and highly talented. We’ve put together numerous shoots for local clients and clients with a product that can be shipped directly to us. This is our ideal method of producing content because it gives us full creative control over the content we publish and saves our clients money. Another way we’ve been able to meet the challenge of producing regular content is by partnering with a client to help them hire a content intern. We were even able to get some press from the job listing!
How to stay on top of trends
As a social media manager, much of my job consists of identifying current social media trends and making sure our clients are taking advantage of them. How we do this is pretty simple, and I’ve listed some resources below to help if you’ve not yet made the switch to a social media management agency. I also scroll through Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit more than I’d like to admit.
Pro tip: subscribe to their newsletters so you can access the latest news right in your inbox!
Ready to get started with your customized social media strategy? When we work together, your brand does more than show up. It shows up with a story, a purpose, a unique reason for being – and it makes an impact. At Segal Communications, we become an extension of your team – we work fast to become brand experts and make sure we’re keeping your company relevant on social media.
Living in the digital age, technology is now an integral part of our everyday lives. Brands have transitioned from traditional marketing practices to developing a presence and following on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, among others. Most companies know they shouldbe on social media but often haven’t given deeper thought to the reasons why. We’ve compiled the top three reasons why having a social media presence is a crucial marketing tool for every modern business to implement.
1. Less expensive than traditional marketing
An organic social media strategy is free! With the growing number of social media platforms, companies can create accounts to post about all aspects of their business. Whether that be who you are, what you do, day-to-day life, product features, and more, the possibilities are endless. It’s important to actively post, engage with other accounts, and utilize each platform’s features.
Companies can venture into paid advertisements if they choose with costs based on your account’s reach. However, it’s best to establish a strong organic social media strategy first.
Many apps have enabled features specifically for business purposes, including professional or business profiles to track analytics and insights easily. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have enabled features for businesses to sell their products directly in the app.
2. Boosts brand awareness and engagement
With social media, you can increase brand visibility and awareness by engaging with millions of potential customers.
Once you’ve established your target audience, creating original and engaging content is important. You’ll want to have your values and goals at the forefront of your posts by having fun and creating content that will make your company stand out. Content tailored to your brand’s values will help you increase engagement and target your audience appropriately, which can ultimately direct them to your website.
Having a social media presence on multiple platforms, including hosting a website, helps users become familiar with your brand and encourages them to engage.
3. Creates brand authenticity
Brand authenticity can be achieved through social media by establishing your expertise and authority in a field, making your goals and values consistent throughout all aspects of your company’s image, and building clear communication between the brand and your audience.
Customers appreciate when brands they love interact and care about the support they’ve shown for a company. Social media helps brands create meaningful relationships with their customers. Your presence on social media gives your audience a glimpse into the daily operations of your business through behind-the-scenes content and speaking directly with them through comments and direct messages. These aspects will drive customers’ trust in your company.
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Social media managers play a pivotal role in your overall communications plan. They craft well-thought-out social media strategies and campaigns, monitor analytics and trends, track conversations and keep your audience engaged. Ready to get started? Email us at [email protected]
While social media used to be considered merely a supporting communication channel, it’s now much more. For millions of potential customers, it’s how they find, engage, and become loyal to brands. Despite this, we regularly come across founders and owners who either don’t think social media is important for their business, have someone on their team posting in addition to their regular job, or are doing the posting themselves, albeit infrequently.
While you don’t need to be on every platform, creating a consistent posting schedule is no longer optional for any brand or individual looking to establish credibility or attract new customers.
Here are five signs it’s time to invest in social media support.
Responsibility for managing your brand’s anemic channels is being passed around like a hot potato.
Creating social media posts is constantly being pushed off because of other responsibilities that take priority. You have good intentions to make social a priority because you know it’s important, but you just don’t have the bandwidth to keep up.
You’re feeling lost at sea.
The world of social media and social media marketing is vast – growing channels requires a well-thought-out strategy and the ability to adapt to new features and trends across platforms. It may seem daunting to attempt to do it all on your own. That’s where your agency will come in. An agency will craft a detailed social media strategy for your brand, figure out where your audience is strongest, and monitor performance to make sure the strategy is going according to plan.
Your social media strategy isn’t based on insights and analytics.
Odds are you’re not a data analyst, and deciphering what each KPI (key performance indicator) means has been a challenge. And what are you supposed to do with the information? Your social media manager will know how to best use these insights and analytics to drive a well-thought-out strategy for your content moving forward. On an ongoing basis, they’ll make sure you’re meeting the goals you established by monitoring your channel’s data and adapting to trends.
You’re experiencing a creative block.
Continually pushing out valuable, engaging content is no easy stint. Social media managers have a keen eye for making an aesthetic Instagram grid or strong marketing graphics. They also have the resources and a reliable network of creatives to tap into when the demand for content is extremely high.
You’re not keeping up with the Joneses.
Let’s face it, social media is an ever-changing landscape. If you already have a full plate, odds are you don’t have the time to keep up with trends across social media. An agency will always be on top of trends and know when it’s time to participate and when adding another post to ‘National Sandwich Day’ is just adding to the noise rather than value.
Your audience on social media is arguably the most important and valuable asset to your business. If you don’t have the bandwidth to engage daily with your community, you’re losing out on potential sales and building upon your brand loyalists.
Ready to get started with your customized social media program? When we work together, your brand does more than show up. It shows up with a story, a purpose, a unique reason for being – and it makes an impact. At Segal Communications, we become an extension of your team – we work fast to become brand experts and make sure we’re keeping your company relevant on social media.
The restaurant industry is an interesting animal. It’s one of the most riveting and communal industries to be a part of yet also one of the most challenging. Though we’re all a bit fatigued by reflecting on the pandemic’s impact, so many restaurant owners are still hurting from this unpredictable era. So where is the silver lining? Despite the challenges, the past few years have shown an impressive level of grit, community, and nimble course correction, with employees stepping up to the plate to cover shifts of sick colleagues and go above and beyond their pay grade to adapt to operational pivots.
As the industry has finally begun to experience the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s more important than ever to build a solid foundation in every area of your restaurant business, especially if you’re getting started from the ground up or launching a new concept.
With a refreshed mindset in 2022 and restaurant fans excited for the next big launch, it’s crucial for restauranteurs to hone in and sharpen their plans when it comes to openings. We’ve pared down our thoughts to five essential strategies that will ensure your launch is a success and builds the momentum needed to stay in the game.
1. Timing is Everything
The media is one of the most powerful resources for restaurant owners, and timing out your strategy is something worth overthinking. Whether you’re an established restauranteur or an industry newbie, you have to keep your local, regional, andnational customer base informed. From the moment you sign the lease on your new space, that’s your first opportunity for press coverage that helps build anticipation. Engaging with a PR firm to map out a timeline is one of the best investments you can make. Depending on your restaurant and existing reputation, your team will analyze the best (and most realistic) outlets, as well as your viability for exclusives, which typically offer a greater quality of coverage, along with more clicks and shares. Building out the right media/influencer list and release timeline takes a huge piece of the puzzle off your plate, so you can focus on the dozens of moving parts involved with staffing, design, and finessing your menu.
2. Do overbudget on photography
As mentioned, the restaurant industry is tough… and it’s notorious for slim profit margins. However, if there’s one area of promotions where you should never pinch pennies, it’s photography. Your competition varies depending on your location, but great photography should always be viewed as a bare minimum investment no matter who you’re up against. Think about how much money was poured into fine-tuning your space, design, branding, and menu. Your business deserves visuals that do it justice. Round-up coverage and ‘Best of’ lists are just important as reviews in driving traffic, and media always prioritize great photography when it comes to picking out lead images for their content.
3. Extend Your Launch Timeframe
Like any great vacation or celebration, longer is usually better. Don’t feel constrained to hosting one event and calling it a day. Consider one or two “friends and family” nights to kick things off, using those as the training ground for new staff to work out any kinks with service and the kitchen. From there, take a day or two to soft launch, keeping things quiet while staff continues to gain their footing. Then, depending on the size of your city and your invite list, set aside one or two nights for your official launch. Have your PR team build a list of key media, influencers, and industry stakeholders, with RSVPs to ensure your staff is up-to-speed on who will be in attendance on which nights.
4. Go Big With Your Invite List
Look to your PR team to optimize your invite strategy, but don’t be afraid to go big with your list. If you need to spread things out over a full weekend, it’s better to have more big names in attendance than less, and offering them the chance at exclusivity will maximize the quality of coverage and word-of-mouth impact (since you’re still the newest spot on the block).
5. Rub Every Elbow In The Room
Launching a new concept is one of the best times to network. The story behind your restaurant is most well-received and anticipated by key industry players during the launch phase. Take the time to float around and chat with every table, thanking them for coming in and asking for any feedback. If your team is doing things right, those in attendance will make for great lasting relationships. An influencer who had an enjoyable time and connected with the owner is much more likely to return in the future, continue to promote your business (often at little to no expense) and invite their other influential friends. The same goes for media and potential investors down the line.
Ready to get started with your customized PR program? When we work together, your brand does more than show up. It shows up with a story, a purpose, a unique reason for being – and it makes an impact.
An Insider Take on Maximizing Your Brand’s Holiday Pitching Efforts
When it comes to product PR, it’s no secret that holiday gift guides are the holy grail for many brands looking for revenues to move into the black before the end of the year. Getting your brand featured in a coveted Gift Guide like the ones produced by Oprah, Good Housekeeping, and The Today Show puts your product, experience, or service directly in front of your target audience, and inclusions are also suggestive of the publication’s implied endorsement, i.e., the icing on the cake that sets you apart from competitors.
Gift Guides: The Process
What industry outsiders don’t recognize outside of the end result of trending online listicles or glossy pages of a magazine is the time, preparation, strategic execution, and relationships that publicists nurture to secure that coveted spot. It’s so much more than simply meeting an editor’s deadline.
If you’re considering hiring a PR agency to get your product, service, or experience into a holiday gift guide, you’ll want to keep the following in mind.
Timing Is Everything
You’ll need to consider editorial deadlines, production timing for sample products, shipping deadlines, and the initial onboarding phase for your agency once you have selected one.
Although a seasoned agency can quickly become familiar with your brand and product, sending out samples and getting samples in editors’ hands ahead of publication is a time-sensitive and sometimes logistically complicated feat – this is especially true when it comes to perishable foods. Above all else, you need to consider your ultimate goals (i.e., print, digital, or both focuses) and work backward from those publication deadlines.
Outlet Deadlines
As soon as the holidays are over, agencies are already working on next year’s holiday outreach strategy. Print publications are long lead, with some outlets working 6-7 months in advance. The rule of thumb with these outlets is the sooner, the better! If you are interested in Oprah or similar you need to begin working on gift guides no later than April. Oprah’s team opens submissions in May and closes by the end of June if not sooner. Oprah’s print publication mirrors what they include online later that year. Historically, they don’t add last-minute additions.
There’s a bit more wiggle room for digital publications like blogs and online outlets. Expect outlets to work around two months in advance on their stories, but some blogs may have a shorter turnaround time and accept submissions up to two weeks before their deadline. Still, you will need to engage with an agency by the end of August. Online gift guides requests start piling up in September and often go live in October.
Getting ahead of these deadlines is essential, especially if it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Sometimes the best plan of action is to reach out to editorial directors in advance to get a concrete deadline if not included in a media kit or editorial calendar.
Prep Time
Yes, we already mentioned that an experienced PR agency could quickly be brought up to speed with your branding and become familiar with your product, but fleshing out a gift guide strategy is a whole different story. You should account for the amount of time your new agency will require to flesh out the best approach after completing critical research. Finding the proper outlets for your brand’s target audience, the best contacts at each outlet, and drafting the individual pitches themselves are crucial to landing a quality press hit.
Account for Samples, Press Kits, and Marketing Material Production
Most media outlets, bloggers, and influencers expect non-returnable product samples in exchange for consideration so they can feel confident recommending your brand and product. (Although some may accept products on loan for big-ticket items) Be sure that you have shelf-ready product samples available. Some outlets will ask for inventory totals before they are willing to include your item as they don’t want to feature something that gets sold out immediately. Journalists will be less impressed with non-functional or dummy models, products missing final packaging, or frequently loaned items that show wear and tear. With influencers and bloggers, it’s essential to invest in a good presentation as many will still include the “unpacking” as part of their coverage. A cardboard box with bubble wrap is going to get much less appreciation than a well-adorned gift with other “surprises and delights” included.
Additionally, media will request high-res images and photos of your products that they can add to coverage with a simple click. You should have product shots and lifestyle images ready to go. Journalists’ time is precious. Ensure your agency can skip the back-and-forth by providing an all-in-one, streamlined pitch. Plus, they’ll be more inclined to include in coverage if the agency does the cumbersome heavy lifting.
When considering the appropriate time to bring on a PR agency to pitch for gift guides, consider production timelines for samples and whether or not you will need assistance from your agency in compiling marketing materials and assets.
Affiliate Program Enrollment
It’s not the case for all digital opportunities, but affiliated gift guides have quickly become the status quo. 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers in the US are currently leveraging affiliate marketing to earn revenue. Some online gift guide submissions may even require a specific (prime-powered) affiliate link to be featured. While this allows the outlet to make money per click, rather than relying on more advertising on their website, it makes it increasingly harder to be featured in online gift guides.
If you’re considering enrolling in an affiliate program to overcome this challenge (and potential barrier), make sure to account for the time it takes to select a program, register, and be approved ahead of your holiday campaign. Need a quick crash course on affiliate marketing? Check out our blog post here.
All Wrapped Up (in a bow, naturally)
Once you’ve considered all of the time constraints and worked backward from your intended holiday publication date, you can pinpoint the ideal time to hire a PR agency. While this seems like a hefty to-do list, once hired and onboarded, your agency will take it from there – tapping into their burgeoning contact list and getting your product in front of target audiences right on time for gifting.
Ready to get started with your customized PR program? When we work together, your brand does more than show up. It shows up with a story, a purpose, a unique reason for being – and it makes an impact.
As affiliate marketing grows in popularity, it’s essential that companies seeking to maintain a media presence realize its importance.
The basic concept of affiliate marketing is this: a brand joins an affiliate platform, through which they can network with writers, influencers, bloggers, etc. When these creators mention the brand in their published content, any sales resulting from said mention earn the creator a percentage commission of the goods or services sold. Sounds simple, right?
While affiliate marketing is simple in theory, there is much to be learned about its inner workings. One of the most common questions we get asked by clients is whether or not they need to join an affiliate network to land coverage. The next question that almost always follows is, “what affiliate program should I sign up for?” As affiliate marketing and public relations continue to grow more intertwined, any modern PR agency will be well-versed on the best methods to ensure a symbiotic relationship between the two.
Here’s how we advise our affiliate-curious clients
Whether or not you need to be on an affiliate network is largely dependent on your brand’s offerings. Do you sell a product or service that falls within the e-commerce or retail categories? If so, you most likely need to be on an affiliate network. Your brand’s offering is the most important determining factor because it dictates what type of coverage you may be looking to land. Of the clients we work with at Segal Communications, we advise any brand seeking coverage in national lifestyle focused outlets to join an affiliate network.
Of the available platforms, we advise our clients to join the ShareASale network as it is the most widely requested affiliate “umbrella” service by writers. Segal Communications clients automatically secure a 25% discount off of standard pricing. If you are familiar with affiliate marketing, you may have also heard mention of the name Skimlinks. Skimlinks falls under the “umbrella” of the ShareASale network, meaning that when you join ShareASale you are then able to apply to the Skimlinks sub-network for no additional charge. The Skimlinks network is solely comprised of media and publication affiliates, which is why it’s the preferred choice of journalists. In fact, there are many journalists who now require a brand to be on the ShareASale and Skimlinks networks to even be considered for placement.
Brands who don’t sign up for leading affiliate programs can be eliminating upwards of two thirds of their coverage opportunities.
You can’t afford not to join an affiliate network
Another question that is typically top of mind for those looking to sign up for an affiliate program is “what are the costs involved?” ShareASale generally requires a one-time set up fee, a percentage of each commission paid to affiliates, and a $35 minimum monthly transaction fee. If your sales for the month don’t cover this fee, it will be charged out of pocket.
Conveniently, ShareASale handles all payments to affiliates. You deposit money into your escrow account on the site, which ShareASale then uses to pay out the commission percentage you set to your affiliates when their marketing efforts result in a sale. The platform also sends regular reports to inform you on how your affiliates are performing.
When it comes to affiliate networks, we recommend brands that fall within the e-commerce and retail categories to join. Many freelance writers rely on affiliate marketing to supplement their income, and thus are much more likely to feature products that are accompanied by affiliate links in their stories. Additionally, the majority of top-tier lifestyle publications now require affiliate links for products to be featured. Here is a list of the publications that require or strongly prefer affiliate-linked product submissions. With these points in mind, many brands are coming to the realization that they can’t afford not to be on an affiliate platform. For the latest list of publications requesting affiliate links, subscribe to Segal Communications monthly newsletter the Pigeon Post.
Need help managing your affiliate marketing plan? Shoot us an email at [email protected] and we’ll get you up and running!
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