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Who
Stepped Up
Milestone Tactic Is Great Public Relations: Frequently a company will wait until the last minute to announce a new product or service and miss out tons of customer-generating publicity in the media. I recognize the desire for secrecy in some cases, but when every employee and person/organization involved in your new endeavor has access to instant and wide-ranging communications, the secrecy thing probably isn’t happening. Public relations may be the best bet to generate attention while keeping the facts straight.
A smart public relations approach to maximize your media coverage on any new product or service is through project milestones. A perfect example is the Sentara Leigh Hospital renovation in Norfolk. Sentara landed a front page story in The Virginian-Pilot on Wednesday (8/25/2010) using the fact that they have applied for state approval for the renovation. Many organizations go through the state process, but many organizations do not utilize the milestone approach to increase their public relations exposure.
Using this milestone approach, Sentara could potentially see a steady stream of articles that reach thousands of patients and potential patients. Wednesday’s story was about applying for renovation approval. The next story could be that the application was approved, followed by the renovation begins, followed by new hires and state-of-the-art equipment, followed by the wonderful impact it’s having on healthcare in the area, and on and on.
A good public relations agency uses this tactic to complement other marketing efforts because media stories offer credibility, which is a valuable characteristic of every public relations campaign.
If you are starting a business or expanding and existing business, use a public relations plan that includes your milestones. Try to find interesting angles for each milestone the media will find beneficial to its news audience. If you don’t have a public relations staff, consider contracting with a solid public relations agency that can complement your marketing team or execute the milestone media coverage plan on its own.
For a no-cost phone consultation, feel free to call David Rourk at (757) 478-0150.
About Rourk Public Relations
Our public relations agency is expert at generating media coverage and publicity for a wide range of clients in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and throughout Hampton Roads, Virginia.
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