By Samantha Jacobson, Founder of TenXPR
If you’re like most experts or business owners, your goal is to reach as many people with your message as you possibly can. However, while there’s no magic bean to accomplishing this (or anything when it comes to brand marketing for that matter), there is one tactic that comes pretty close: broadcast PR.
If you’re thinking about harnessing the power of broadcast PR for your brand marketing campaign but find yourself a bit hesitant to go forward, keep scrolling. Below, I offer some helpful and little-known nuggets of information to help you get an idea of just how many people you can reach through broadcast PR and how you can leverage its magic for your success. Allow me to make your hesitancy disappear.
Both national + local networks reach some of the largest audiences.
It’s no secret that national news outlets such as Good Morning America and the Today Show are among the most desirable media placements to land if you really want to make a name for yourself. Just look at the numbers. Recently, Nielsen, the top measurement source for TV viewership, revealed that Good Morning America averages 3.16 million total viewers in a given week, while the Today Show averages about 2.87 million viewers. Imagine? That means with just one national TV interview, you have the chance to reach thousands of people.
On the downside, this is exactly what makes national placements impossibly competitive. That’s why, while you’re going for your dream of making it to Good Morning America or the Today Show, you should absolutely make it a priority to incorporate some local TV outlets into your media wish list.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – local TV is actually growing at a higher rate than national TV. What’s more, Pew Research found that more U.S. adults (75%) trust information from their local news sources compared to national news sources (58%).
TV interviews have legs.
Unlike a single TikTok post that has just one life, broadcast interviews have many. In other words, when you appear on TV, your interview goes beyond viewers’ TV screens. Most outlets (usually local TV) will re-air your interview more than once, while most local and national TV outlets will post your interview on their website, sometimes adjacent to an online article that summarizes what you’ve discussed along with a quote from your interview.
In other cases, if your interview is part of a big story, the outlet might feature your interview on their social media platforms or on their owned and operated streaming platforms, which have a robust viewership all on their own. NBC News, for example, reached record viewership last year with an average of 60 million views and more than 20 million hours watched each month!
The best part? You can reach all of these people for free.
Some experts and business owners will pay an average of $250,000 to appear for five minutes on TV or market their brand, but broadcast PR is free.
Yes, I said it. Free.
Why? Broadcast PR is a form of earned media: any publicity or awareness that is organically generated by customers, social media, journalists, bloggers, etc.
Earned media is also called “earned” media for a reason: it’s media that is earned. That means, appearing as authentic as you can be, establishing authority as a thought leader and building trust with audiences so that you have the natural ability to garner the viewership you want, as well as generate more leads and sales for your growing business.
If you’re already exhausted by the thought of garnering earned media, I see you and I’ve got you! Like anything that is earned, it’s hard work and quite frankly, really time consuming.
