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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | OCTOBER 18, 2002 SMART ANSWERS By Karen E. Klein Marketing: How to Get Some Attention A small business can be at a disadvantage when it comes to generating publicity, but there are ways to do it without spending a fortune
A: As I see it, you really have two goals: Getting press coverage and attracting business partners. Each presents unique hurdles, and each requires a different approach. Let's start with media coverage: How much attention your campaign will get depends on which media organizations you plan to attract. "A major city paper may not deem [the campaign] newsworthy, but smaller papers are always looking for stories to fill space," says Jeffrey M. Natkin, creative director of Strategic Marketing Design in Los Angeles. The potential for media coverage of your big finale also increases in direct proportion with the newsworthiness and appeal of the story you're trying to push. "Editors will be more interested in stories that fit into their area of expertise and which are perceived to have a high interest value among their readers," says Steve Rapier, vice-president of The Artime Group. MEDIA IS THE MESSAGE. Put together a press kit with stories, bios, and photos, advises Natkin, and mail it way in advance of your campaign (if you're on a tight timetable you may be in trouble here), or send a press release over a wire service such as PR Newswire. Follow up with e-mails and phone calls to the editors you are targeting. They may request additional information or conduct a brief phone interview with you if you pique their interest. "Remember that publicity is an opportunistic endeavor, and there aren't any guarantees that your story will be picked up," Rapier says. "However, if your story fits well with the editorial direction of a certain publication, that will increase your chances." Attracting business partners to advertise or donate prizes requires a different level of commitment, including a cost to the participant. A potential advertiser will be interested in three things, Rapier says: Who are the recipients of your online e-letter, how many of them are on the list, and does your product mesh with theirs? They will calculate the "cost per thousand (CPM)" of reaching your audience and weigh it against other advertising options they have available. For instance, if the size of your e-mail list is 5,000 and you're going to charge them $100 to advertise, then their CPM is $20. They may find this very attractive. If, however, you were going to charge $2,000, then their CPM would rise to $400 -- which may be too expensive when judged against other advertising or promotional activities. To get an idea of standard ad rates, you could check SRDS Media Solutions online, or go to the research section of your local library. SRDS segments advertising by type of publication and media. STAY CLOSE TO HOME. When looking for donations, you'll be better off going to local companies, Rapier suggests. Large corporations typically set up their charitable and promotional donations a year in advance. Smaller, local outfits will be very interested in the audience that will benefit from their gift, so size and composition of your audience will be important. "These businesses will look at the donation as an advertising cost, weighing your opportunity against others they may already be employing," Rapier says. "Your best bet may be offering to pay wholesale for the product if you can't initially find a willing participant. You'll need to contact these businesses by phone to discuss your plan, and may find yourself revising it to meet their expectations." Best of luck!  Have a question about running your business? Ask our small-business experts. Send us an e-mail at smartanswers@businessweek.com, or write to Smart Answers, BW Online, 46th Floor, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Please include your real name and phone number in case we need more information; only your initials and city will be printed. Because of the volume of mail, we won't be able to respond to all questions personally. Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | OCTOBER |
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