At Shift Key, we know how to uncover and tell your story.
Press releases work and earned media still plays a major role in gaining recognition and creating revenue for companies. Being proactive in telling an organization’s story elevates the whole marketing strategy. In fact, earned media is arguably more valuable than paid media and discernibly less expensive. In research by Forrester, 88 percent of consumers claimed that direct advertisements have little or no effect on purchase decisions — that’s why we want to demonstrate the value of what we do for new clients with a special one-time press release offer for those who have never tried media relations and may not understand its value.
“This is a great chance for organizations that know it’s time to take their marketing to the next level, but aren’t exactly certain how to do it. The credibility of earned media gives it an advantage over paid media — and we want to show them how to do it,” said Jan Risher, Shift Key founder. “We dig deep with our clients and work to turn over every rock to find the stories and details that will resonate. Often, we are able to spot stories that organizations just don’t notice because they’re such an integral part of who they are.”
By using our background as experienced journalists, Shift Key uncovers stories that appeal to publications without crossing the line of being overly self-promotional and turning off potential audiences, especially journalists.
“But finding and telling the story is not all we do to get our clients’ stories noticed,” Risher said. “We also research to find the publications that line up best with the story and then we do the hard part — we follow up.”
Shift Key’s Joelle Polisky leads our media relations team. After more than 20 years in the industry, Polisky has deep media connections across the country.
“There is no real secret to our success in public and media relations,” Polisky said. “It’s all about hard work — and taking the time and energy to make the individual connections to get a story its due.”
Risher and Polisky agree that social media and the internet provide further options to direct readers to a company’s website, social media page or event ticketing page, which means wider distribution and a more interactive audience. Making communication a two-way street and gaining feedback from consumers and potential consumers is key for building long-term brand loyalty and support. Distributing press releases to targeted news sites and doing the necessary follow-up to gain coverage is a cost-effective way to get an organization’s story out there.
Creating an earned media strategy elevates an organization’s marketing efforts. Contact us if you would like to learn more.