In marketing communication public relations is not as well understood as advertising. While advertising means that you buy space or time, PR relies on securing media coverage to enhance people's awareness of and confidence in your business. PR is usually free, but it requires a good contact with the media that serves your market.

Easy steps to win publicity
Winning publicity in your community is not that complicated. You might already have established good personal contact with your local newspapers because you have placed ads in the past. Take advantage of this to receive free extra coverage!

Be aware of interesting 'news hooks' 
Find topics that might be of interest, i.e. a new hearing aid solution or news regarding your own business - such as jubilees or interesting activities.

Decide which media to address 
Investigate which media in your community might be interested in health-related topics or issues of local interest. Also identify media that is usually read by your client group and make a list containing addresses of local newspapers, magazines and radio stations.

Find your local editor in charge
Call the media you have chosen and ask for the person in charge of health-related issues or topics of local interest. 

Prepare your press release
You can either adapt a prepared article suggestion from us or write your own press release. Make your paragraphs short and simple, and avoid being too technical. Provide facts about your event or service. Include enough information to get the attention of the editor. Include pictorial material if possible. 

Send out and follow-up 
As soon as you are happy with the article you have prepared, send it out. Remember that papers do need sufficient notice. To make sure that your material arrived and was read you may want to contact the editor after a couple of days. This gives you the chance to establish personal contact and ask whether more information is needed. 

The editor might then send a reporter to interview you, send a photographer to the event you want covered or simply use your article as background information.