Easy Way to Create Publicity

Pick up almost any newspaper and you’re likely to see a story based on the results of a poll or survey. Sometimes, these stories may be no more than a few paragraphs, but the publicity garnered from such a story is immeasurable. Surveys and polls are popular because they are easy to write, from the reporter’s point of view – and for the audience – there’s a ‘gee whiz’ factor and a way that they can compare themselves to others. For the small business owner, it’s easy to create a survey that can help your business. It can: • Create awareness of the company • Promote a product • Piggyback on a holiday or event for a bigger story • Promote the owner as an expert • Draw traffic to a website Conducting a poll or a survey is actually quite a simple process. You need at least 100 people to participate; all you have to do is have colleagues or clients check a few boxes on a photocopied form in order to generate an outcome. Or you can use more high tech ways and create an online survey. Many online companies, including Survey Gizmo and Survey Monkey, can make the job easy. Here’s how to create a survey that the media will love. 1. Have plans for the results. In order to benefit from conducting a survey or poll, you have to plan in advance what you want to do with the results. Realize that while some responses may support what you intend to, they won’t always go your way. The best thing to do is to select a survey topic that can be interpreted as a newsworthy fresh angle no matter the outcome. 2. Cover controversy. You should always tie your area of expertise in with current headlines, particularly with a topic of controversy. Take a poll concerning how Americans feel about a heated topic and offer your own interpretation and explanation of the results. For example, relationship expert can capitalize on the recent Tiger Woods scandal and create a survey on what people think he should be doing to help his relationship. 3. Prove them wrong. When faced with survey or polling results opposite of what you had expected, chances are they are the opposite of what most people expected as well. When you prove a known fact or popular belief wrong, it generates curiosity and interest, therefore readers are more likely to be intrigued to read on. I helped a client conduct a survey of area brides. It turned out that most of the brides surveyed were ditching the traditional June wedding for fall dates. The results weren’t expected, but it made for great headlines in the media. 4. Start things off. Surveys and polls help to make your writing much more appealing. Even if you don’t want your release to revolve around statistics, you can add a little zest by starting it off with a face or two. For example, if you’re writing about the benefits of a hypo-allergenic pillow, you can start things off by offering statistics of Americans with allergies or Americans who sleep restlessly. This way, you clearly and strongly demonstrate the commonality of this problem in America and that will likely intrigue Americans to read on. 5. Create visual appeal. One thing that editors love is the visual that poll and survey results can offer. Depending on the type of survey or poll, use either a graph or chart if possible to enhance the presentation of the article. This will entice both editors and readers.