When you secure a piece of press coverage mentioning you or your photography business, make sure you are making the most of it!

Getting featured in the media isn’t easy and it gives you visibility, kudos and credibility. So, I would definitely urge you to promote your media coverage!

Chances are, that media mention wasn’t easy to achieve. Getting featured in newspapers, in magazines, on websites or blogs is probably not an everyday occurrence to you either, is it?

So, whether you’re featured in a ‘news in brief’ slot in your local paper, or you’ve landed a small feature or photo story, an interview or a multi-page editorial, this is a success well worth celebrating! You will likely have made a conscious effort to pitch your story and/or images, and devoted time and energy to landing that article. So, this is a big deal, right?!

Therefore, it absolutely makes sense to tell people about it once it’s live or out in print!

A word of warning though – do not take photographs of newspaper and magazine articles and share online as you may become liable to pay for a media access licence or risk being fined.

This is a useful article about how to share press coverage in the right way.

Why share your press successes?

I believe there are many reasons why you would want to promote your media coverage, including:

1. Increased visibility and web traffic

If the article is online and links through to your website, or even if it’s a print article and just mentions you or your photography business by name, then it will potentially generate lots of additional traffic to your website.

People who have read the article and are interested in what you do may be curious to know more, so your website is the obvious next step.

2. Helps you stay top-of-mind

Another benefit of telling people about your press coverage is that after reading the article, so many more people will be informed about what it is you do and how you help people. It will serve as a great reminder to those who haven’t seen or heard of you for a while.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to be top-of-mind and to reassure your clients that you are a media-worthy photographer!

3. Positive engagement will boost your confidence

Positive comments, messages of congratulations and feedback on the article will boost your confidence and may make you feel more inclined to try to land more press coverage in the future.

Friends, family, clients and business contacts will likely want to send you a ‘Well done’ message if they see the article.

To know that you have people cheering you on in business is a wonderful feeling and can spur you on to do more press. Which, in turn, will help you to get more visible and to grow your photography business further.

4. One article can potentially lead to another

A final reason to promote your media coverage is that you never know who might see your article. In PR, it can often be the case that one article can lead to more media opportunities – this is what’s known as the ‘snowball effect’.

For example, a strong local story may be picked up by a regional magazine or regional TV news or radio channel. A regional story may be picked up by a national newspaper, magazine, TV or radio programme.

Six ways to promote your media coverage

Here are some ideas for how you can promote your press coverage in order to get it seen by as many people as possible:

  1. Share links to online media coverage on social media

If you are mentioned or featured in an article online, you can tell your followers on social media about it by sharing the direct link.

You could tag the journalist and/or publication, and in your post thank them for including you. In my experience, a thank you is always much appreciated by journalists.

Related reading: 33 Social Media Content Ideas for Photographers

You can also temporarily ‘pin’ any promotional post you create to the top of your Facebook page or Twitter account too, to ensure that it’s the first thing people see when viewing your page or profile. In Instagram, you can temporarily make the one active link in your bio the link to the online article to drive traffic to the piece.

N.B. You cannot use a quote from the article or reproduce the headline of the article when sharing. Again, this article has great tips on do’s and don’ts of sharing press coverage.

2. Create content about your press coverage on your blog

Your blog is also a great place to write about the press coverage. You can write an article about the topic covered in the media and include a link back to the original.

Even better if you can tell the story of how it came about and what you learnt from the experience of being featured. Perhaps you took part in a magazine photoshoot – what was it like being in front of the camera instead of behind it, for example?

Share your own behind the scenes pictures, stories and insights that will be interesting to your readers, although do not share copyrighted material such as a photograph of the magazine article.

3. Share your press successes in your email newsletter

You can include a mention of any press coverage you secure for yourself or your photography business in your email newsletter. Don’t be afraid to tell all your subscribers and clients about your press success.

Being featured in the media is something that you are deservedly proud of. So, of course, feel free to tell your email subscribers – these are likely to be your biggest fans after all!

4. Showcase media mentions on your website

You can also create an ‘In the Press’ page on your website as a place to list and link to your online press mentions. Showing your website visitors that you have been featured in the media will almost certainly add trust and credibility to your offering and potentially raise a few eyebrows!

When visitors to your website see that you have been quoted or interviewed in media articles, they will probably be suitably impressed! It also gives you an edge over your competition and could even end up being an influential factor in why a client books you over another photographer.

You can create an ‘As featured in…’ section on your website, showcasing logos of the media publications you have been mentioned in. Place this in a highly visible area of your site such as on your home page, or on the About page (which is usually the second most visited page of any website).

Again, don’t share photographs of the press coverage but you can share a direct link to it if it is an online article.

Related reading: How to promote your success in the International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards

5. Promote your media coverage in your email signature

An often-forgotten tactic is to use the area underneath your email signature to highlight content that you want to share. This is valuable real estate that is likely to get a lot of views on a daily basis. So, don’t be afraid to utilise this space to effectively promote your press wins.

You probably send tens of emails out every single day. By including a link to your ‘In the Press’ page of your website or to a specific online article you are increasing the visibility of your press coverage. Don’t forget to include other important links, such as to your website or blog in your email signature too.

6. Show off your press coverage to clients

Clients will love to see you in the media spotlight and it may prove to be an ice-breaker, or certainly a talking point, if you display your press coverage where they can see it.

If you have a photography studio, I suggest that you present press clippings within a folder or binder and have it somewhere accessible, perhaps near the client seating area so your clients can flick through. Or, get it framed and up on your studio walls!

Related reading: PR 101: Using the media to promote your business

Share your press wins!

I hope that these ideas have inspired you to start sharing your media coverage so that you can get more impact from your moment in the spotlight!

While there are some important rules you need to be aware of around sharing media coverage (here’s the link to that useful article again), you can do it and it’ll help to raise even more awareness of you and your photography business.

Let me know in the comments if you have ever been featured in the media and how it came about. I’d also love to hear how you promoted your press coverage. If you didn’t, get sharing it today!

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