Without an advertising budget, PhantomAlert executives will be counting on grassroots marketing and word of mouth. Once they can demonstrate early sales activity they can then attract investors, partners, and retailers who will carry the product on their store shelves. Every company would like to have Oprah’s endorsement and her syndicated audience to begin their product launch but since only a few get that shot the alternative is to strike hard and heavy across the nation in the local markets. This is how PhantomAlert utilized local media for publicity to build awareness and sales.

Local TV. The local news @ 5am, 6am, 9am, 12pm, 5pm, 6pm, 10pm, and 11pm are all opportunities to promote your product. Local news programs in the morning, early eve, and late night all have different reporters, producers, and segments. One show might feature your product as a consumer-oriented segment while others might cover it as an investigative piece. Most importantly, if affiliates share video footage so something taped in an east coast city could be included as a feature segment on the west coast and everywhere inbetween! 

Tips: TV is visual so be prepared with your pitch by offering one or more of the following: a free product for the reporter to use on camera or have a demo conducted by a local rep to be seen on air. Also, try and find a local customer who is willing to go on camera and tell their before & after, and always have plenty of relevant data and stats to provide the reporter/producer with context for their segment.

Local Radio. From rush hour mornings, mid-day, afternoon drive times to late at night radio shows are fabulous to build awareness for your product. Be prepared with a local tie-in so the producer has a purpose to discuss your product and have you on as a guest. PhantomAlert reps were always armed with every new red light camera speed location, tracked the dollars spent by cities and dollars collected from citation revenues.This created a good guy/bad guy segment which lends itself well to heated debate which is part of talk-radio and caller participation.

Tips: Radio stations like to have incentives so be prepared with a promo code for listeners to use online or with your call center so they can receive a discount, free shipping or extra gift. Also, consider sending a few samples to the station so they can use as caller giveaways. Create the contest yourself with a question and answer game for them to use with a theme that includes your product. This will keep them talking about your product even after the segment is over.

Story by Carrol Van Stone, Publicity Examiner

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