Publicity: How to Get People Talking About Your Brand

Ask any business owner, and they’ll tell you that people organically talking about their brand is the dream.

Publicity isn’t some elusive goal, though. It happens when customers, journalists, or influencers mention your brand on their own, simply because your story, product, or campaign resonates with them.

Unlike advertising and PR, publicity is earned attention. Harnessed well, publicity can amplify your reach and boost credibility.

Today, we’re looking closely at publicity and how you can make the most of it for your business. This is part of our ‘How to Explain Marketing’ series. Don’t forget to check out the other tips!

What Is Publicity?

Publicity is the organic buzz surrounding your brand. Unlike paid advertising campaigns, it’s earned and builds up over time.

This could be a journalist featuring your latest product or a blogger raving about your service. It could even be from a loyal customer sharing your content on social media — or a bunch of positive Google reviews!

The key distinction from other marketing tools is authenticity.

People discuss what excites them or provides genuine value. A brand’s publicity thrives when its products or services have something worth sharing. This could be a unique story or an innovative promotion.

So, what makes your brand different?

How to Generate Publicity

While you can’t directly buy people’s enthusiasm, you can create the conditions for it through your digital marketing efforts. Here’s how:

• Tell shareable stories — Craft narratives that spark curiosity or emotion, making them easy to pass along. A good example of this is Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign, which features common names on the bottles.
• Leverage newsworthy moments — Align your brand with viral trends or seasonal opportunities to make it relevant. This works well on social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok.
• Encourage user-generated content — This is another, more social-media-focused technique. Reviews and social posts from real customers are powerful endorsements. GoPro is a good example of this, as the camera brand held a ‘GoPro Awards’ campaign where users submitted their own footage, which the brand used on their social media page.
• Influencer Marketing — Rather than working with any influencers, where possible, collaborate with people who genuinely love your brand; their excitement spreads faster.

Connecting Publicity to Digital Marketing

As you can see above, there are numerous strategies to generate publicity, which can be effectively linked to your digital marketing efforts.

For example, organic mentions amplify your social media reach, driving engagement without extra spend. Likewise, backlinks from media coverage enhance your SEO, thereby boosting your search visibility.

Even your paid campaigns gain credibility when potential customers see others talking about your brand. But the key here is that the voices are unpaid. This is what makes them credible.

Integrating publicity into your broader marketing strategy ensures that earned buzz complements your digital marketing campaigns and advertising.

Every mention and share can ripple through your digital presence, creating a multiplier effect for your brand.

Are you ready to get them talking?

How Re:View Creative Can Help

Whether you already have a marketing strategy or not, Re:View Creative is here to help you get your audience engaged.

Check out our portfolio online now — or take a look at our services.

Raring to go? Drop us a line and let’s get started.