The Power of HARO: Tips for New Advertisers
Thinking about using the power of HARO to advertise? As the owner of Out of the Blue Delivered and a repeat HARO advertiser, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way (from both experience and observation) to help you maximize your ad.
1. A HARO ad will ROCK your website! So be sure that you have the bandwidth to handle the traffic. (Learned this one the hard way the first time we advertised.)
2. Pick ONE idea, service or product to pitch. HARO members are busy people so keep it short and to the point. (Learned this one the second time.)
3. If you don’t have a marketing degree, hire someone to write your ad. Why spend the money on ONE email blast and then NOT spend the money to do it right? Makes no sense.
4. Peter Shankman is a GREAT guy. And though you may feel like you know him because he “talks” to us three times per day, he does NOT know all 100,000 plus HARO family members.
5. Quit trying to figure out what Peter can do for you and start figuring out what you can offer the HARO family.
6. Be prepared. Test and re-test any aspect of your website or business that HARO members will bombard such as links, coupon code, cart, check out process, phone number, voice mail message, etc. Make sure that everything is ready to offer the best customer service possible.
7. Even if you think you’re prepared, there will probably be some glitch that happens when the HARO family descends upon your business. So be mentally prepared to adjust to situations “on the fly”. (Have experienced this one several times.)
8. Make sure you deliver what you promise and then some.
9. As an advertiser, you will get pitched by all kinds of other businesses via email and phone during the madness of your advertising day. Ignoring the emails is easy, but have a quick answer ready to get these “pitchers” off the phone. (Let this be a hint to anyone who pitches an advertiser…whether you have a product or service, do NOT contact a company on the same day that they run a HARO ad. They have their hands full taking care of business. Wait a few days and THEN contact them if you must.)
10. Enjoy the ride! A HARO ad will take your business to new and exciting places. By far, a HARO ad produces more exposure, interaction and response than any other advertising we have done. It’s exciting!! And there’s no telling where the relationships we have formed will take us next. (We are so very grateful for all the HARO family members!!)
Out of the Blue Delivered wishes to say a special THANK YOU to Peter Shankman, found of HARO, Michael Griffin and Meagan Walker for once again helping us to grow our business, our brand and our customer base. Thanks to HARO, we have been able to not only help Central Floridians show that they care, but people all over the country (and the world). Take it from us, HARO ROCKS!
By the way, our Feb 8th ad drew more unique visitors in one day than we have ever had! HARO members went nuts for our card cubby!! We apologize for the glitch with the coupon code (see #7 above) and encourage you to try again if you were unable to purchase your cubby yesterday. As always, HARO members get 10% off with coupon code: HARO (It’s working now, promise!)
Outofthebluedelivered's Blog 