10 Clever Ways to Generate Free Publicity for Your Company Without Paying a PR Firm

By Brett Farmiloe

What are the most effective ways a business can generate free publicity without hiring a PR firm? Small business owners and marketers share their best practices.

Tips for getting free publicity

1. Draft newsjacking content

"Newsjacking can be a powerful way to generate free publicity without hiring a PR firm, as it allows you to leverage current events and trending topics to get your message in front of a wider audience. By creating content or social media posts that apply to a trending news story or topic, you can ride the wave of interest and potentially reach thousands or even millions of people.

"For example, if your business sells fitness equipment and a major celebrity announces that they have started a new fitness routine, you could create social media posts or blog content discussing how your equipment could be used in that routine. By using relevant hashtags and monitoring the conversation around the trending news story, you might reach a wider audience and generate free publicity for your business."
—Nyla Rose, BeastBeauty

2. Create contests and giveaways

"Contests and giveaways are a great way to generate interest in your business and can be a significant source of free publicity. You can offer an incentive for customers to take part, such as a free product or a discount on future purchases. This can help you generate awareness and excitement about your business."
—Michael Chen, Notta

3. Showcase internal case studies

"In my experience, conducting an internal case study is one of the easiest ways a business can generate free publicity without hiring a PR firm. The amazing thing about case studies is that they are always subjective and useful, so conducting one at your business provides an easy way to be featured and mentioned in the media."
—Michael Maximoff, Belkins

4. Utilize social media

"One way a business can generate free publicity is to leverage social media. This can include regularly posting content on their company's social media accounts, such as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as seeking influencers in their industry to collaborate with or feature their brand."
—Noel Griffith, SupplyGem

5. Get backlinks

"Backlinks are the best way to generate free publicity without the aid of a PR agency. If you have a quality site and expertise, you can expand your reach beyond your website, gaining views and future customers. When you use SEO best practices and write original content, you'll be able to pitch to other businesses the value of linking to your website. This no-cost way bolsters your image and credibility too."
—Kirkland Gee, Perfect Extraction

6. Try podcasting

"The CEO of our solar energy startup often goes on podcasts to share his knowledge and insights. The podcasts help promote the business in ways that traditional media outlets may not do since they are specific, meaningful conversations that are listened to by our target audience. Podcasts also can bring a business visibility and recognition, as people trust and appreciate hearing directly from experts who run businesses rather than reading content written by a PR firm and may lack personal opinion."
—Johar Inam, Solar Panel Installation

7. Announce an irresistible offer

"There's no better way to get people talking about your business than an irresistible discount or deal that seems too good to be true. The news is bound to spread like wildfire, and soon enough, you'll have a strong database of potential customers you can build on.

"Think of it this way—investing in PR exercises will cost you, too, so why not spend that on offering discounts that get people directly associated with your products or services talking about your business? Even more beneficial is the tangible list of leads you get your hands on."
—Tony Angeleri, Lone Wolf Paintball

8. Share client success stories

"One way businesses can generate free publicity is to share client success stories. While you may opt to have your marketing team take the lead on this, you don't need a PR firm to make it happen. These assets build trust because they provide an honest account of how you helped a client reach their goals. They're publicity gold mines because you can turn them into success story highlights for your website, posts for social platforms, long-form assets for lead generation, video content, presentation slides, and even print assets. Finally, if you optimize a success story for SEO, it will continue to drive traffic to your site."
—Nicole Salvatore, Stay Stellar

9. Do good in your community

"Doing something good in your community and notifying the local media could result in free publicity. Everyone likes a positive news story about local community members and companies, so organize an event and give the media a story to write about. Your initiative will depend on where you live and what the community needs, but could range from hosting a barbecue with funds going toward a local charity to bringing your employees together to feed those in need of a meal."
—Stan Caramalac, Move Central

10. Network with industry influencers

"One way a business can generate free publicity is by creating relationships and networking with influential industry players. For example, attending small meetups or social events related to the same industry your business operates in could lead to meaningful connections.

"These connections may provide you with powerful marketing opportunities that don't require expensive PR. Taking part in industry movements or campaigns can also be beneficial as it helps spread awareness of your brand while also contributing to a worthwhile cause directly related to your industry."
—Amy Ling Lin, sundays

About the Author

Post by: Brett Farmiloe

Brett Farmiloe is the founder and CEO of Terkel, a Q&A site that converts insights from small business owners into high-quality articles for brands.

Company: Terkel
Website: Terkel.io
Connect with me on LinkedIn.