PR Can Supercharge your OPE Business

By Heather Ripley

When most people think of public relations, they think of big corporate campaigns that attempt to sell a company’s products, or they think of the necessary “evil” of overcoming a business crisis. 

But PR is so much more than just an attempt to spin an idea or repair a battered image. A proactive PR strategy can build relationships, increase visibility and gain exposure for your company in ways that paid advertising can’t touch. 

For a power equipment dealer, PR can strengthen your presence in specific markets while expanding your reach into other verticals you’ve yet to enter, like construction, municipal development, agriculture and other industries. 

When you hire a PR agency (and you should, see the “This Article is Good PR” sidebar), one of the first things they will look at is how up-to-date and dynamic your website is by ensuring that your website content is easy to find, and that it’s fresh and relevant. 

Power Up Your Content

You probably already know that digital marketing is a solid investment that helps you move up in Google’s rankings. You may not know, however, that fresh website content helps your company fare better in these rankings when people search for power equipment. 

Google’s algorithms are mysterious by design, but we do know that the more you refresh your website and the more it is mentioned by other high-traffic sites – like media – the higher up the Google rankings it can climb. If you search for your equipment in your area and your company’s URL isn’t on the first page, you’re missing an opportunity. And you can fix this. 

Distribute Press Releases

Google ranks a website, in part, on how that site (your business) is mentioned in other mediums, such as news websites and on social media. The best way to begin earning media coverage is to start putting out press releases. 

Readers of print and online media trust earned placements more than paid advertising. Most studies show that earned media – written or produced by a third party such as a newspaper or trade publication – is trusted by about 90 percent of readers while the same amount – about 90 percent – do not trust paid advertising.  

When issuing press releases, you need to make them newsworthy to either the public or to your trade organizations. A press release should share information that is important within your company, such as hiring a new manager or business leader, expanding your services or opening a new location. 

You can also offer expertise on relevant local news or issues. For example, if you are a utility vehicle dealer that sells snow removal equipment, offer tips to municipal employees or even homeowners on ways to remove snow safely and effectively. You can share advice today on the best ways to store and charge batteries, or lawn-mower blade sharpening.  

Polished press releases that show your expertise and share helpful information can help earn media coverage that will make you the trusted expert in your local market. You’ll also build relationships with local reporters who will learn they can trust you as a source for future stories they’ll write. 

Be More Social

Another way to build trust and boost awareness surrounding your brand is by writing regular blog posts and keeping up with your social media accounts. Writing blog posts and sharing links to that content on your social media accounts also keeps your website refreshed, which the Google algorithm loves. 

Your blog, however, isn’t a place to sell your wares. Your blog posts shouldn’t be about sales promotions or new inventory. Instead, write blog posts about industry news, product-usage tips or cool things your company is doing for the community. 

Blogs are a place to reach customers who are looking for helpful information, they have questions, problems to solve. Use other parts of your website for sales pitches. While there’s nothing wrong with linking to a solution on your website to the problem you’re discussing, the blog itself should be informative and entertaining. 

Get Involved in Your Community

This also leads to your local involvement in your community. PR is about building relationships, and this isn’t restricted to reporters and your online community. If you and your coworkers are involved in giving back to your community by helping a local charity or volunteering to serve on the board of a non-profit, you can share those stories on your blog. Not only are you doing something great for your community, but you are attracting eyes to your business.  

Local volunteer work takes time, of course, and so does writing stories about that work. That’s where a PR agency partnership becomes invaluable. PR professionals are the experts at writing content and reaching out to the media to ensure that content gets seen by others outside of your usual sphere of influence. 

PR has come a long way from the Mad Men era of paid advertising and marketing. It’s now a service that no business should be without, particularly if that business wants to scale growth and reach beyond traditional markets.  

Heather Ripley is founder and CEO of Ripley PR, a global public relations agency specializing in skilled trades, B2B tech and franchising. Ripley PR has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a Top Franchise PR Agency five years in a row and was named to Forbes’ America’s Best PR Agencies for 2021.  

Editor’s Note: This Article is Good PR – Here’s How it Happened 

By Glenn Hansen 

Public relations is often referred to as “earned media,” while advertising is “paid media.” Any business owner can pay for an advertisement; you don’t necessarily need an advertising agency partner to do that. But to earn a PR placement on a news website or in a local paper or magazine, you can benefit from the expertise and relationships of a PR pro.  

A business earns a placement in the media in two ways. One, it has important news to share. Two, a business owner or leader has built a relationship with a journalist or editor. I’ve worked on both sides of this PR relationship, as a corporate PR leader and as a magazine editor. This article is an example of that second type. How it happened is an example of good PR.  

1. Audrey from Ripley PR contacted me on behalf of Ripley’s client RC Mowers. We set up a call to discuss more about robotics.  

2. She stayed in touch with me about RC’s work and robotic equipment, providing information and helping me get to know robotics and her client’s company. Nothing pushy or sales-focused, just good info.  

3. When Audrey sent a press release that was not a news fit for OPE Business, I told her that. But she stayed in contact and supplied relevant information too.  

4. I asked Audrey if she could provide an article on how OPE dealers can benefit from public relations today. And she asked the owner of the agency to write that article.  

5. Ripley PR provided helpful information, based on knowledge of PR and experience in the power equipment industry. They earned a PR placement – this article.  

6. As a magazine editor, I got a helpful article written by an expert. Yes, I could have written the piece myself. But I saved time, and I continued a relationship.  

7. You can do the same for an editor or journalist. It takes time, like all good things do.