Generation DIY: Stay Alert And Up To Date!

posted in: Features

By now you Generation DYIers have your PR campaign together, and are ready to blast through all your targeted media outlets. Before you do, however, you should set up a system of to track where your promotion efforts work best. How exactly does one do that? With the wonderful Internet at our fingertips, global search engines such as YAHOO! and GOOGLE provide tracking system (or alerts) that you can set up to follow your efforts. This week’s Generation DIY is going to touch upon setting up these alerts and pushing your PR campaign off the shore into the large sea of opportunity.

First things first, determine what keywords you’d like to track”for example your band name, your personal name, Web site, album, song titles etc. ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS put these keywords within quotations so it reads John Doe and not John Doe, that way Yahoo! and Google will group the words together and not search for them individually. Doing it this way ensures that you will be getting the best tracking results when people view your promotion spots on various Web sites.

From here just sit tight and keep a watchful eye on all the mentions. Compile a list of positive reviews that you can use later on in press kits, publication quotes on your website or social networking pages as well as use in future PR campaigns. Once you receive a positive review, contact the source and build some sort of relationship with them. Send them a personalized thank you as well as link to their post. In the end, you’re both helping each other out by giving free publicity to your fanbase. Also, with your thank you, feel free to send them music, merchandise or whatever material that may not be released yet. Anyone who receives something that hasn’t been touched by the public yet will hold that closer to heart than anything, especially if it’s from a band they personally enjoy.

How’s the process going so far? Feel like you’re lost or in too deep? Remember I’m always here to help, so leave a comment. I’ll do my best to answer your questions and guide you into the right direction. Next week during my column’s wrap up, I’ll finalize the PR campaign and give you a small rundown on the past 6 months. Remember, everything that has been written is backlogged, so be sure to go back and see the different posts for a friendly reminder.

Keep it up Generation DIY. As always, this is YOUR year!