Samantha Jacobson Of TenXPR On 5 Ways To Leverage Media Coverage To Dramatically Grow Your Business
An Interview With Kristen Shea
Tag everyone involved and encourage them to share it too. If you have a team, tag your team members and ask them to share it. If you book a segment with the BC Today show, tag them, the reporters, and yourself. This will give you a higher chance of being reposted or tagged as well.
As a part of my series called ‘5 Ways To Leverage Media Coverage To Dramatically Grow Your Business’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Jacobson.
Samantha Jacobson is an industry leader in Broadcast PR and has over 20 years of experience in Communications and Public Relations. As founder of TENXPR, she works with CEOs, founders, experts, and other industry leaders to land them the media exposure they desire.
Prior to founding TENXPR, Samantha spent three years as vice president for the iconic home furnishing brand, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, where she led seasonal strategy and key branding initiatives. Samantha’s methodology is grounded in brand building and deep connections with her clients.
During her early years in the entertainment industry, Samantha earned 4 Emmy nominations as a producer and is an award-winning journalist.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Thanks for having me! I’m originally from a town right outside of NYC in North New Jersey, and I currently live there running my business, TENXPR. Growing up, I always had a curiosity for the media. That curiosity turned into me working 20 years as a TV producer. The last show I worked on was CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Norah O’Donnell. When I had my son, I decided it was time to switch to the PR side of the business. I started my own business in 2020, which has been the best career decision I have made yet.
In your opinion, what separates your agency from others in the space?
My agency focuses exclusively on broadcast PR, which is national, local, and streaming TV networks. Most PR agencies allocate their resources across all types of media and choose not to specialize. However, TENXPR’s business strategy has allowed us to build extremely strong connections in one area which has propelled our company to success.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The three most important character traits that have propelled me to success are vision, determination, and adaptability.
As a former producer and current entrepreneur, vision has always been the number one trait to my success. I’m a big ideas person, and I love to see how I can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together to turn my vision into a reality. That’s exactly how I’ve formed my business. I’m also strong-willed, which means “determined” in the business world. Once I have a vision, there is nothing that is going to stop me. Even if my idea is a total fail, I have to see it fail before I give up or make adjustments. That’s where my adaptability comes into play. I’m always looking for ways to improve and make my ideas better. Adaptability is a must in the PR world. You never know what last-minute opportunity might present itself, so you have to be able to adapt quickly if you want to be successful in the industry.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now jump into the main part of our interview. If you had a local business, what 3 media strategies would you use to grow your customer base and why?
When I work with any of my clients who are local business owners, we have specific strategies to increase their exposure. Local news stations are often looking to give media time to local businesses to support the community, so they’re usually our first approach. From there, we look for publications who are looking to feature local and small businesses.
When I was in charge of launching a brand’s store opening in Fort Worth, Texas, we partnered with a local magazine and the local hospital charity to raise money. We hosted the event, provided cocktails and hors d’oeuvre, and had a raffle for a shopping spree. All three of us sent out invites to our contacts to create an even greater list of attendees. It was amazing. Six hundred people attended the event and the hospital received a wonderful donation for the children’s unit. It was a great way to be part of the community, and we received coverage in the magazine after.
The next strategy is to use influencers. Whether we like it or not, social media has an incredible impact on businesses and marketing. Influencers who support your brand are going to get the word out fast and expand your customer base. In Fort Worth, we looked for people with big local followings and invited them to a VIP event where they were introduced to the founders.
Lastly, work with a local charity! You can target more people and create a bigger list of contacts to invite, as well as give back locally in your new community. Honestly, there is nothing more rewarding than raising money for a charity you know is doing good work. Being part of the community is one of the most powerful things you can do. Get involved and give back…
How about a national brand? What 3 media strategies are typically most effective in generating more business for a national brand?
Our goal for national brands is to reach a tier-one show to anchor their campaign. Once they’re anchored in the media, we build around that with various business shows and streaming networks. For example, we would start with networks similar to Good Morning America, the Today show, or CBS Morning. From there, we would pitch to business shows like Yahoo Finance, Fox Business, other talk shows, or local networks.
Strategy two is to always go after local coverage. Several local hits can be just as powerful as a national hit! We never disregard local media opportunities for any brand. The pandemic has really changed how broadcast works. Back in the day, everyone had to go into a studio, and a segment had to be shot in a certain way. Now we have the power of Zoom. It opens you up to all these new markets in different geographic locations, which is exciting for brands and experts!
Strategy three is to hook into the news! Find a way to connect what you are doing to what is going on in the current news cycle. Be relevant. This is the quickest way to get on TV! If you are a financial expert, you can talk about the impending recession — lead with that!
Would your PR strategy change much if a client is selling a physical product or has a service-based solution? B2C versus B2B? If so, please share an example or two that might demonstrate any differences
Yes, the strategy usually changes because we can pitch different options to networks. We can always pitch founder stories or company highlights, but with products, we can do demos for segments or allow products to be used by others in expert segments. Though our strategies are very similar for B2B and B2C business, we can target more business shows with B2B clients.
If a business is already investing monthly in PR, what other marketing strategies would you recommend they invest in that best compliments that work to bring in the most amount of business?
The reality is influencer marketing is very successful and it works. People want to know others’ successes, stories, and formulas. Having someone endorse your product could make a huge difference, so I would absolutely recommend investing money in influencer marketing.
Super. Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our interview. If someone has already been covered in the media, what are the best next steps after that? What are your “5 Ways To Leverage that Media Coverage To Dramatically Grow Your Business”? Please share a story or an example for each.
If someone has already landed a segment in the media, the number one thing they need to do is share, share, and share it again. Here are five ways I suggest they share it:
- Tag everyone involved and encourage them to share it too. If you have a team, tag your team members and ask them to share it. If you book a segment with the BC Today show, tag them, the reporters, and yourself. This will give you a higher chance of being reposted or tagged as well.
- Add it to your website so anyone visiting your page will see you have been featured in the media. This establishes you and your brand as an authority in your industry. Think of your website as your business card. Everyone is going to look at your website before having a call with you. Make sure to share all of your coverage there to give you credibility and authority.
- Add it to your email signature. If you are communicating with a new client, they will see it in your emails and are more likely to click it and watch. Again, establish yourself and your brand as an expert. This is building authority. Showing your prospects or clients you have been featured on NBC is another great tool to show credibility and authority.
- Share it with your current clients in a newsletter, press release, or email. The more people who see it, the better! They may even send it to someone they know to show what an awesome job their PR rep is doing! People always want to know who they are working with so it’s exciting to see your contacts being recognized in the media. Don’t be shy about showing off your placements.
- Lastly, always repurpose it. Post short clips to social media, write a blog about it, feature it in email pitches to networks, or create a meme of yourself with a great one-liner! Repurposing content is the best way to grow your brand awareness. With algorithms always changing, it’s so important to make sure new people will see your content. People have to see something seven times to remember it well. Feel free to reuse and repurpose.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would start a movement for the 4-day work week. I’m in love with this idea because it actually would make people more productive and give them a stronger work/life balance. Let’s start the movement and make it happen! But let’s start next week because I have too much work to get done for my clients this week.
How can our readers further follow you online?
https://www.instagram.com/tenxpr_/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenxpr
Thank you for sharing so many valuable insights with all of us today.