Allow me one moment of psychic power. I can guess the biggest marketing mistake you’re making: not using publicity to promote your product.
It’s common sense. Media coverage is great for business. Yet almost all companies pour resources into four of the five promotional channels ‒ websites, social media, advertising and personal selling ‒ but they don’t harness the most powerful: publicity. Nothing will trigger sales more than media coverage, and there are some simple reasons for that. News stories are more credible than advertisements. News stories reach the masses. People love news stories and pay attention to them.
Here’s why marketers ignore publicity. The more commonly used promotional channels are like cars. They are a predictable way to deliver a sales message and they can be controlled. But publicity is different. Publicity has a mind of its own, like a racehorse. Rather than being driven, it needs to be guided. But once a marketer harnesses this thoroughbred and learns to ride, they open up an avenue for sales that has been overlooked for years.
Almost 30 years ago, working as a marketer, I got a taste of the media’s selling power. But I was frustrated by the way PR firms sold publicity. So like many entrepreneurs, I got my start by creating a business that solved my own frustration. I started selling publicity by the story rather than by the hour. It made it possible for marketers to use publicity to promote their products, without fear of an expensive hourly rate. It gave marketers an important element of control over publicity that they hadn’t had before, and they loved it.
As a start-up, I was ridiculed by the competition for my Pay Per Interview Publicity® approach. I feel vindicated today knowing that we arrange more media coverage before lunch than many of them do in a month.
The irony of my business is that we have a hard time getting publicity for ourselves. The media is rightfully reluctant to do stories that explain why it’s cheaper and more effective to buy news stories though us than ads through them.
To begin harnessing the power of publicity as a promotional channel, call 952-697-5269 or complete our contact form. You’ll speak with Vice President of Media Production Heather Champine. She’s a partner in our business, and she manages our publicists. Heather will listen to your goals. She’ll ask you a few questions to assess if our services would be a good fit for your product. She’ll give you recommendations for supplementing or launching your marketing plan.
