No promotional tool is more underused than product news coverage. I know because my company, Media Relations Agency has been arranging product news stories for almost 30 years. One of our most important tasks is helping companies understand that they can ‒ and should ‒ tap into the power of media coverage to promote their products.
The more we educate people about the power of connecting with reporters and producers, the more companies see the light and understand its value. Product news coverage is sales-rich content that meets people where they live. It’s inexpensive compared to other promotions, and your competition is most likely missing it. Imagine the impact on sales if journalists across the country started talking to the masses about your product.
Most PR firms follow the textbook business model. They offer a full array of PR services, most of which have nothing to do with promoting products in the media. These services include everything from employee relations and investor relations to crisis management and community affairs. My company’s philosophy is different in two distinct ways. First, we specialize in product news coverage. Second, we sell coverage priced by the story, not by the hour. That means you always get media coverage for your money.
We call our business model “Pay-Per-Interview Publicity®” and charging per story is our biggest selling feature. Many of our clients tell us they got burned by other PR forays: They paid big hourly fees and got little to no coverage. They love our accountability. Once they try us, they often become customers for life.
Reaching people at home in a nonintrusive way makes media coverage an effective promotional channel. However, most companies overlook it. One reason is, they think traditional media channels have dried up. Not so. An 800-pound gorilla that loses 100 pounds is still a 700-pound gorilla. Don’t kid yourself. No one has audiences’ ears more than the traditional media.
We mobilize reporters to reach and teach people about our clients’ products by making thousands of calls monthly. Making these calls is hard work that most PR firms sidestep by sending out press releases or using wire services. I can’t say I blame them. Many people in the media are overworked, underpaid and live with the constant pressure of deadlines. The temptation for PR professionals to skip making a thousand calls in favor of sending out press releases is strong.
But there is only one way to drag your story out from under the mountain of press releases on to the top of reporters’ and journalists’ desks: Pick up the phone and call them.
We use all the ways we can think of to get in touch with the media but phone calls work the best. If we relied on emailing press releases or putting them up on the wire, we’d be out of business in a week. I guess it’s like everything else in life: There’s just no substitute for hard work.
Heather Champine leads our team of publicists. She’s also vice president of media production and a partner in the company. I invite you to call her personally at 952-697-5269 or complete our form below. She can give you an estimate of how much publicity we could arrange for your product, in your target market. She can also tell you how much it would cost. She’d love to hear from you.
P.S. Even after we explain what we do, sometimes people still have the impression we sell ads or infomercials. I want to make it clear: We find reporters and producers who need content for their publication or program and put you in touch with them. There is no money that changes hands between the us and the media. Over the last 30 years, our team of publicists has developed connections with countless reporters and producers who are on the lookout for story ideas. We simply try to persuade them to do a story about your product and charge you a fee if they do. We’ve booked tens of thousands of stories for our clients, and we would love to have the opportunity to promote your product.
