Finding a memorable way to share your messaging with a targeted market segment can give your reputation a big boost. In this TV segment, Media Relations Agency helped our client Great Clips reach parents of young children by offering tips for surviving kids’ first haircuts. The cute and mischievous babies gave this media coverage the predicted “aww” factor, but it was the message that Great Clips salons are experts in first haircuts that really made our team proud. After watching this segment, there’s no doubt parents felt confident about choosing Great Clips for a successful first haircut.
Landing a five-minute segment such as this isn’t easy. We first brainstormed and crafted an attention-getting story, then pitched it to dozens of TV stations in multiple markets. Producers loved it! We then attended to dozens of details involved with connecting local salons, such as this one in Arizona, with the stations to make these fun segments happen. That’s why Great Clips and many other companies rely on Media Relations Agency to secure their earned media.
If you’re considering hiring an agency for your publicity, these tips will help you find the right one for the job.
- Choose an agency that focuses on publicity. Great Clips trusts Media Relations to secure its media coverage because publicity is, and always has been, our focus. We’ve been telling company’s stories through publicity for more than 30 years. Marketing, much like medicine, is full of specialists. You wouldn’t want a podiatrist to operate on your brain so don’t let an advertising pro arrange your publicity.
- Make sure the agency has some skin in the game. Securing media coverage is a challenging process. You need a team that’s tenacious in its pursuit of the right opportunities. Some agencies require their publicity clients to pay a monthly retainer. In these instances, your account is charged regardless of the agency’s success in securing media coverage. Others agencies, such as Media Relations, offer a pay-per-placement pricing model. Here, you pay per story arranged, not the time “trying”. Here’s a fun fact: Media Relations actually pioneered our Pay Per Interview® pricing model more than two dozen years ago.
- Make sure you have an experienced team working on your project. When you’re interviewing potential agencies, be sure to ask who specifically will be working on your account and their recent successes. Some agencies introduce you to their A-team but then assign junior team members to your project. We don’t have that issue here at Media Relations. All of our publicists have years of experience, as do our writers and strategists. Work with us, and you’ll have the same all-star team as Great Clips.
- Request a publicity estimate before you get started. A savvy team will be able to estimate how much media coverage they will be able to arrange for you and how much that publicity will cost. With the numbers in hand, you’ll be able to insert media coverage into your marketing plan without fears of blowing your budget or leaving money on the table. You can request your free estimate from Media Relations here. Prefer to chat? Give us a call at 952-697-5269.
