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Public relations is essential to business, but it will probably be expensive. An estimated $16 billion is spent on PR agencies each yr. It’s hard to know exactly what value you are getting for your money, and that is where the best agencies are Edelman AND 5CAP they are not very understanding about pricing.
I’m not criticizing any of those agencies. They do not intentionally hide their prices – PR is a specialized service and its cost depends only on what individual plan your brand requires.
In fact, brands often have many misconceptions about PR and what agencies can do. We often hear the same PR myths during client onboarding calls, and it will probably take some time to get used to how the process works, whether it’s an in-house team or an external agency.
Here are six things every brand should know about PR.
1. Your release is not all the time newsworthy
Perhaps the biggest PR myth that brands have when contacting us is that they have a truly newsworthy campaign. They think they will hire a PR rep and immediately get on the front page of the New York Times and a guest spot on the Today Show. Unfortunately, this is not realistic unless you are someone like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, who is already a famous public figure.
The reality is that everybody wants these places and no PR agency can guarantee a place because there is brutal competition. The first questions we ask a potential client are about their financing, revenue, user count, and/or any trendy partnerships. If you are not an ace at any of those aspects, you will not make it in the media, especially when it involves mainstream media.
2. Media is not a quick fix
It is quite common for people to bet their entire business on media influence. They consider media coverage will result in more customers and profits, but it is not a sustainable business model. You cannot rely on media as a single marketing industry to grow what you are promoting. However, it requires great products, services, and media buzz to really help spread the word about your brand and acquire customers. Still, this is a temporary power-up that becomes tougher to repeat with each subsequent attempt after the first story is accomplished. Media is designed to showcase what you already do and should complement your brand initiatives, not fuel them.
3. PR is greater than just news
While we regularly think of PR as a technique to get into the news, it is much greater than that. Media is just one piece of the PR puzzle, and events, influencers and social media are often a part of the job, in addition to content marketing, search engine optimization and more. In fact, many of our biggest PR victories come from securing speaking gigs at high-level conferences like SXSW and GDC.
For public relations to work effectively, it should be integrated with all outbound communications to make sure messages are synchronized and legal. This is especially necessary in highly regulated industries comparable to finance, cryptocurrency, skilled services, and healthcare. The more access PR has to your content channels, the higher off you can be in the long term.
4. Great PR takes time
Speaking of the long run, I often have to remind clients that PR is a marathon, not a sprint. Brands typically think about hiring a PR agency as soon as they publish their first press release and are unsure easy methods to gain traction. An honest press push should last at least 30 days, while some contacts and placements can take months or even years to attain.
Through highly visible public statements, PR helps you build a legacy that may outlive you as an entrepreneur. Historic entrepreneurs, from Andrew Carnegie to Steve Jobs, are remembered more for media headlines today than anything, and the stories you spread will set the tone for your organization for generations to return.
5. Everyone has reporter friends
It’s all the time interesting to me when clients ask about reporter friends because it’s a double-edged sword. PR agents like to brag about being friends with journalists, but those friendships don’t actually aid you land clients as often as you think. Take note scandal on CNN over host Chris Cuomo, who gave preferential treatment to his brother Andrew when he served as governor of New York.
After all, a great story is higher than a personal relationship with reporters. Everyone has a friend in the media and they are normally very accessible to the public. If you have really useful information to present to them, you needn’t have any contacts with the media.
6. Both paid and earned media are needed
Many clients wish to stick with purely organic PR, and if you choose to go this route, you should be prepared to lower your expectations. Getting the gears in place takes a lot of labor, and there are many opportunities you will not get if you do not pay for them. It’s all the time price offering a publication, but it won’t all the time be accepted, especially when your brand is still small.
This is very true for industry awards. From an Oscar or Grammy to CES and AdAge innovations, almost every major trophy you have heard of comes with a fee. This doesn’t suggest you’ll be able to pay to win, but it does mean that every nominee you see on the list paid an entry fee, even if it was just a favor. If you should be among them, you’ll have to pay for your likelihood to win.
Application
Public relations is an necessary a part of business that should not be neglected. Effectiveness requires a solid plan and staff with specialized skills. This also takes time, so prepare for it as early as possible to provide your team a runway to launch successfully.
Immediate wins are great, but they should be a step towards a holistic, long-term plan. PR, when done intentionally, can build a legacy that may last a lifetime and beyond.