Isn’t Public Relations Only For National Exposure?

July 9, 2012 Leave a comment

My general rule of thumb is to never use the word only when referring to public relations.  For example, statements such as: public relations is only for celebrities, or PR is only for major corporations, or PR is only for national exposure are all incorrect statements.  Yet, most people have a tendency to think about PR in that type of only perspective.  Which is why there are so many misconceptions around what PR is and how media relations works.  Those type of onlys tend to shut people down and often lead business owners and entrepreneurs to make the wrong marketing decisions.

So they miss out on finding new ways to establish their business, bring in more clients, make more money and build their brand.  For example let’s take the statement that PR is only for national exposure.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There are a number of ways businesses can local marketing exposure for national companies is one of the most overlooked areas of opportunity. Local exposure for businesses that provide products and services only in a designated local geographical area generally have an abundance of exposure opportunities available to them.

The truth is that PR, like a car, can be used for a multiple of reasons.  If you’d never bought a car and you heard that they were only for celebrities, or only for professional race car drivers, or only for the owners of large corporations, you’d think twice before buying, but think of what you’d be missing. There are myriad reasons that people buy cars. Some drivers only want a car for local transportation, others cover long distances, some carry equipment and are used for work, others are high end or turbo charged; it all depends on the driver and his or her needs.  And the same is true when it comes to launching a public relations campaign.  Your primary focus might be local or national, or a blend of the two; your aim might be to build your business, or bring in more clients, or establish yourself as an expert in your field, or establish your brand.  All of those are legitimate goals that can be accomplished via PR, publicity and media relations.

PR is perfect for start ups, small businesses, huge corporations, artists, celebrities, physicians… you can pretty much fill in the blank.  It is a form of marketing that you can utilize to meet your particular business and marketing needs.

So figure out what your marketing goals are.  What is your target market?  Who is your audience?   Who are your clients and customers?  Once you know your objectives you can develop a public relations campaign custom made for you and your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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Breast Feeding & the First Gay President: How Time & Newsweek Are Riding the Social Media Train

May 14, 2012 Leave a comment

The news magazines controversy wars are going at full steam.  Time got out of the gate first with its May 21 cover, featuring a rather defiant and somewhat uncomfortable looking Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her three-year-old son, Aram.  In the photo, Aram is standing on a chair and feeding on her exposed left breast.  Not your everyday magazine cover.  But it wasn’t meant to be.  The image had more impact than the article, which accompanied the photo; which is exactly what Time intended.  The web erupted with praise and criticism; and the social media stir accomplished the decision, makers at Time, were hoping for. Celebrities jumped in; Alyssa Milano and model Joanna Krupa began to Tweet about it and the social media frenzy was off to the races.   It drove more readers to the site, where they had to pay to read the full articles.  The traditional media had a heyday with the cover which, in turn, caused an even bigger sensation on the various social media fronts

An article in the Los Angeles Times explained that Time’s editors ran the controversial photo and article to mark the 20th anniversary of Dr. Bill Sears’ book on the topic.  According to the article, the book helped “power the movement for moms to establish deeper, and more prolonged, physical bonds with their children.”  That is all true, but the purpose of the cover photo was to cause a sensation and drive sales

Not to be outdone Newsweek’s cover May 14th cover declares Obama “the first gay president,” with a story by writ

er Andrew Sullivan.  With Tina Brown at the helm, Newsweek has recently a number of controversial covers, but here the envelope is being pushed with a vengeance.   The cover, which shows President Obama with a rainbow halo above his head, comes days after Obama’s statement that he is personally in favor of gay marriage.

The article draws parallels between the isolation felt by many in the homosexual community and Obama’s struggle to fully discover and assert his racial identity.  But again, the image and the tag were less about the article and more about the marketing.

As with the Time breastfeeding cover, it is the Newsweek cover photo and tagline that will be remembered and that will cause a stir.  Here, the major news magazines, which have taken tremendous blows during the past few years, primarily because of the internet, are now utilizing the power of social media to sell magazines.

It’s an interesting irony and in a way marks a bit of a 180 turn.  The traditional media using the tremendous power of social media to market it wares.  This is indicative of how public relations, social media and the traditional media have in a sense all melded into one.  You can no longer separate one from the other and, if as a marketer you fail to see that – you lose.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Martinson, Jane. “Are you mom enough?’ … Time magazine Photograph: AP”. Photo. The Guardian. 14 May 2012. 14 May 2012. < http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2012/may/14/breast-best-row-time-magazine?newsfeed=true>
Harrigan, Matt. “Newsweek cover calls Barack Obama ‘the first gay president’.” Photo. Syracuse.com. 14 May 2012. 14 May 2012. <http://www.syracuse.com/have-you-heard/index.ssf/2012/05/newsweek_cover_calls_barack_ob.html>

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Branding Your Company Using PR

March 21, 2012 Leave a comment

PR and media relations are not only effective ways to garner coverage in print, TV or the radio, innovative companies and entrepreneurs are utilizing the basic PR methodology to build their brands.  Effective public relations is one of the most powerful and effective brand building tools available.  Companies build lasting successful brands by creating a powerful emotional response in their customers and in the public at large and they do so by developing and creating an effective story.  Successful branding is not a process of the hard-sell.  It is not about being the biggest, or the loudest, or even the coolest.  A company builds a successful brand by making a deep powerful connection with its market.  Branding is about communicating on a basic human level.

Having worked as a journalist, editor and producer, I know from the media’s perspective what makes a powerful and compelling story. Having served as president and CEO of a PR firm, I also know from the perspective of a public relations consultant what creates a story the media will respond to.  It is the same type of emotional responses that companies look for when it comes to establishing their brands.

For a story to work it must be compelling, interesting and hit a true human chord.  Public relations is the only form of marketing that lives or dies on how compelling the story truly is. Unlike advertising, with media relations you can’t pay to have a story placed in the editorial section of the media. You need to craft and pitch a story that is compelling enough to capture the media’s attention – a story that in essence is strong enough to become the news.

PR is not an event; it is a process and using that process is the most effective and powerful way to create and develop an effective brand.  It is the PR mindset and methodology, the ability to develop and establish stories that resonate with the public that truly create the most powerful and lasting brands. A successful brand tells a company’s story both emotionally and narratively, which is why PR consultants who truly understand the process are the most effective brand creators around.

Keep in mind when you’re launching your PR campaign that you’re not only reaching your target market, establishing yourself though the media, and promoting your business, you’re also successfully connecting with your customers and establishing your company’s brand.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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Why Your Customers Can be Your Best PR

September 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Your best stories might not be your product or your service; your best stories illustrate your value.  Where most people get lost when trying to come up with story angles or media hooks to launch their PR campaigns is that they focus on what is important to them, as opposed to what would interest the media.  It’s an easy trap to fall into and one that railroads most public relations campaigns.  So what makes for a good story or pitch idea?  Remember, your focus is on the media and the media’s focus is on their readers, viewers or listeners.  If you can pitch a writer a story that is going to interest their readers, or a TV producer a segment idea that is going to hook their viewers, you’re going to succeed.

But again the most difficult part is being able to step back and come to terms with the possibility that the story that you want to get in the media may very well not be the story that the media is interested in.  So, for now, forget your product or service and focus on your value.  How to you impact people’s lives?  Do you help people make more money?  Do you save them time and effort?  Do you help them lose weight?  Do you make them healthier?  Focus on what you do for your clients or customers.  Keep in mind that your best stories are often your client success stories.  Make a list of clients or customers who have interesting impactful stories they can tell.  You want these stories to illustrate how lives were changed or transformed by working with you or buying your product or service.

Contact the appropriate clients, explain how their stories can help educate and inform others who are dealing with similar problems or issues.

If the stories include before and after photos, make sure to get images that are as professional as possible.  Have your clients sign a release form.

Match the various patient stories to the appropriate media outlets.  For example a story about weight loss, would be pitched differently than a story about a new financial product.

Meet with the clients and review the questions that the media could ask them.  Make them as comfortable as possible with the process.  Remember, these clients are not only telling their stories, they’re representing you and your business.  You want them to be articulate the presentation to be accurate and appropriate.

When talking to a client about the process, explain what would be involved and see if they’d be willing to talk to the media. Keep in mind that often this can amount to free PR for them, so it can be presented as a win-win arrangement.  The media gets a good story, your client can often mention his or her business and you are presented as a solution to a problem.  Not a bad deal.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Media, PR Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is All Publicity Good Publicity – Well, Maybe If You’re Lady Gaga

August 22, 2011 Leave a comment

There is perhaps no bigger myth than the one that states all publicity is good publicity.  PT Barnum is said to have made that statement along those lines.  But who knows.  If it wasn’t PT, whoever said it certainly made an impression, since it has now become a part of our lexicon.  If he did say it, I’m not sure you want to take branding and image advice from a guy who owned a circus and made a living out of promoting what he referred to as freaks.   If you own a circus, maybe your PR standards are a bit different, but even then, all PR is certainly not good PR.

For example, being caught with a hooker, that’s probably not going to do a heck of a lot for you or your career; getting caught sending lewd photos on Facebook or Twitter isn’t one of your better brand building approaches; and having a YouTube video in which you’re shown ingesting huge quantities of drugs would maybe be somewhat of an image mistake.  There are politicians with sex and money scandals, sports figures with sex and drug scandals, actors and singers with a Chinese menu of scandals.  The list is a long one.

You can come up with a litany of media train wrecks and image disasters that convincingly illustrate that all PR is certainly not good PR. Entrepreneurs and PR consultants that look to generate interest through shock and scandal are walking a tightrope.  Pushing the envelope can pay off for some.  Lady Gaga would not be where she is without controversy.  But how many Lady Gaga’s are there?  And even she wouldn’t welcome any media coverage.  Plus, how many business owners and professionals want to foster that particular image?  If you do, great, take off the gloves and go for it.  But if you’re looking to build a different type of image and create a strong lasting brand, I’d suggest perhaps considering a different approach.

PR can grow your business, bring in clients and customers, build your brand and establish you as an expert in your field.  It is the most important marketing tool available because it offers you the credibility and validation of being featured as a news story.  With that in mind you want to create a list of objectives and develop a game plan and launch a targeted well thought out campaign.  You also want to control what you can.  In this age of blogging and social media, never forget that what you post on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or any other social media site is most likely going to be there for a long time to come.

When it comes to traditional media, think long and hard about your stories and how you want you and your company to be perceived.  Remember a good story is what effective media relations is all about.  Transformational stories are the best when it comes to garnering media placement.  How have you made someone’s life easier, more fulfilling, healthier, etc?  You want to establish yourself as an expert and your product or service as one that positively affects people’s lives.  Focus on your strengths and expertise.  Present yourself as a problem solver.

Those are the areas you want to focus on when it comes to your PR and press coverage. Media train wrecks are good news for the tabloid magazines and sensational TV programs.  They sell magazines and build ratings, but that’s about all they’re good for.  Unless, of course, you’re Lady Gaga.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, PR, small business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Social Media Small Business Crash Course: Part 1

November 2, 2010 Leave a comment

When it comes to marketing, social media is a given.  If you’re not utilizing it, you’re missing a huge piece of the marketing puzzle.  The trouble is that although most business owners and entrepreneurs know that blogging and social media are essential marketing tools, that’s often where things stop.  Topics such as how to best utilize social media, what sites to concentrate on, how much time to spend and how to most effectively communicate in this medium, are often mysteries for most businesses.

The first thing to keep in mind is that any social media campaign is greatly enhanced with the addition of a strategic, well targeted public relations effort.  Appearing in the media gives you, your business, and/or your product the validation and credibility of being featured in the news, and gives you interesting topics to post, Tweet and share.

Being quoted or featured in the local, regional or national press helps establish you as an expert in your field, which greatly enhances the trust-factor that motivates buyers, clients and consumers.  Even in today’s ever changing communication landscape, PR remains the most important marketing tool that offers credibility.  Social media and blogs are amazingly powerful and effective ways to  reach the public, if you combine that outreach with the validation of media relations, you have a truly effective marketing program.

For example if you’re featured in your local newspaper or in a regional magazine or in national media outlets such as CNN, Time, Newsweek or the Today Show, you want to amplify that coverage by posting, tweeting and generally letting the social media world know about that coverage.  It gets your story out there to even more people and  separates you from the others in your field.  The fact that you’ve been featured in the media establishes you as an expert.  Others who simply focus on social media, will not have the authority that type of validating press coverage offers.

Now that you understand the importance of combining a PR campaign with social media, back to how to best  utilize social media.  Initially, do some homework.  Study the various sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Youtube, etc.  See who is on those sites.  Study how they communicate, who they communicate with.  Each site is different and has a unique focus and audience.  For now let’s look at Twitter

The PR/Twitter Effect
Twitter is a quick moving, more wide open type of social media site than many of the others.  To quote Wikipedia, “Twitter offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users’ messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user’s profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by default, however senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.”

Twitter is based on short, quick, concise messages.  People discuss everything from where they’re having a cup of coffee, to an ongoing sporting event, to their business product and service.  As with all social media outlets, this is not a place for a hard sell, but it is great for informing, educating and entertaining.  It’s a powerful tool for directing followers to other sites or links where a business can more fully explain or communicate. Studies also show that Twitter users are 44 percent more receptive to promotions and offers and more likely to recommend a product on Twitter.  Twitter is great for promotions, give-aways, polls, and the like.

Many use a number of Twitter accounts.  Google indexes tweets immediately, which is a plus and effective way to get immediate exposure for a product or brand. Twitter can be a very important online marketing tool in your overall approach.  If it works for your type of company remember to combine a media relations outreach with your Twitter campaign.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

 

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Creating An Authentic Transformational Marketing Machine

November 25, 2009 Leave a comment

Having worked in public relations and marketing for over twenty years, I can honestly say that I have never seen a time when professionals, businesses and entrepreneurs are at such a loss as to how to market.  This is a dizzying time.  When it comes to marketing there have never been so many options.  At the same time, I doubt there has been a time when so many different failed marketing approaches have been implemented.  It was tough before to know what ad to run, or how to focus your PR campaign, but businesses knew the mediums that were available and, at least in theory, understood how they worked.

The trick was to craft a message that resonated with the target market.  That has shifted; yes those marketing tools are still extremely powerful, but they are no longer sufficient as stand-alone approaches.  For a company to be truly successful, a mix of traditional and internet marketing must be implemented, but deciding what that mix should be is not an easy task.  Because my public relations firm is eclectic, we have worked with a wide range of clients.  We have represented clients in such fields as entertainment, medicine, law, publishing, technology, beauty, psychology, finance, fitness, and a number of other fields.  One thing I have learned is that here is no one marketing mix that fits all of those arenas, each has a specific target market and a unique message.  Each needs to craft its message using language that its target market understands and has to target venues that the market utilizes.  In this brave new world of marketing, companies need to learn how to find the right marketing mix for their business, product or service.  But that is just step one.  They also need to develop a personal, authentic message, one that reflects the values and goals of a business or entrepreneur in its marketing message.  Companies that focus on and solve those two problems are those that succeed; those are companies that have created their own transformational marketing machine.

 

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2009

Filed under business, Marketing, PR, PR Campaign, Press Release Writing, small business Public Relations Tagged with , , , ,

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