If someone routinely makes you look great at your job, and cheerfully does some of your work for you while never asking for recognition, you’d probably want to work with them frequently, right? That’s how the media feel about our publicists.
Why should you care? Because right now, there are health and natural products that have huge market potential but are instead struggling because some very smart, capable leaders believe they can also be their own publicists. This happens all too frequently, and it’s a real shame.
Publicity is not something you can work on between meetings or on weekends. Nor is it something you should delegate to an agency that doesn’t have a substantial track record of earning media coverage.
I’ve been a health and natural products marketing strategist for more than 30 years. I know that while publicity builds awareness, credibility, trust and ultimately sales, those rewards rarely come easily. Earning product publicity is challenging and it’s time intensive.
A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make a product famous. Just as you hire experienced operations people to run your manufacturing plants, and scientists with impressive credentials to study your ingredients, your publicists should excel at their jobs. Trusting anyone else to do your media outreach is risky.
Media Relations Agency pioneered performance-based publicity with our Pay Per Interview® model. Because we guarantee results, our publicists must be the best at what they do.
How can you know if you’re hiring well-qualified publicists? Here are a few things I’ve learned about the best publicists on the planet:
- They love consuming media. Publicity is their passion. They understand all facets of the media, especially the concept of serving our clients by serving the media’s audiences.
- They make sure clients’ stories are relatable. The best publicists do more than pitch a story to a reporter or producer. They have a thorough understanding of how all of a product’s marketing variables fit together to create that story. This enables them to adjust their pitch, when necessary, to make that story more relevant to a specific media’s audience.
- They focus on the details. Collaborating with the media, or what we call coproducing, involves more than sending out press releases and doing a few follow-up calls. It is ensuring that reporters and producers have everything they need to do a complete story, from background information and interviews to photos, graphics and props. It’s also about media training spokespeople, and coordinating professional-quality interviews in the era of remote appearances.
- They understand the bigger marketing picture. Publicity is the cornerstone of a solid marketing campaign. Knowing how a compelling media story can be used to support everything from digital advertising to sales presentations makes the best publicists want to be even more strategic.
- They are collaborative. Everyone has unique strengths. Our publicists are members of our Strategically Aimed Marketing team. Collaboration among coworkers with different professional skill sets is common for us. It strengthens our results and moves our clients higher on the ladder of fame.
- They are tireless and tenacious. The best publicists are high achievers. They don’t give up. They listen and adapt. And they get results.
Earning media for our clients is not about manipulation. It’s not a hard sell. And it’s definitely not about overpromising. It’s quite simply knowing the media, their audiences and how to successfully serve them.
Call me at 952-697-5210 or use this form to schedule a free consultation with me on strategies for earning publicity for your product or service.
