After the media talks about a product, service or restaurant in the news, be prepared to wait months before you get to try that eatery, new gadget or much-needed spa treatment.
Think of the last time you tried out a new restaurant. What made you decide to give it a shot? Was it a one-fourth page ad you saw in the newspaper or a 30-second commercial spot? Or was it a friend raving about a mouthwatering dish – the best thing she ever had! Or perhaps your favorite radio personality talked on and on about it one morning while you were driving to work? Odds are it probably wasn’t the advertisement that made you make a reservation.
The power of the word of mouth is truly spectacular. Why? We trust our friends. We trust our family. We also trust the media, so if a reporter is telling us how great the new sushi place is on 42nd and University, we’re apt to believe it. Consumers are smarter than ever, and we don’t trust advertisements: especially ones that pop up on our computer screens, interrupt our favorite shows or follow us into the bathroom stall. Advertisers are trying too hard when they resort to bombarding bathroom stall walls, but I don’t blame them: It’s hard to get anyone to actually pay attention to an advertisement these days.
Consumers are looking for rich information that news stories deliver. Just like spreading information through word of mouth, news stories maximize this same influential power by delivering it to thousands of your customers, versus just a few friends. It really is the best-kept secret for promoting a product or company and our clients know it! It’s unfortunate that many companies still don’t realize the promotional power that news stories and media interviews command. It’s a shame for them, but a jackpot for our clients.
And guess what? The promotional power of a news story doesn’t stop once it’s published or aired! With the emergence of the Internet and social networks, media placements can now be repurposed and redistributed over news sites, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. News stories containing your sales messages can reach more people than ever before!
If you can’t tell, I’m really excited to talk more about this. I love teaching companies about publicity and how you can use news stories to help reach your sales goals. Feel free to give me a call at 952-697-5269 to talk about it, and hey, I might even have a few dinner recommendations to share with you as well!
