PR on The Rise — and How it Fits in The Grand Scheme of Your Business

Posted: May 13th, 2009 | Author: aly | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

A column that ran in this week’s Advertising Age, by Jonah Bloom, has some great insight on why PR agencies are on the rise, as well as some PR 101 that’s good for anyone in business to read as a refresher. I would go so far as to say, there are a lot of entrepreneurs who may know a great deal about marketing, but little about the function of PR. This article may help. You can read the full column here, but here are the highlights (Taken directly from the column):

“Earned media isn’t paid media. Any place that’ll take cash for editorial credit isn’t worth your time and isn’t credible. (The fashion mags are a possible exception to this rule, unfortunately.) What’s more, your pay-for-play approach may end up hitting the headlines for trying to deceive the public.”

“Earned media requires being interesting and open. You have to have a story to tell — a real, meaningful story that a journalist, blogger or tech-empowered consumer will think is worth listening to and sharing.”

“Listen to the people you paid to help you. Don’t hire a PR person or agency and then ignore them when they tell you that the story you’re presenting is either too boring, a lie or, even worse, a lie that’ll get found out. I’ve heard 100 PR people say “yes, I know it’s bullshit, but it’s what they wanted to say.” Not only is going against their advice a waste of your money, but it’s also going to undermine your PR people’s credibility and therefore your ability to earn media when you do have something to say.” — I can’t say enough about this one. You may have had 100 colds in your lifetime but you wouldn’t tell your doctor how to treat your illness. You may know exactly what you want a contract to say, but you wouldn’t tell your lawyer how to write the language so it will hold up in court. The level of expertise your PR firm brings to the table should be given just as much consideration — you’re paying a lot for that expertise to not use it.

“You can’t control the message. Despite the popular tabloid moniker, your PR person isn’t a doctor and shouldn’t be spinning. PR helps you communicate something demonstrably true. If you need to know how the message will look when it is shared with the public, stick to ads. When it doesn’t come out quite like you’d imagined, don’t scream at the PR person or the journalist or blogger in question. You’ll just make influential enemies. If your message comes out exactly as you’d hoped, make a note that the journalist in question has no integrity and will soon have no readers, or thank your stars that you got lucky. (Note, however, lucky ain’t scalable.)”

“PR isn’t cheaper than advertising, or more expensive, just different. PR agencies have done little to dispel this common misconception, for obvious reasons. But it’s like saying that throwing a party is cheaper than renting a fleet of trucks.”

“PR doesn’t replace advertising. Sometimes you need one, sometimes the other. Ideally, you probably want both operating in harmony, orchestrated by the same conductor. Also note: Without advertising, there’d be no “editorial publicity” or, indeed, editorial. Unless, that is, you’re assuming that Mark Zuckerberg is going to find another way to fund Facebook, while the state-funded BBC and nonprofit NPR carve up the rest of the media world between them.” — PR also doesn’t replace sales, SEO, partnerships, or any other kind of marketing. It’s meant to act as a piece of the pie.

Finally, I would add that PR, as a function, is much more comprehensive than just media relations. If all you want is “ink,” hire a publicist. If you want to grow your business, hire a PR firm.

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