"Harnessing
the Power of Publicity"
by
Pauline Bartel, M.A.
If your dream is to have people flock to your business or clamor for your
product or service, you need to do more than just "build it."
You need to, first, raise the public's awareness of your enterprise and then
create a favorable impression in the public's mind about your offering. When you
do this, "they will come." But how do you start?
Your Tool Box
You have a variety of tools that accomplish these dual goals, including
advertising, sales promotion, and public relations.
Advertising involves placing paid promotional messages about your product or
service in newspapers or magazines, on radio and TV, and on Internet Web sites.
This tool offers customers solid reasons for purchasing your particular
offering.
Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives such as coupons, rebates,
premiums, discounts, contests and sweepstakes. This tool encourages customers to
make their purchases within a certain time period.
Public relations includes strategies such as announcing news, distributing
written materials, and holding special events. This tool educates customers,
inducing them to understand your company better and to feel goodwill toward your
enterprise.
At the heart of public relations is an activity called publicity. Publicity
includes any message about your company that is communicated through the mass
media -- print, radio, television, the Internet -- at no cost to your
organization.
Benefits of Publicity
Publicity is free. You can't buy a full-page newspaper article, a 15-minute
radio interview, or a two-minute television appearance that showcases your
company. For that reason, such no-cost exposure could be worth thousands of
dollars to you.
Publicity has more credibility than advertising. When customers and prospects
are exposed to an ad, they know that the advertiser paid for the newspaper or
magazine space, the radio airtime, or the television broadcast time. Thus,
customers and prospects know that the ad may not be accurate when it claims that
the company produces the best widget in the Capital District.
When an item appears as news -- a newspaper review of your latest widget or a
tour of your widget company on a television news broadcast -- customers and
prospects perceive this as unbiased information. They know that the media
provide critical appraisals of products through reviews and that the media are
neutral in disseminating information about newsworthy items.
Thus, publicity offers third-party credibility -- the implicit approval of
the medium in which the information about a business, product, or service is
presented.
Publicity builds your brand-name image. Besides bestowing third-party
credibility, publicity educates your customers and prospects about your company
in a non-sell manner. This approach cultivates perception of and creates
favorable opinion about your enterprise in the public's mind, which contributes
to the crafting of your company's brand-name image. With your company's
brand-name image in the minds of your customers and prospects, they become more
receptive to the advertising that you subsequently do. Thus, brand building
begins by harnessing the power of publicity.
Harnessing the Power of Publicity
You can harness the power of publicity for your company by giving the media
what they need. Print, broadcast, and Internet media crave news and information.
For example:
-
A newspaper would feature a story
about a real estate company's home relocation management system that takes
the hassle out of moving.
-
A business periodical would
announce that an attorney has been appointed chair of a Bar Association
committee.
-
A radio station would broadcast a
segment on tax-saving strategies suggested by a certified public accountant.
-
A television news program would
cover a demonstration of massage therapy for race horses that is offered by
an equine massage therapist.
-
An Internet Web site dedicated to
business would include an article on succession planning for family or
closely held corporations.
You give the media the news or
information they crave by writing and sending a media release. A media release
is a one- to two-page, double-spaced document that presents the details of your
story.
The first paragraph contains the most
important details -- the who, what, where, when, why, and sometimes the how of
your story. Subsequent paragraphs present supporting details in order of
descending importance. Include your name and telephone number, so that the media
can contact you if they need further information or if they wish to interview
you.
Send the media release to a specific
person. For example, if you wish to direct the media release to a daily
newspaper, telephone the newspaper office, explain the nature of the story, and
ask for the name of the editor who oversees stories of that type. Find out
whether the editor prefers to receive submissions by regular mail, fax, or
e-mail then send the media release by the preferred method to that editor's
attention.
Create and distribute media releases
on a regular basis, so that you can raise the public's awareness of your
enterprise and create a favorable impression in the public's mind about your
offering. Soon "they will come," mentioning that "You're always
in the news!" and bringing increased business your way. Now that's the
power of publicity.
Author Bio:
Pauline Bartel is the owner of Bartel
Communications, a Waterford, NY-based company that builds the image of companies
with words. Pauline
specializes in corporate communications, including writing and editing,
public relations and marketing, training and professional development and in
commercial writing and publishing in the magazine and book fields.
Copyright © 2002 by Pauline Bartel
All Rights Reserved
For information about obtaining reprint rights for use of the above article, please contact Pauline at paulinebartel@compuserve.com
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