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When P-R
is better than A-Ds
It sounds so good on the surface
– why spend money on marketing and advertising when
you can get space or air time for “free” through PR.
After all, isn’t it true that great
gobs of what we see and read was generated, either directly
or indirectly, by PR? Yes, this is true. And isn’t it
also true that PR placements are more believable than ads?
Yes…
But a few words of caution:
- You can micro-manage
your release for months, but once it leaves the office it
is out of your control and subject to the moods and whims
of the editor who receives the release.
- There is no such
thing as “free” PR. The PR that is gobbled up
by the media is carefully crafted stuff written by pros
– and those pros don’t come cheap.
- Most of the PR
generated annually goes straight into the proverbial “circular
file” and never sees the light of day.
When you buy ad space or time, there are
no such problems. You have complete control over the content
of the ad and even its placement. No risk. No editing. No
hoping the editor is in a good mood or has a shortage of material.
But, of course, you will have to pay a bill.
So what is best? First, some background.
A PR release will be considered if (stress the word if)
it contains news. But
not just any news. It must be news that is of interest or
value to the people who look at the media (print, radio, TV,
web) that is considering accepting your release.
Here is a real life example. One of our
clients, Schwank infra-red heaters, came up with a new product
design that was scheduled for release next summer. The client
wanted to get this news out and, in the process, get some
feel for market interest. We prepared a release and were careful
to include a photo because we know editors are more likely
to use a release with a graphic. Result: the release was picked
up by all the primary trade media (our key target). Better
still, the release generated a fist-full of responses from
interested buyers. We could have done the same with paid ads,
but in this case the better and much cheaper route was PR.
In short, if you have real news, there is
an opportunity to use PR, but forget do-it-yourself PR. Give
the job to the pros and reap the benefits.
PS: Want to ensure your PR is picked up
by trade media? Buy some space first. It is no coincidence
that advertisers get more PR space than non advertisers.
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