The consumer market changes quickly, and Gen. Z is leading the charge. It seems like yesterday we were discussing how Millennials were disrupting the workforce. Now, there’s a bigger change in business right around the corner.
In less than 5 years, Generation Z is projected to overtake Millennials when it comes to buying power. If you’re trying to sell any product or service, you better learn quickly how to target this sophisticated group of consumers.
Unlike previous generations, social media won’t close the deal. And forget about TV ads. So how do you reach and motivate Generation Z?
MACIAS PR recently worked with the online news portal, Brooklyn Chatter, to gain more insight into this generation. Read on to see what our online survey found.
Every business owner wants to know how to get journalists to write a story on their business. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that reveals how a story gets on the news or in the newspapers, but there are guidelines that can increase your chances for coverage.
The approval process in news is extremely subjective, just like any other profession involving creativity, opinions and experiences. During my time as Executive Producer with NBC in New York, I approved story ideas from reporters, publicists and producers.
Sometimes, stories were approved but later killed for various reasons, while other times, I had to kill a story because it lacked visuals or was outdated.
So how do you get journalists to cover your business? Here’s a general rule of the approaches our firm continues to take with our campaigns. These tactics are derived from my time inside the media.
January is always a great month to assess business goals and trends. Forbes recently reached out to me and other entrepreneurs, asking for some insight on customer behavior trends. What are the big trends we can anticipate this year?
You can read here. If you’re short on time, here are some of the bigger trends I think we will continue to see with consumers, staring with the advice I offered Forbes.
A recent article predicted artificial intelligence will generate 90 percent of all online content by 2025. Another news article revealed editors with the popular CNET tech site have already used AI to produce news articles.
Back in 2020, I wrote an article for Forbes exploring this topic, titled “Artificial Intelligence in PR: Is it Science Fiction?” You can read the entire article by clicking on that link, but if you’re short on time, here was my prediction from 2020.
AI won’t succeed with PR because news happens too quickly. During my time running the PR campaign for the popular weight loss program, Noom, I learned how quality data helps AI. It helps the machine learn, grow and predict overtime. Machine learning can’t learn without quality data.
PR and journalism are nowhere near gathering this kind of big data for news coverage. But even if this big data on news generation was available, we would still need critical and creative thinking to launch enterprise PR campaigns.
A different article in January’s Atlantic Monthly supported this thought. The Atlantic Monthly article states it best:
“Even if ChatGPT can spit out a pretty good paragraph on AI, it can’t interview AI and labor experts, nor can it find historical documents, nor can it assess the quality of studies of technological change and employment.
It creates content out of what is already out there, with no authority, no understanding, no ability to correct itself, no way to identify genuinely new or interesting ideas. That implies that AI might make original journalism more valuable and investigative journalists more productive, while creating an enormous profusion of simpler content.“
The key to that point? AI can’t interview people like a journalist and publicist can. AI can help publicists with their research but when it comes to creating campaigns from scratch, AI doesn’t create content from scratch. It only creates content from existing content.
I honestly believe MACIAS PR is an incubator for ideas. Our team is constantly writing, pitching, researching and brainstorming over new ideas. Along the way, popular quotes get thrown out.
A coordinator put together and framed some of the top quotes she heard in our office. Some of these quotes are insider jokes, but there are a few quotes that are tactical to our agency. Here’s a closer look at the top quotes that are aligned with our firm’s strategy, and how they can apply to your brand.
One of the most exciting parts of my work is learning from experienced entrepreneurs and CEOs from all walks of life. The proximity to these entrepreneurs has given me a unique opportunity to observe thought-leadership up close.
I recently wrote an article in Forbes – What the Great Houdini can Teach Us about Selling. The entire story was inspired by a CEO who was a magician before his career in finance took off. He always shared stories with me on how magic is related to business. We need to captivate the buyer and never reveal our industry secrets, he would say.
I turned that thought leadership into thought leadership for Forbes. Here’s an abridged version of that article.
Business owners and entrepreneurs frequently make assumptions with me. They tell me, “you must know a lot of people in the media.”
And yes, I do know journalists, reporters and producers across the US. But honestly, those connections don’t lead to media placements. Yes, sometimes these former colleagues can assist but the friendship never directly leads to a media placement.
So what does? Stories that are newsworthy.
In business, who you know helps, but when it comes to the media, the rules of the game change.
Want to hear more? Watch the video that goes more in-depth.
I recently wrote a story for Forbes that breaks down a hidden group of consumers that many PR campaigns miss. You can read that Forbes editorial by clicking here. A synopsis of that thought leadership is below in case you are short on time.
You’ve likely heard of influencers, but have you heard of emotional motivators? This group of consumers should be at the top of your PR strategy. Emotional motivators are a specific group of consumer behavioral patterns — like the need for excitement or attention — that drive decision-making. They are also known to influence others.
The social scientists define emotional motivators as those who are not shy about expressing their feelings; when they “feel,” everyone around them feels, too. And when they like something, everyone knows it.
When a PR strategy taps into emotional motivators, you can earn a brand ambassador better than any celebrity spokesperson. In my experience, these motivators help bring a higher return on investment for any PR campaign and increase the chances that your brand will spread via word-of-mouth.
Want to learn more? Click here to read my full thought leadership on Forbes.
ABOUT MACIAS PR
MACIAS PR was founded in 2009 by Mark Macias – a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the Best Strategic PR Firm while Finance Monthly named us the Top PR consulting firm from 2015 to 2021. City & State Magazine has named Mark Macias a Top 50 Political PR Player in New York.
We’re excited to announce that City & State Magazine has named our founder to the Political PR Power 50 List.
Every year, City & State features the top communications pros in New York who are changing the media and political landscape. This list focuses on PR executives directly involved in the world of New York politics and policy.
As the article states at the top of the story, “there’s always some kind of calamity or scandal” in New York. The politics go year-round from City Hall to Albany and Washington, DC. Our founder, Mark Macias squeaked in at #50 on the list.
“This is a super big honor and surprise, especially since we weren’t looking for it,” said Macias. “This publication takes me back to my days as an Executive Producer with NBC. I remember reading this Magazine, making sure I stayed in the loop on local politics. We know influential political and business leaders read this magazine, so we’re honored.”
