By Mark Macias
In business, who you know helps, but when it comes to the media, the rules of the game change. Here’s a video blog explaining why a solid understanding of editorial and media strategy matter more than the journalist behind the title. #AlwaysFreshPR
By Mark Macias
In the media, being first matters because it positions your news department as the leader. As a result, viewers and readers become conditioned to favor one news outlet over another when news breaks.
It’s no different with healthcare PR when it comes to getting your message on the media’s radar. Reporters and writers will instinctively look to industry leaders first when it comes to getting comments or analysis on timely news topics. But in health tech, this leader position is even more crucial with the media.
The health tech industry is advancing rapidly with new patient and provider services hitting the market every month. In some cases, health tech leaders are waking up and realizing there is a new competitor, providing the same services at a better cost.
Earlier this week, I spoke with a health tech provider in the B2B and B2C space. I was very familiar with their patient services because their competitor has a huge presence in the New York area. Their competitor also owns the news cycle in this specific health tech service sector.
In the case with this health tech industry, it is easy for consumers and healthcare enterprise to believe there is only one service provider in this space because Google News only refers to one firm in this industry. But that’s not the case. Both the health tech company I spoke with and the firm dominating the news started their companies around the same time. Unfortunately, it will get harder overtime for this unknown health tech firm to get on the news because the media will continue to turn to the industry “news” leader over time for analysis since they have already established a track record.
We all know the media can influence the public’s perception and drive new leads to most businesses, but in the health tech industry, this influence is even more pronounced. If consumers aren’t finding your healthcare product because your competitor is dominating the space, then you are naturally at a disadvantage. It doesn’t matter if you have more VC money and more clients in the B2B space doesn’t assure tomorrow will remain the same. What matters is how your clients are seeing your health tech or healthcare company positioned with the media. Take a closer look and see what your business and customers are seeing when they Google your industry.
Macias PR was named the 2016 “Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA” and the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly. We have launched and led media campaigns for clients in healthcare, finance, tech and the nonprofit sectors. The founder of Macias PR – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He is also a PR contributor with CNBC, providing media analysis, insight and crisis advice on timely business topics.
By Mark Macias
“Creativity at its deepest level begins underground.“
I posted that impromptu quote on Facebook several years ago during a vacation in a foreign country at an underground club. I just realized that quote is not a shallow status update inspired by spirits. It’s actually a principal that applies to public relations – or for that matter with business.
But let’s focus on why that quote applies to PR and how it can help your tech startup or business build a brand on the web.
Public relations and journalism are similar in that creative ideas drive the coverage. In the morning news meetings, the person with the best story idea is always driving the conversation. I became an Executive Producer with NBC in New York at a young age – not because of my experience, but because of my creative ideas. And when I hired freelance producers at NBC in New York, I chose creativity over experience when everything else was equal.
That’s because creativity drives all news story ideas. Experience or great sources don’t really inspire great ideas. I could argue they actually inspire complacency since a person is rarely pushed outside of his comfort zone.
But not everyone sees it that way.
Earlier this week, a person told me he only wanted to work with a PR firm that has experience in the pharmaceutical industry. It didn’t matter that my PR firm has delivered prominent news stories for major health care clients. I respect that decision because he knows his business better than I do.
But I do know the business of PR and if I were looking to hire the best PR firm in NYC, I wouldn’t hire a PR firm based on experience or their contacts. I would hire the most creative PR firm in NYC.
That’s because creative ideas drive all news stories, which is why this is now my new favorite quote of the week: “Creativity at its deepest level begins underground.“
Macias PR was named the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly. The firm was founded by Mark Macias – a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. Macias is a weekly contributor with CNBC.com and author of the communications book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media, which has been featured in the NY Times, Fox Business, NY Post and others. Macias PR has run media campaigns for tech startups, financial groups, service providers, nonprofits and politicians.