For small businesses and startups, public relations (PR) is one of the most important tools to develop a reputation that drives sales.
PR helps with business development by elevating the brand of your company, shaping public opinion in a positive way and scaling your business message with the media. When you’ve got the right PR strategy in place, it will boost your business in a number of ways.
So what should you budget for public relations? And how can you start working towards getting the benefits it can offer your business? MACIAS PR created a calculator to help you identify the budget for your startup or established business. You can calculate the potential rate by clicking here, and get an answer back from our team.
MACIAS PR was founded in 2009 by a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. Journalists and marketing peers consistently rank MACIAS PR as one of the best PR Agencies based on our results.
Over the years, MACIAS PR has launched publicity, media and branding campaigns for companies from all industries. We’ve worked with boot-strapped startups as well as established international brands, securing publicity with the most influential news publications.
Prominent clients include: Noom, WellRX, Meru Health, Lifesum, Columbia University Medical Center, Plenty of Fish, Kilo Health, Burke Hospital, the Former UN Executive Director on Climate, and members of Congress. Our media campaigns helped these brands raise tens of millions of dollars with investors, while improving their name recognition with customers.
We have client case studies, detailing these campaigns.
At MACIAS PR, our clients always work with an experienced media strategist. And as a boutique PR consulting firm, our communications process is streamlined, while our execution is hyper-focused.
PR Awards – Earned by MACIAS PR
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the Strategic PR Firm of the Year from 2017-2021. As part of the selection process, marketing and PR professionals reviewed media campaigns promoted by our agency.
Finance Monthly also named MACIAS PR the 2015-2017 Financial PR Firm of the Year. And in 2022, City & State Magazine named our founder, Mark Macias, a Top 50 Political PR Power player in New York.
Message Mark at the bottom of this screen (green button on the right) if you would like to schedule a call. You can also get a free PR estimate by clicking here.
Business owners always ask me how can they measure the ROI of PR. The question inspired a recent thought leadership article I wrote for Forbes, which you can read here.
Contrary to what many business owners and entrepreneurs think, you can measure an effective PR campaign. Here are 5 approaches that I broke down in my Forbes article. You can read that article if you’d like to hear more in-depth on these approaches.
In the height of the pandemic, MACIAS PR, published a consumer survey that looked at the waning influence of commercials and online ads. It’s valuable insight that is still relevant today, especially as consumer spending slows during this economic downturn.
The online survey was conducted July 15-16th, 2020 and involved more than 2,000 Americans who answered questions detailing the best approach to get them to buy new products.
The survey found a staggering 70 percent of participants said TV commercials no longer influence them to buy products. In contrast, roughly 45 percent said positive online consumer reviews and positive stories on the news influence them the most when it comes to buying a new product or service.
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.
MACIAS PR has released its annual media report, detailing the news coverage secured for their clients in 2022. Their list of media placements is long and influential.
The New York Times, Daily Mail, CNBC, Forbes, BBC, Fox News, The Sun, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Sky News and Reuters are just a few of the national and international news organizations that published features and news stories on their clients.
In 2022, MACIAS PR led the media campaigns for Kilo Health, Meru Health, Klinio, Groq Health, And Health, Keto Cycle, as well as the former United Nations Executive Director on Climate.
The founder of the PR agency, Mark Macias, said even as the economy began to slow in 2022, their clients remained on top of the news cycle.
“Consumer brands and startups will see more economic headwinds in 2023, but the best PR campaigns will position your brand into the conversation regardless of the economy,” said Macias. “When strategy and execution are aligned, consumers and clients will see your brand from a different perspective. Advertisements and commercials don’t work in this economy.”
Want to read more? Click here to read the story on AP.
I recently wrote a column for Entrepreneur Magazine on the importance of getting your publicist on your side. The editors must have liked the editorial because they published it behind their paid wall.
You can read the column here, but if you don’t have a subscription, I’ll share a little more on how to get the most out of your publicist. It’s something I not only face daily with my own team, but also experience first-hand from clients who want the best PR campaigns for their brands.
Here’s an abridged version of my Entrepreneur column on how to get the most out of your publicist.
TV newsrooms are much different than newsrooms for magazines and newspapers. Over my career, I’ve worked inside newsrooms in print and TV, pitching story ideas and approving stories in TV.
I always tell my team, you can have the best idea but if the wrong reporter is pitched, we fail. Securing media coverage is largely influenced by the initial research that identifies the right media contact.
Here’s an abridged version of the different titles in TV newsrooms and what they mean. If you’re short on time, you can just watch the video we put together on newsroom titles.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in a tough crisis situation. Every day bad news seems to come up, keeping his sexual harassment allegations in the news cycle.
Cuomo tried to apologize but he broke every mistake I laid out in my Forbes editorial – How to Apologize when the Media is Listening. If you read that article, you can learn how to authentically apologize for your mistakes.
So how do you control negative news once it’s out? And when you know more bad news is coming, how do you release it?
The end-game strategy of crisis communications is to get out of the news as quickly as possible. You don’t want any story to linger because as new developments unfold, it keeps your story in the news cycle.
News is always about advancing a story. During my time as Executive Producer with NBC, we would frequently see a story in the morning’s New York Post or Daily News – and try to figure out how to advance it.
Every day new information comes out, the more chances your negative story remains in the news.
