How PR Works Behind the Scenes, Impacting Media Coverage

By Mark Macias

Managing expectations in business is a critical component to keeping clients happy, and it’s no different with PR. If a client expects 1 or 2 media placements a month and you get 5 inquiries, they will be ecstatic. But if they expect 10 placements and you secure only 5, it’s going to be a difficult conversation.

I had that difficult conversation today with a new health tech client. 

Our media outreach started 2 weeks and 3 days ago. During this time, we secured two interview opportunities for their CEO (one takes place tomorrow), two requests for editorials from healthcare trades, a reporter asking to try out their platform, and 7 inquiries from other outlets, asking for more details on how their solution works. 

I don’t share this to brag. I’m writing this because I didn’t manage the client’s expectations.

Despite media inquiries from – Forbes, Fierce Healthcare, Pharmashots, Popular Science, Pharmacy Times, StrictlyVC.com, Dot.LA and editorial requests from HR.com and Benefits Pro – the client told me at the end of our call today, “we need to reassess because we have a lot of wins and losses.

Losses? 

“What are these losses?” It’s less than 3 weeks and we have a long list of reporters asking for elements.

Media Placements Rarely Happen Overnight

I’ll stick with more examples from this campaign because it has lessons for any case study. This startup spent time debating the actual public announcement of their launch.

“Should we launch on a Thursday or 4 days later?”

I’m a straight-shooter. It doesn’t matter whether the announcement is released on a Thursday or a Monday because the strategy is a longer-term play. And that’s not reading tea leaves. I made that recommendation based on 13 years of running this PR agency, and my time as an Executive Producer and Senior Producer in New York. 

If you’re trying to sell a story to the larger and more influential media publications, it will take time to assess the value of the story. Writers need to sell the story to their editors, and get approval. Producers need to pitch their Executive Producers. And even when the story is approved, the editorial calendar plays a role on scheduling. A story is rarely published in 24 hours, and that includes online news outlets.

You Need an Angle – Not an Announcement

Unless you’re Facebook announcing a name change, or Apple releasing a new product, an announcement rarely gets coverage. If you’re a big brand, timely announcements matter. But if you’re a startup or smaller brand, you need to identify an angle to sell the story.

It’s a little harder to give guidance on finding the right angle because news is nuanced. Each story is personalized based on the elements. But I can tell you what an “angle” isn’t. 

An angle isn’t a history lesson or information on a problem. It’s bringing a problem to light, or putting history into context with an idea that is relevant today.

If you’re trying to get publicity for an announcement, you have to identify the angle first and position your announcement into that story.

Targeted Media is Good; Broad Media is Better

A lot of potential clients tell me why they want to only target one specific trade publication or medium. And I get it. On the surface, if clients are in a specific industry, you want to reach them via the trades they read.

But that approach shouldn’t disqualify alternative or broader outlets.

For example, years ago, our firm ran a few media campaigns for hedge funds and private equity firms. Most of these CEOs only wanted to reach the hedge fund trades. 

In one situation, we secured an interview with the business editor of the New York Post. Unfortunately, the CEO turned down the request because he said it wasn’t a publication he wanted. To paraphrase, “my clients don’t read that tabloid.”

I’ve been inside newsrooms with NBC, CBS and American Journal, as well as regional TV newsrooms in Arizona and Florida. Those writers and producers aren’t reading the weekly hedge fund newsletter. They’re reading the daily newspapers in each region.

Yes, producers with CNBC and Bloomberg do read the FT and NY Times, but in that morning meeting when they are all pitching ideas, they aren’t reading those in-depth publications. They’re flipping through the tabloids or skimming the news on their phones. But if you get a story in one of those publications they’re skimming, you’re just pitched another reporter without knowing it.

The takeaway? Don’t limit your exposure out of the gate. Your potential clients do watch CNN and read their community papers – in addition to the trades.

If you narrow your targeted audience too much, you are tying the hands of your publicist. And if your publicist’s hands are tied, any story or campaign will be at a disadvantage on day 1 and day 17.

ABOUT MACIAS PR

Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017-2020 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. City & State Magazine named him a PR Political Power Player in 2021.

Why Perspective Matters when it comes to PR and Media

The way you frame a story will always influence whether the media covers it. This is where perspective plays a role in how – or if – your story gets told.

Different stories need to be told through a different lense. For example, a CEO editorial must convey thought leadership from a perspective based on experience and insight. Likewise, a consumer brand trying to reach Millennials or women must connect with a perspective that their targeted customer understands. On the surface, it might sound simplistic, but execution and nuance run deeper than the the surface.

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What is PR and How can it Help Your Business?

                       

What is PR? It’s a common question that many business owners might secretly wonder but few ask publicly. MACIAS PR learned this at a recent Tech Startup Trade Show that involved hundreds of tech entrepreneurs. Many of these budding entrepreneurs approached our booth, and asked us point-blank: What is PR and how does it work?

First off – a successful PR campaign will get your story on the news. It will tell your story in a way that motivates people to action. And, it will be memorable story. This is infinitely more valuable than any paid advertisement.

Many successful entrepreneurs, from Bill Gates to Richard Branson, have discussed the value of PR. Gates said “if I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” Branson has repeatedly said “a good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.”

Why is that? Because consumers remembers stories. We forgot advertisements. Your customers watch the news to become educated on current events and to learn. We walk out of the room when the commercials come on TV.

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5 PR Tips for Networking Events – Art of Small Talk

By Mark Macias

A few years ago, I wrote an article for Entrepreneur Magazine that detailed how you can apply PR to networking events. (You can read article here).

Public relations is a skill that applies not only to the media; it also applies to social situations, especially networking events where your image is everything.

Here’s a quick rundown on how to apply PR skills to any networking event, making the art of small talk easier for business.

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The Power of Local TV – Driving Targeted Leads and Exposure

Local TV is still by far one of the most targeted ways to get your story in front of consumers. It is especially effective when you want to sell a product or service to a community.

A recent report from Nielsen found consumers spend an average 4.3 billion minutes watching content on their laptop, tablet, phones and TV. And when it comes to consuming information on the community, those viewers turn to their local news.

MACIAS PR recently ran a campaign in Baltimore for a nonprofit that needed to raise awareness for their community programs. The nonprofit wanted people in the community to learn about their free tech work training programs that could help them launch a career in tech.

This TV segment, which you can see above, was far more effective than any 30-second commercial. The segment told the story through an actual student, which was much more persuasive and emotional than any canned commercial message.

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How to Sell your Story to the Media – PR Advice

By Mark Macias

There are several critical elements that lead to earned media, but if I had to sum it down to one word, I’d say it’s “editorial.”

Earned media is not about advertising your services to reporters. Journalists aren’t there to listen to a sales pitch. Their job is to identify the news angle.

MACIAS PR works with clients in different industries – healthcare, technology, digital health, nonprofits, consumer services. Our team is constantly speaking with journalists, reporters, writers and producers about news stories, across journalism beats.

Even though our stories vary by industry, we never push promotional material to reporters. It’s a critical differentiator that separates MACIAS PR from other PR firms. We only sell the news story that positions our client in the center of it.

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The PR Value of a Logo and Its Meaning

By Mark Macias

Like most PR campaigns, a solid logo or brand begins with your identity. What does your business stand for? Why is your product or service different than your competitors? And what do you want clients or customers to think when your brand is stated.

When we first designed our logo, we put a lot of thought into how we want to be perceived by the public. I’ve always told our team that we may not be the largest PR firm, but we are the smartest PR firm. Our strategy always goes deeper. We don’t rely solely on personality or contacts when it comes to media stories – though we try to be funny on the phone with journalists we know. Instead, we put on our investigative hat and look for enterprise angles that solid and experienced journalists would want to pursue.

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Channeling Steve Jobs – An Entrepreneurship Lesson

By Mark Macias

I frequently come across old stories I wrote for different publications. This morning I read a story I wrote for an entrepreneurial magazine after Steve Jobs died. As one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time, we can all learn from his vision, execution and tenacity.

Here’s a shorter vision of that story I wrote on Steve Jobs shortly after his death – in my attempt to become a better entrepreneur.

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I think I know what Steve Jobs would say about all of this news coverage.

“Write something different. Obituaries are for dead people.”

When I write, I want to learn. I want readers to walk away with something they didn’t know, but how does a writer accomplish that when every news outlet on the planet is covering the Steve Jobs death in the same way.

Here’s how I would cover this story if I were still a journalist with NBC or CBS. I would try to channel Steve Jobs.

I never met Steve Jobs nor do I claim to know his thoughts, but I do promise these quotes are directly from Steve Jobs’ mouth. Their analysis – however – is from me, which means only time will reveal if these insights are true for you. For now, go along with the journey.

Steve Jobs: “I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started?…What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”
 
Mark Macias: Every entrepreneur, journalist, and businessman wants to be creative, but few know how to achieve it. Steve Jobs is the inventor of creativity, so let’s take his advice. Creativity is about losing yourself. When I was an Executive Producer with WNBC, I learned that power is an aphrodisiac and once you taste it, you never want anything else. That’s fine if you can sustain the habit, but fame and power are both fleeting. Sooner or later, it will escape your grip. Steve Jobs learned something at an early age that every person in power fears: Power constricts your creativity because you are so focused on the act of maintaining control. Creativity and control are juxtaposed. They don’t work together. As a man who gained and lost power, I can tell you when a person loses power, his ability to think becomes clearer and as your mind becomes clearer, the spirit of creativity is manifested.

Steve Jobs: “When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation…On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself.”

Mark Macias: So many of my friends worry about losing their jobs and it’s an understandable fear. But rather than fret about the unknown, let’s apply Steve Jobs’ advice – “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” When we are hungry and foolish, we have nothing to lose and that’s how entrepreneurs succeed. When we have nothing to lose, we will take the gamble because we know inside, there is no place to go but up. When you’re hungry, you work harder to find food. When you’re foolish, fear disappears. The only thing I fear – right now – is the day when I lose this foolish fear of hunger pains.

Steve Jobs: “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new…Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Mark Macias: Steve Jobs left behind a fortune worth billions of dollars. He could have done anything he wanted or traveled anywhere, met any person. Luckily, he grasped the big picture of life and that is, in my analysis: Life is just the first act, and as soon as you realize that, it suddenly gets fun. You don’t worry what people say or believe and as a businessman, journalist, or entrepreneur — you don’t follow others. My Dad always told me to create my own path. I didn’t understand that as a nine-year-old. I thought he was trying to tell me to get lost in his own polite way. Now, as an adult, I think he was telling me what Steve Jobs told us: Have the courage to follow your heart.

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.

Changing your Media Image – Case Study

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By Mark Macias

It’s never good to mix politics and business, but CNBC recently asked me what kind of advice I would give Hillary Clinton now that her trust numbers are plummeting in the polls.

This is a situation that could apply to any business – not just in politics. Once the public starts to distrust a product or service, it gets much harder to influence consumers via the media. So what should you do if your business starts to receive more negative complaints from clients? Get in front of the negative news and focus on improving that situation before it gets worse. Here’s some advice I gave CNBC involving Hillary Clinton and her dropping poll numbers.

 

The DNA of a Top Publicist

The DNA of a Publicist(2)By Mark Macias

Every great athlete has a DNA that gives him an edge regardless of sport. Basketball needs a tall genetic code, football prefers weight and bulk, etc.

It’s no different with publicity. During my time with NBC and CBS, I saw a certain kind of DNA excel in journalism. He was driven, adaptable, curious, secular and even gregarious. While public relations is a different industry, the genetic code is similar.

Just like the above Facebook post demonstrates, if you’re looking for the best publicist, you want to find a person who is agile, fast and impulsive like the grasshopper. News moves quickly and a great publicist understands how to adapt to that changing environment.

But at the same time, a great PR firm also must show perseverance and strength because great media placements don’t happen overnight. A successful media campaign takes time and a lot of lobbying. It also takes a specific kind of creative intelligence to frame a story in a way that the media will find intriguing.

Keep those traits in mind as you look for the “Best PR Firm”. Bigger is not always better. The elephant alone is weak if he relies solely on his powerful weight. The grasshopper is an easy kill unless he keeps moving. But when combined, the two make for a powerful force especially in the world of public relations. And that’s advice that applies to publicity for every industry – tech, financial, service sector – you name it.

Macias PR was named the 2015 top “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.