Tag: best pr agency

What is the Cost of PR? How much are PR Fees?

Posted on by Mark Macias

How much does PR cost? New calculator reveals cost of PR

By Annalee Tacuri

How much is the cost of PR? Every business owner wants to know the answer to this question. The PR agency, MACIAS PR has developed a free calculator to reveal the answer for any industry.

PR firms typically tailor the price of a PR campaign based on the company’s goals. Since every company is different, a PR firm will customize a PR plan with different strategies. Before we break down the factors that go into the cost of PR, you should first understand the benefits of PR.

Benefits of PR

Public Relations will improve the overall reputation and credibility of your company. Earned media from using a PR firm would bring in the most lasting benefits to your company’s image.  Some of the top benefits of PR are:

  • Impressed Investors: Investors will be extremely impressed to see how your company has appeared in influential media placements. An unbiased journalist writing an editorial on your company will present your company more attractive to invest in.
  • New Business and Clients: Media placements will also build your credibility to new potential clients. A potential client would pay more attention to an editorial article of your company rather than an advertisement.
  • Improved SEO: SEO is important for a website to not get lost in a google search. You gain more organic web traffic and user loyalty.

All of this information leads to the next common question, what exactly do PR firms do?

What are PR services?

Before you see the factors that determine the cost of PR, you should understand what you services you are going to be charged and what do these services entail. The following are examples of the initiatives that a PR firm would typically do:

  • Media relations: Pitch a compelling news story about your product or service for their  media connections to pick up the story.
  • Content marketing: Using blogs and/or news outlets to create high quality content about your product or service in order to market it to the targeted audience and increase the time on page of the website.
  • Digital marketing: Increasing SEO of your website and implementing marketing automations to encourage more organic web traffic and user loyalty to your website.
  • Social media: Build up the company brand through a strong and consistent social media presence.
  • Crisis communication: Implement crisis strategies, such as media training to react to any negative situation or press releases against your brand. 
  • Strategy consulting: Construct a strategic approach that is specifically tailored to the company’s goals in order to maximize media placements.

Now we understand the benefits of PR and PR services, let’s break down the elements that go into determining the price of PR campaign.

Factors that determine the Cost of PR

There is no straightforward formula to calculate the PR fees of a campaign. Similar to the Accounting industry, the PR industry needs to consider various factors. When determining the price of the campaign, PR firms consider the following:

  • Targeted audience: The targeted audience of a PR campaign could be B2B or B2C. PR firms use different PR tactics and resources to target each one of these audiences. So, there will be a variation in price between the two types of campaigns. 
  • Campaign reach: A PR campaign can reach to the local, regional, national scale. Different resources from the PR team will be required depending on how large is the audience range the company wants to reach. 
  • Type of coverage: Another factor on the PR fees of a campaign is how influential are the targeted media placements. Prestigious media placements, such as the national newspapers, require more intense PR strategies to land a story than local blogs. 
  • The product or service: The more unique your product or service is, then the less complicated it would be to create a news angle for media placements. The PR fees for the unique product’s or service’s campaign would be less than a campaign with a difficult news angle to pitch.
  • Website for the product or service: The PR team would use less PR tactics to improve your website traffic if your company has credibility.  A creditable company would have user loyalty that a PR team would be able to build on.

Considering the elements that go into determining the cost of PR, head over to FreePRQuote.com to receive an estimate on your next PR campaign.

Use the free calculator to determine the cost of PR for your next campaign

The founder and owner of MACIAS PR, Mark Macias created this free PR calculator to save time for business owners inquiring about the price of PR. The free calculator will determine the PR fees for your campaign without you hearing a sales pitch from a PR firm on the phone.

The virtual tool is made up of 8 questions regarding information about you company and your company’s goal. A business owner could fill out the Free PR Quote tool in less than 30 seconds. Within 48 hours, a detailed cost and proposal will be sent back to you. Try it out here!

Interested to learn more about Mark Macias and Maicas PR, continue to read along!

About MACIAS PR

In 2017 and 2018, MACIAS PR was named the Strategic PR Firm of the Year by marketing peers. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year based on their media deliverables, expertise and innovation in PR. MACIAS PR has run branding, media and crisis campaigns for tech and healthcare organizations, financial groups, nonprofit organizations, politicians and trade organizations. The firm is based in New York City. MACIAS PR was founded in 2009 by Mark Macias – a former executive producer with NBC, senior producer with CBS in New York and author of the business books Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and The Tao of PR.

Discover your PR Gimmick – Best PR Practices

Posted on by Mark Macias

Everyone needs a gimmick, especially in New York City.

If you want to stand out at a cocktail party or crowded lounge, you need something to push you above the crowd. Some people call that personality; others call it charisma. I call it a gimmick.

It’s no different with branding a product, business, or service. You need to discover what your gimmick is to get noticed, regardless of what you are selling.

Now before the critics start mincing words and breaking down my statement with comments like, “That is shallow,” or “Execution beats style,” or “Hype loses to substance,” ……yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.

And I agree with you.

But let’s take off that analytical, argumentative cap for a second and discuss this idea in the gray world we live in today.

Continue reading “Discover your PR Gimmick – Best PR Practices” →

Case Study on Mobile App PR

Posted on by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

It’s difficult for all mobile app developers to stand out – unless you have the media behind you.

Our passionate team is proud to say our new mobile app, Blush No More, is the fastest growing communications app on the app stores, according to statistics from Mobincube.

And that growth came without any advertisements. Our entire user acquisition campaign was driven by organic news coverage with the tech, national and international media led by Macias PR.

The Daily Mail in the UK called Blush No More the “ultimate dinner party app – able to feed you a conversation starter at just the right time.”

Yahoo News said the “App ‘Blush No More’ Helps Keep the Conversation Rolling.’”

Channel 11 in New York City aired a 4-minute story on the mobile app, saying it suggests “perfect ice breakers to keep the conversation going.”

Channel 11 also tracked down a Blush No More user and asked him what he thought of theapp. Here’s what Iwan Lubberts from Holland told their reporter on TV:

“It really makes you feel like a local. If you look up the lines, they are pretty American. It’s helping me out to understand American people and how to deal with American people in language,” Lubberts said.

That Channel 11 video on Blush No More went viral within hours and was picked up by AOL, spreading the word around the world. Since then, other news publications have run stories on how this is a genius idea that everyone can use.

Yahoo China, AOL News, Yahoo News, GQ Italy and Metro Global newspapers all wrote glowing, positive stories about Blush No More and how it can help consumers.

LovethatMag – a popular US online publication that covers the latest trends, wrote this review: “If you’re someone that tends to find yourself not knowing what to say amidst an awkward silence, then new app ‘Blush No More’ could be your one stop shop for ice breakers, and a whole lot more.”

That is publicity and endorsements that no ad can buy.

How the Media Drives App Downloads

Blush No More has seen exponential growth in downloads following this international and online media exposure. The percentage of downloads has grown more than 1300 percent following just 3 days of media exposure. It maintained that momentum throughout July and August 2015, becoming the fastest growing mobile communications app, according to its publisher, Mobincube.

So the next time you’re looking at your app analytics, wrinkling  your forehead, wondering what can you do to make your tech startup stand out – take the initiative and reach out to Macias PR. If the green box at the bottom of your screen shows we are online, ask for Mark and I’ll give you a media strategy after learning more about your app.

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.

Thought Leadership PR Campaigns

Posted on by Mark Macias

11807127_825990304163113_8766815050136833856_oBy Mark Macias

Thought leadership is one of the best ways to distinguish your tech startup or business from its competitors, especially if you are a CEO. Your experience brings credibility while personal case studies can teach other tech startups or entrepreneurs how to do it better, which makes for a great business story.

When speaking with potential clients, I always try to get into their minds quickly to identify how credible they will be when speaking with the media. This is particularly important with tech startups that historically enter the business with little credibility. In these situations, it can be helpful to find unique personal stories that can help your narrative.

For example, we work with the CEO of a major lending organization who is also a Latino from Queens. Yes – his expertise is in financial, but he also brings a new dimension of expertise based on his life experiences. How does a Latino rise to the top of a lending organization that was founded by JP Morgan more than 100 years ago? How did he use his culture to help grow his customer base among Hispanics? How did he assimilate into a financial industry that is not known for its diversity? What did the streets of Queens teach him that he applies to the board room?

We used those same questions to get that CEO in the NY Daily News (story above) and later this week, he will be on CNN en Español in prime time, talking about what he learned on the streets of Queens and how he is applying it at work. Thought leadership is about introducing new ideas and life experiences so next time you’re brainstorming on publicity  ideas, go back to your roots and work backwards.

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.

PR Creativity Begins Underground

Posted on by Mark Macias

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.