Founder of MACIAS PR – Mark Macias – Named to the Forbes Business Council

​Forbes Business Council – an invitation-only organization for successful business leaders and entrepreneurs – has announced Mark Macias – founder of MACIAS PR – as a Council member.

A review committee selected Macias based on his depth and diversity of his experience as a journalist, author, entrepreneur and media strategist. The committee evaluates each member’s business track record and leadership, as well as personal and professional achievements.

“We are honored to welcome Mark Macias into the Forbes Business Council,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.”

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Future of PR – Revolves around Reputations and Search Engines

By Mark Macias

One of our nonprofit clients went to a Google marketing conference and shared with me some of the best takeaways he heard. One of the boldest statements came from a Google executive who told the crowd that in the future, there will be no brands.

It seems hard to believe that brands won’t matter in the future, but it makes sense. Yes, household names, like McDonalds, Starbucks and Netflix will continue to be in our subconscious. However, among smaller brands – especially in the B2B sector – will become more susceptible to branding from Google. Let me break it down further. Continue reading “Future of PR – Revolves around Reputations and Search Engines”

5 Mistakes Leaders Make with Reporters – Forbes Analysis

By Mark Macias

I recently wrote a story for Forbes, outlining 5 mistakes I frequently see leaders make with reporters. CEOs are traditionally articulate and great with the gift of gab, but when it comes to their interaction with the media, I’ve frequently observed many of the leaders make the same mistake.

It’s a shame because it’s not easy getting interviews with reporters. PR firms have to work very hard to land the pre-interview, and you typically only get one shot. Over the summer, our team secured a 20-minute phone interview with a FOX News anchor. I worked with the CEO closely, gave him a briefing document and was on the call, trying to keep it focused. Still, at the end of the phone call, the anchor told the CEO point-blank: I don’t know what this story is now.

Here is an abridged version of the article I wrote for Forbes. You can read it more in-depth by clicking here. Continue reading “5 Mistakes Leaders Make with Reporters – Forbes Analysis”

Boutique PR Firms vs Global PR Firms – Which Agencies are Best

MACIAS PR might be a boutique PR firm in New York, but our reach and experience is vast. We’ve launched and led publicity, media and branding campaigns for healthcare organizations, digital health companies, tech startups and nonprofits.

Despite the diversity of those industries, MACIAS PR continually secures publicity for our clients with the most influential news publications. In fact, in this month alone, our team has secured prominent news stories for our clients in Teen Vogue, Digital Journal, WDIV Local 4, Model D and MobiHealthNews.

But we don’t just measure our success in the amount of stories we secure. We also have client case studies in several industries available upon request to prove it, too.

As a boutique PR firm, our communications process is streamlined, while our execution is hyper-focused. We will put our track record up against the biggest PR agencies any day of the week – and we have the awards to back us up. This is what makes us truly unlike any other PR firm in the industry. 

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Who is Noom’s PR Firm? A Case Study for MACIAS PR

By Mark Macias

In the summer of 2016, few consumers had heard of Noom. It was a 7-year-old digital health company that was struggling to find its place in a crowded weight loss space. Fast forward to 2019, and you will see their brand everywhere. Their weight loss program has been on CNBC, People Magazine, CNN, the NBC Today Show, Men’s Health – to name a few.

In fact, you can probably name any big news organization, and MACIAS PR likely has a media placement to showcase for this campaign. (The Washington Post, Women’s Fitness Magazine, Politico, New York Post, Fast Company Magazine, TechCrunch, Yahoo News, International Business Times, CBS News, and local TV in multiple markets).

(In the B2B sector, MACIAS PR  secured stories on Noom with The American Journal of Managed Care, Mobihealthnews, Fierce Biotech, FW Pharma, M Health Intelligence, Med City News and others. We also secured stories with the Spanish and Korean media).

But before MACIAS PR started working with Noom, the digital health company had little media exposure. Noom’s previous PR firm – one of the country’s largest healthcare PR firms – secured only 4 media placements during their contract. That’s right – FOUR. And they weren’t even big outlets: MedCityNews, HIT, News.com.au and Tech.co.

Meantime, MACIAS PR averaged 7.8 media placements over the course of our 3-year PR partnership. The MACIAS PR boutique firm out-hussled the big guys on this campaign, like we do with all of our clients.

Making this campaign even more challenging, MACIAS PR secured these media placements with little guidance from the client. Yes, I worked closely with the founders, trying to identify story angles that were news worthy. But Noom didn’t have a marketing department or CMO for much of our partnership. That meant we had to drive the strategy and focus for each campaign.

And we succeeded. MACIAS PR helped the company become one of the most Googled brands in 2018; we helped raise their profile for fundraising rounds; Our work helped our client win numerous awards following strategic campaigns, including listings as the Best Place to Work.

It’s media campaigns like Noom’s that led marketing peers to name MACIAS PR the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. It’s a strategy based on editorial, creativity, persistence, and precise execution that only a media insider would know.

Here’s a closer look at what this boutique PR firm – MACIAS PR – did for Noom and how we can achieve similar results for your digital health or tech company.

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MACIAS PR – 10 Year Anniversary Getting Clients on the News

The tech and healthcare public relations firm, MACIAS PR, is celebrating 10 years of business, growing from a boot-strapped agency into an award-winning full-service public relations firm.

Over the last ten years, MACIAS PR has led media and branding campaigns for clients in technology, healthcare/digital health, finance, politics and the nonprofit sectors. Their clients have ranged from boot-strapped startups with no messaging in place to established companies with international brand recognition.

In 2015, MACIAS PR won its first industry award when Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the PR Consultant Firm of the Year; In 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year based on the firm’s media deliverables and expertise; And in 2017 and 2018, marketing peers named MACIAS PR the Strategic PR Firm of the Year, awarding it the ACQ5 Global Award in public relations.

The founder, Mark Macias, started the firm after an extensive career with NBC, CBS, American Journal, KTVK and The Arizona Republic. He was Executive Producer with NBC, Senior Producer with CBS in New York, and Investigative Producer with the nationally syndicated TV program, American Journal. Macias started his journalism career with the Arizona Republic and KTVK-TV 3 in Phoenix. He’s also the author of the business book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media, and a contributor with CNBC.

“Potential clients and competitors always try to figure out how we succeed on such a large scale,” said Macias. “Journalism is at the root of our strategy. Our firm continues to dig deeper, searching for the best angles to position our clients in the news. We won’t promote fluff or engage in hyperbole. Instead, we look at the timely news cycle and find ways to position our clients in it.”

Macias credits that editorial approach with helping his firm secure prominent media placements with the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Times, Bloomberg and others.

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Best PR Agencies Know How to Tell your Story to the Media

You’ll never hear the story if you can’t find the book. It’s no different with the media. 

Reporters are constantly bombarded with pitches and ideas. Their inboxes are full of publicists and PR firms wanting to get their clients’ stories told to consumers. 

But these publicists and PR firms aren’t strategic in getting their message in front of the right reporters. They spray and pray – a tactic that’s sure to fail.

This is why If you want your story in the media, you need to be strategic in getting your message in front of the right reporters. This is what our team does every day at MACIAS PR – and it’s why we deliver such quality results. 

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Biggest PR Mistakes – and How to Prevent Them

By Mark Macias

There are many mistakes you can make while pursuing public relations. Fortunately, you can overcome most of those mistakes, however, there is one PR mistake you can rarely overcome. The error effectively makes your entire media placement worthless.

What is it?

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PR Newswire – Worth the Money?

By Mark Macias

Clients are always asking me what I think of press releases posted on the PR newswires.

“Why can’t we just write a press release and post it on PRWeb or PRNewsWires? It gets picked up by everyone.” They say.

It seems simple enough on the surface.

PRWeb writes on their home page, “Generate Buzz Online… Forever. Your news lives on the web forever, earning you new business time and time again.”

PRNewswire makes an even bolder claim on their website: “PR Newswire is the authoritative source of news and information for leading global media organizations…. We distribute to more than 200,000 media points and 8,000 websites, offering the most ways to reach your audience online and off.”

So will paid press releases on these PR newswire distribution outlets generate buzz for your business? It depends on what kind of buzz you are looking for and what the announcement is you will be posting.

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How Much Does PR Cost? MACIAS PR Unveils Free Tool That Reveals Cost

NEW YORK, February 22, 2019 (Newswire.com) – It’s the question every business owner wants to know: How much does PR cost? The top tech and healthcare PR firm MACIAS PR has just unveiled a free tool to help all founders, marketers and business owners identify the cost for any public relations campaign – without even picking up the phone.

FreePRQuote.com is exactly what the name says – a free PR quote for any business or industry, regardless of size.

The founder and owner of MACIAS PR Mark Macias says he created the virtual tool as a way to help business owners who are asking him “How much does PR cost?”

“How much does the typical PR campaign cost is a relevant question in business,” said Macias. “The cost for PR is similar to other service sector industries, like accounting and law. The cost depends on how many hours are needed to execute the campaign; how complicated is the work; what specific needs do you have; how unique is your product. FreePRQuote.com provides a free PR estimate based on how the business responds to these questions.”

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