PR vs Advertising – A Cost Comparison Analysis

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Mark Macias

Which is a better marketing spend: PR or advertising? A few years ago, MACIAS PR published a cost comparison analysis that took a quantitative look at the cost of earned media versus paid media.

The research specifically looked at the promotional cost of media exposure for an event that helped veterans, and the cost of earned media for a mobile app launch.

We’ve embedded that white paper at the bottom of this post, but if you’re short on time, here are some of the key findings from our research.

Local PR is More Cost Effective than Advertising

MACIAS PR led a local media campaign for the nonprofit organization, VAREP, which needed help promoting their VA Housing Summit in San Antonio. This media campaign’s purpose was to educate the local veteran and military community on VA housing programs available in their area.

Under the media campaign, our team secured four media placements leading up to their VA Housing Summit in television, radio and print.

According to Golden State Media Concepts, the average TV commercial in San Antonio, ranges from $500 to $3000 for only 30-seconds of air time.

Both KENS 5 and KSAT 12 ran their TV segments in the 10pm newscast – the most expensive advertising program of the day. Each TV segment ran longer than two minutes.

Under advertising standards, this nonprofit would have needed to purchase 4 commercials for the equivalent airtime of one TV newscast. At the current market rate, one TV segment would have cost roughly $12,000, or $24,000 for the segments that ran on two TV stations.

This PR campaign also secured media placements with a prominent local magazine, The San Antonio Current and radio station, KYKX. A 30-second radio spot, according to the Golden State Media Concepts, costs $250-$490 for the morning drive time.

The San Antonio Current Magazine doesn’t release its ad rates publicly, but their ad sheet says the magazine reaches 272,000 readers a month and more than 4 million monthly page views. The live segment lasted roughly 90-seconds, bringing the total cost to $1,110.

If you’d like to get a free PR proposal for your company, click here to get a customized quote.

PR-vs-Advertising-vs-Marketing-A-Media-Case-Study Download

How to Measure an Effective PR Campaign

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

How do you measure the performance of an effective PR firm? It’s a question I hear a lot from potential clients. There are several traditional ways to evaluate the performance of your PR agency, and you can read more on that with this blog on How to Measure the ROI of PR. If you’re short on time, the CliffsNotes are below:

Number of Media Placements
Demographics and Reader base for those Media Outlets
Increased Credibility, which Helps Close Sales;
Actual Sales, which can be measured through links published in news stories or through Analytics.
Improved SEO – since search engines use news stories and blogger stories to measure the value of a website.

But there is another way to measure the ROI of PR that is frequently overlooked. It’s more difficult to quantify than any Google Analytics Report but according to researchers out of Motista – a consumer intelligence analytics firm – it’s actually more persuasive and leads to higher revenue for brands. This is where the art of PR contrasts with the science of data.

Continue reading “How to Measure an Effective PR Campaign” →

How to Measure the ROI of PR

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

It’s one of the more popular questions I hear when discussing PR with new clients: How do you measure the ROI or effectiveness of a PR campaign?

There are actually many methods to measure a successful PR campaign– 1) number of media placements and the influence of their reach; 2) the demographics of those readers (certain demographics are worth more to reach than others; 3) the credibility from the media exposure 4) actual sales, which can be measured through links published in the news story 5) and SEO – since search engines now use news stories and blogger comments to measure the value of a website.

Continue reading “How to Measure the ROI of PR” →

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

All publicity is not good publicity – contrary to the popular myth. In fact, sometimes even good publicity is wasted when it’s published on the wrong avenue.

I recently had a conversation with a NYC hotel marketing director who was trying to attract business travelers to her downtown hotel. She told me about her recent media campaign that targeted “mommy bloggers.”

When I asked why she was targeting stay-at-home mothers when her targeted clients were business travelers, she repeated that popular PR saying – “all publicity is good publicity.”

It’s important that every media campaign target its audience or you risk wasting valuable money on publicity that doesn’t bring a return. Yes – that publicity with mommy bloggers helped the hotel with exposure it didn’t have, but it would have been more effective if they would have devoted those same resources to business or travel writers.

If you’re a tech startup, dig deep to identify your targeted audience. What news outlets are your customers or clients reading? If it’s a tech B2B, it’s even more important to target the publications and trade magazines to ensure your campaign is successfully helping with your new business outreach.

So the next time you get publicity for your business, take it a step further – ask yourself: did this reach my targeted audience? If it didn’t, you might as well have posted a big billboard on an alley that no one sees.

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.

Public Relations ROI – How to Measure an Effective PR Campaign

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

There are several traditional ways to measure the Public Relations ROI:

1) number of media placements
2) demographics and reader base for those media outlets
3) increased credibility, which helps close sales;
4) actual sales, which can be measured through links published in the news story 5) and SEO – since search engines now use news stories and blogger comments to measure the value of a website.

I hear the “how do you measure the ROI of PR” so frequently that our team put together a short white paper that goes more in-depth on it, which you can download here.

But there is another ROI of PR that is frequently overlooked. It’s more difficult to quantify but according to researchers out of Motista – a consumer intelligence analytics firm – it’s actually more persuasive and leads to higher revenue for brands.

PR Influences Emotional Motivators

Motista researchers discovered 10 actions or urges – called “emotional motivators” that drive consumers to make a purchase. They included: a desire to stand out from the crowd (or fit in), feel secure, succeed in life, freedom and others.

You might not realize it, but “emotional motivators” are also a subconscious factor in most news stories you read and if played correctly, they can add another ROI to your media campaign.

For example, if you are a financial advisor, you need to continually find new investors. If a prominent news story articulates how your firm outperformed the markets – and grew the assets of your clients, you are achieving an “emotional motivator.” Your news story told investors they can achieve freedom, success and feel secure by going with your firm.

If you’re a tech startup in need of credibility, a story in Techcrunch can lend credibility to potential investors who might need an “emotional motivator” to buy into your product or service. Likewise, if you’re an online retail startup, like Jet.com, taking on a behemoth Amazon, your media campaign might leverage the “emotional motivator” that connects with consumers who want to be different. How so? By pushing news stories that support how the Jet.com online retail experience and model is different and better than Amazon.

ROI of PR – Big Data Analysis

This ROI might sound nebulous to the analytics driven CMO, but Motista actually used big data in identifying how “emotional motivators” lead to higher revenue. It cited a credit card company that used “emotional motivators” to connect with Millennials for a new credit card launch. New card sales grew by 40 percent and usage increased by 70 percent with those consumers.

Are you feeling an emotional connection to Motista?

As the owner of the top-rated PR firm, Macias PR, I want to pick up the phone and hear more about how their data can grow my business. According to their researchers, that action would classify me as a “fully connected” consumer because it inspired me to inspire others. That’s another component of PR; it pushes your brand into the conversation.

As a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York, I suspect that story I read on Motista was placed by a publicist. If so, Motista got a high ROI from that PR campaign. It not only raised the awareness of the brand to me – but it also raised the awareness of their brand to you. That’s the direct power of PR.

The VLOG below gives a little more insight on how to value an effective PR campaign.

Macias PR was named the 2015 and 2016 top PR Firm of the Year – USA by Finance Monthly. The founder – 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.

Top Financial PR Firm of 2015 – Macias PR Selected

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

During my time with NBC and CBS, I was nominated for five Emmys in five different categories. It felt good to be honored by my journalism peers, but today Macias PR received an international recognition that feels even better than those five Emmy nominations.

The international publication, Finance Monthly, announced today that Macias PR is the 2015 top “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA.” The M&A Awards contained several big named firms, including Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, but Macias PR was the only Public Relations firm selected from the USA.

Every industry and era inspires a business or technology that tries to disrupt the status quo. In a critical thinking profession, like public relations and journalism, I suspect it may take a few decades before robots learn how to gather news and pitch publicists.

But I’d like to believe Macias PR is slowly disrupting the public relations industry, and challenging the PR giants on innovation, cost, strategy, expertise and deliverables. Now, Finance Monthly has validated that belief by selecting Macias PR as the “PR Consultant Firm of the Year.”

The Finance Monthly editorial team of researchers applied a 10-point criterion to select and identify the top PR firm in the USA that included measurements of:

Strategic Thinking and Planning
Expertise and Innovation
Innovation in Client Care
Peer Recognition and Personal Achievement
Deliverables in the Previous 12 Months Compared to Industry Peers
Involvement in Significant Transactions
Size (value) of Involvement within Transactions & Deals

Our team always knew that we delivered more media placements at a faster pace than any big-named PR firm, including many of the largest tech and financial PR firms. If we are fortunate enough to earn your business, I believe you will see why our team has discovered passion and conviction, combined with hard work and critical thinking will always outperform the industry leaders in any profession.

Selling PR like a Magician

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

Sometimes you just get lucky.

As a business owner, I am extremely lucky to work closely with the CEO of one of the country’s oldest lending organization. Every time we speak, I learn how to become a better business owner, entrepreneur, publicist and person.

Earlier this week, this CEO led an inspiring speaking series where he explained how he uses “magic” to sell in his boardroom. Not the kind of magic that deceives people, but the kind of magic that allows people to believe in you and your product.

We may not realize it, but if we want to grow our businesses, we must inspire others to believe in our products or services. Tech startups, young entrepreneurs and even experienced business owners must continually prove to potential customers or clients why our expertise will take their business to a higher level. We must also convince journalists to believe in our tech startup or business if we are going to succeed with media placements.

As a former Executive Producer with NBC in New York, I needed to believe in a story before I approved it. Now, as the owner of a PR firm, I need to get other journalists to believe in our clients if we are going to succeed in our media campaigns. And after listening to this inspiring speech, I am going to sprinkle a little “magic” as we try to sell our stories to reporters.

So what is this magic that this CEO shared with his audience made up of business owners, entrepreneurs and sales people? Click here to read that story I wrote for Digital Journal and to watch a video excerpt from his speech.

ROI of PR vs. Advertising – Infographic Analysis

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

I converse with business owners on a daily basis and the conversations inevitably lead to the various marketing strategies/trends, along with the ROI they bring. Surprisingly, there are many misconceptions of PR in the business community, including you can’t quantitatively measure the ROI of PR.

Our team put together this infographic that compares the ROI of two of the most popular marketing strategies: PR and Advertising. Everything is sourced for your own analysis.

Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He’s also 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 consults small and large businesses on how to get publicity. You can read more on his firm at MaciasPR.

Publicity on a Limited Budget

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

It is possible to run an effective publicity campaign on a limited budget. The PR firms Edelman or Rubenstein might bring your company reassurance with their large staff and beautiful buildings, there are affordable alternatives that can deliver the same results.

Potential clients always ask me how much we charge for a PR campaign. I like to use the accountant example. You and I may use the same accountant but our costs are likely going to be different based on our needs. It’s the same with public relations.

Your needs actually influence the scope of the media campaign. Do you want a local or national publicity campaign? Is it B2B or B2C? Are you in a niche field or does your narrative have a broad appeal? All of these questions factor into the complexity and cost of a media campaign.

But if you’re a small start-up or nonprofit, you can run an effective PR campaign by narrowing down your targeted news outlets. My PR agency has been running a social media campaign for a small East Village restaurant for several years, which was much different than the state-wide US Senate campaign we ran for another client.

Every client wants national exposure, but if you want to run a cost-effective PR campaign on a limited budget, you need to prioritize. In the world of PR, time equals money.

So don’t assume just because you have a small budget that you don’t have a PR budget. If you can afford Facebook ads, you can probably afford a targeted publicity campaign that reaches reporters.

The global PR firms might shy away from your small budget, but if your expectations are in check, you can use the media to reach customers.

Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with WNBC and Senior Producer with WCBS. He’s also the author of the communications book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media. Macias now consults small and large businesses on how to get publicity. You can read more on his firm at MaciasPR.

How PR Helps with SEO

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

If you type “PR Help” in Google, you will see a link to public relations site on the first page, called PR Help. That high profile search engine ranking didn’t happen by accident and it didn’t arrive solely because of the website name.

It was a choreographed PR strategy that took a little less than 3-months to achieve.

There are many strategies that can help push your website ranking with the search engines: key word optimization, Internet marketing, promoting your website through back links – but one of the most cost-effective ways to increase your search ranking is via public relations.

It is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short.

How can PR my search engine ranking?

If you want potential clients or customers to find your website via search engines, consider looking to public relations as an alternative.

Unlike online ads, which expire with your budget, with public relations, your news stories keep working long after your media campaign is over, especially if you can convince the news outlet to post a link to your website.

All of the search engines will rightfully believe your company has more valuable information if a prominent news organization, like the New York Times, posts a website link to your website. That in turn, will raise your profile and ranking with the search engines.

Here’s another way PR can help your website get a higher ranking with the search engines.

Smaller blogs frequently run stories or snippets from the larger media outlets. If a major newspaper runs a story on your company, there is a good chance smaller websites will want to run the story, which helps your SEO.

So before you devote that marketing budget to Facebook ads, take a minute to research the ROI of PR.

Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with WNBC and Senior Producer with WCBS. He’s also the author of the communications book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media. Macias now consults small and large businesses on how to get publicity. You can read more on his firm at MaciasPR or MarketYourFund.com