Communications Crisis: How to Release Bad News

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Mark Macias

It’s the perennial crisis communications question: 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 your business out of the news as quickly as possible. You don’t want a story to linger, or new developments to unfold because 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. No one wants to read old news. It’s why the phrase is a cliche.

Every day new information unfolds about your scandal, the more heavily favored your story is to remain in the news.

How do you Release Bad News?

If your business is in the headlines with negative news – and more bad news is still buried away – make sure you get it out as quickly as possible. All of it.

You don’t want a drip, drip, drip because it gives reporters new elements to advance their story. Every new release of more negative information gives your story another element to gain traction.

The challenge with managing negative news is you must provide a solution that demonstrates why the problem won’t happen again. Without that element, the story is still unresolved. The public also wants to know why this bad incident won’t happen again.

And it’s more than just issuing an apology. Many politicians wrongly believe an apology will lead to forgiveness with voters. Yes – Americans are very forgiving, but they don’t won’t support a hypocrite. Yet, another reason to reinforce why this pattern for negative behavior won’t return.

MACIAS PR has run crisis campaigns for politicians, nonprofits and financial organizations. If you’re facing a difficult situation and need private consultation, feel free to email us and we’ll coordinate a time to speak.

Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017 and 2018 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. He’s also a frequent contributor with CNBC and author of the books, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and the Tao of PR.

PR Blueprint for Launching Successful Publicity Campaigns

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Mark Macias

Every business owner wants to know how to get journalists to write a story on their business. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that reveals how a story gets on the news or in the newspapers, but there are guidelines that can increase your chances for coverage.

As Executive Producer with NBC in New York, I approved story ideas from reporters, publicists and producers. Sometimes, stories were approved but later killed for various reasons.

Other times, I killed a story because it lacked visuals or had outdated information. The approval process in news is subjective, just like any other profession involving creativity, opinions and experiences. So if you get a bite from the media, move fast and don’t delay.

So how do you get journalists to cover your business? You can increase your chances for coverage by identifying what is different, new or unique about your business. It sounds simple but a lot of people forget that news is based on the root “new.” They pitch stories but forget about timeliness. If you don’t have that “new” component, your story is at a disadvantage.

You can figure out what is new about your business by asking some simple questions: Is your business contributing to the local community in a unique way we might not expect? Are you about to accomplish a feat where others have failed? What is different between you and competitors?

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Why the Best PR Firms Look Beyond Press Releases

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Mark Macias

The best PR firms don’t focus their efforts on press releases. They focus their creative energies around the editorial angle.

Yes, press releases are great for content marketing, and they can help communicate a tight, controlled message. But it’s unlikely they will lead to media coverage.

The most successful media campaigns will always include a proactive media outreach. And there is no cutting in line. This approach centers around manually researching and pitching reporters, journalists, producers and editors that are targeted.

MACIAS PR consistently secures coverage for our clients because this approach is at the center of our strategy. Pitching directly to media is especially important for smaller businesses, including startups.

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Insider Look: What Journalists Look for when Writing Stories

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Mark Macias

The approval process in news is extremely subjective, just like any other profession involving creativity, opinions and experiences. During my time as Executive Producer with NBC in New York, I approved story ideas from reporters, publicists and producers.

Sometimes, stories were approved but later killed for various reasons, while other times, I had to kill a story because it lacked visuals or was outdated.

So how do you get journalists to cover your business? Here’s a general rule of the approaches our firm continues to take with our campaigns. These tactics are derived from my time inside the media.

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AI Producing More Content – How it Impacts PR

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Mark Macias

A recent article predicted artificial intelligence will generate 90 percent of all online content by 2025. Another news article revealed editors with the popular CNET tech site have already used AI to produce news articles.

Back in 2020, I wrote an article for Forbes exploring this topic, titled “Artificial Intelligence in PR: Is it Science Fiction?” You can read the entire article by clicking on that link, but if you’re short on time, here was my prediction from 2020.

AI won’t succeed with PR because news happens too quickly. During my time running the PR campaign for the popular weight loss program, Noom, I learned how quality data helps AI. It helps the machine learn, grow and predict overtime. Machine learning can’t learn without quality data.

PR and journalism are nowhere near gathering this kind of big data for news coverage. But even if this big data on news generation was available, we would still need critical and creative thinking to launch enterprise PR campaigns.

A different article in January’s Atlantic Monthly supported this thought. The Atlantic Monthly article states it best:

“Even if ChatGPT can spit out a pretty good paragraph on AI, it can’t interview AI and labor experts, nor can it find historical documents, nor can it assess the quality of studies of technological change and employment.

It creates content out of what is already out there, with no authority, no understanding, no ability to correct itself, no way to identify genuinely new or interesting ideas. That implies that AI might make original journalism more valuable and investigative journalists more productive, while creating an enormous profusion of simpler content.“

The key to that point? AI can’t interview people like a journalist and publicist can. AI can help publicists with their research but when it comes to creating campaigns from scratch, AI doesn’t create content from scratch. It only creates content from existing content.

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Bad Behaviors to Avoid on TV Interviews – Media Advice

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

So you’ve been invited to speak on cable TV, or maybe your local TV station. Now what? How do you prepare for the interview so you make the biggest impression with your potential customers or clients?

Let’s assume for the sake of this article that you already have your messaging down. You know what to say and are prepared for the questions. You’ve got the basics down.

Now it’s time to fine tune the overall image. As a former Executive Producer with NBC, I didn’t pay attention to every segment and observe how the guests fared in their appearance. The newscast was moving too fast, and I didn’t get to always observe the nuances in real time.

But it’s different today. CNBC and CNN are always on in our office, and when an interesting expert or topic pops up, I pay attention. I’ve started to get annoyed with a lot of behaviors that don’t work well on TV. And as a result, I train my clients to avoid these behaviors when getting interviewed on live TV.

Here’s a closer look at those behaviors that don’t work on TV, despite the common perspective that it’s the right thing to do.

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MACIAS PR – Why We Deliver Better Results

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Mark Macias

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. We have client case studies in several industries, detailing these campaigns.

Our clients always work with an experienced media strategist. We don’t pawn you off to a junior account executive. And as a boutique PR 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 2021, City & State Magazine named our founder, Mark Macias, a Top 50 Political PR Power player in New York.

MACIAS PR has run B2B and B2C media and branding campaigns in healthcare, tech startups, financial services, asset management, nonprofits and service sector industries. We’ve secured big stories in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, People Magazine, CNN and others. (Here’s a closer look at our Annual Report ). We have case studies for all of these industries, backing up our consistent track record.

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.

Why Empathy Will Lead Every PR Campaign to Better Results

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Mark Macias

Empathy is a powerful word that leads to change. When you’ve experienced a setback first-hand, you will be more caring, kind and compassionate to others going through the same situation. This approach also works with PR.

If your PR team genuinely believes you care about them, they will work harder when you are not in the room. Your publicist might be getting a paycheck for his or her work, but money doesn’t motivate everyone when the doors are closed.

Click here to read an article that details how empathy helps your PR campaign. Or if you’re on the go, you can listen to the story as a podcast.

Our agency has more insightful episodes on PR, strategy and advice on your favorite podcast channel. Click here to subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or Stitcher.

ABOUT MACIAS PR

Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017-2021 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.

How PR can Improve your SEO – Digital Marketing Strategies

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

Just when you thought your SEO strategy was solid, Google changes the rules. The new algorithm impacted 90 percent of search traffic.

Of course, we all know Google doesn’t reveal details on its algorithm but one thing Hummingbird does reinforce is the importance of content.

So why the algorithm change? Google has trained consumers to ask questions when searching for results, so it was only natural this latest search evolution would place a higher emphasis on how your search looks for answers. Unlike the earlier years of search, when keywords were used to find topics with search engines, Google now places a higher emphasis on content that delivers valuable information.

What does Hummingbird mean for your SEO marketing strategy?

It means if you are creating content for your company blog, you should pose questions in your copy, followed by the answer. Or even better yet, ask the question with an H2 tag and answer the question in the next sentence (like the last paragraph did).

Here is an example of how this new strategy can help your SEO better promote your content.

If you own a business, you know the importance of ROI and PR. But what is the ROI of public relations? (You can download our white paper on ROI of PR by clicking here). Under the new Hummingbird SEO, your future content should be asking questions, like in that example. In the past, ROI and PR, may have led to a decent search ranking, but under Hummingbird, Google is now taking a closer look at content and determining which content is answering the right questions.

There is another important item that the new Hummingbird reveals.

Content is King on the web and if you’re not creating new content, your business is at a strong disadvantage when it comes to search engines. Yes, your business can pull out ads and market itself on Facebook, but when those ads are done, you lose your exposure. However, if you create solid content in your industry and answer key questions for your customer base, the overall ROI of that content will be much better than a pure ad play.

Follow Always Fresh PR Podcast

If you like what you read, you can hear more PR and digital marketing insight from Mark Macias in our #alwaysfreshPR podcast. Listen to us on your favorite channel by clicking here.

Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS. He’s also the author of the communications book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media. Macias consults small and large businesses on publicity, crisis communications and digital strategy.

The Cat and Mouse Strategy – It applies to PR

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Mark Macias

by Mark Macias.

Why does the cat always catch the mouse? When you think of how agile and quick a mouse can be, he should be able outmaneuver the cat. Yet, nearly 100 percent of the time, the cat will catch the mouse.

That’s not just a fun question. It’s actually a way of thinking that applies to PR and business.

First off, I’m not an expert on mice or cats. I have never owned a cat and I hate mice. But as a person who lives in Brooklyn, and every New Yorker will tell you – “if you have mice, get a cat and the problem will go away.”

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