By Mark Macias
How do you get clients talking about your brand, product or service? Water cooler material is one approach that MACIAS PR continually leverages with our media campaigns.
Today is one of the hottest days of summer – so what are people likely talking about? My guess is the weather. Here’s how we positioned our digital health client on CBS 2 and a popular health news site by creating water cooler material.
Continue reading “Get your Brand into the Conversation – Example”
By Mark Macias
The best publicists are always selling stories to reporters and producers, while the biggest PR firms are selling new work. Sales is a required function of both sides of the PR business.
I always tell potential clients, I didn’t grow up selling PR accounts. I grew up in the media, selling stories to journalists – and to the public. Yes, we have to sell business and submit proposals just like all other PR firms, but I don’t want this firm to ever sell accounts, for the sake of selling. I want to help businesses develop and grow their brand.
There are many businesses that aren’t a good fit for PR, and I tell those clients when I don’t think MACIAS PR can help them. I also try to explain why they may have a better alternative for their budget. In a karmic world, it will come back to us.
Continue reading “Best PR Firms Sell Stories – not Services”
By Mark Macias
Forbes is one of the most influential publications when it comes to reaching business leaders. The publication also employs some of the smartest journalists in the biz, making it that much harder to secure placements.
Today, MACIAS PR secured a thought leadership placement with Forbes. Read the editorial, Thinking of Starting a Business in 2018? Here’s your Introduction to Alternative Lending, by clicking here.
This was the fifth media placement MACIAS PR secured with Forbes in 2017. Hopefully that track records provides a little more proof on why there is substance behind this advice.
Here’s some insight on how MACIAS PR secured that story with Forbes.
Continue reading “How to Get a Story in Forbes – PR Analysis”
By Mark Macias
Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump gave his first press conference since the election. It was a big event for journalists since many news organizations haven’t been able to directly ask him questions regarding investigative stories they were pursuing.
During my time with NBC and CBS, I covered many press conferences from politicians, CEOs and celebrities. Now, as the owner of this PR firm, I have also organized and coached many executives on how to deal with the media.
Continue reading “Press Conferences – How to Prepare for the Media”
By Mark Macias
Medical and health reporters are typically the most experienced journalists in the newsroom. Their experience and understanding of medical studies runs deep and that will play a critical factor in the success of your health tech or healthcare media campaign.
You can’t approach these medical reporters with a story that is half-baked or full of fluff. You need to identify the research and understand it from a news editorial perspective before you even get on the phone with them. And when products aren’t yet peer reviewed, your publicist needs to identify unique story angles that can still position your brand on the news.
During my time with NBC, I oversaw the medical and health units, approving the scripts and story ideas of reporters and producers in those units. Our three medical reporters all had post-graduate degrees from Ivy-League schools. Likewise, our medical producer had more than a decade of news experience in New York. These reporters and producers could see a bad medical story idea within the first three sentences.
This is why it is so important to make sure your publicist has experience when it comes to pitching your health tech or healthcare company. PR teams only get one shot with these medical reporters and if your publicist doesn’t present the story accurately or succinctly, reporters will be less likely to listen to their pitches in the future.
So as you begin vetting potential publicists to sell your health tech or healthcare ideas to the media, don’t assume a bubbly personality will get you on the news. It’s not youth or personality that persuades these experienced medical reporters. It’s a solid understanding of the news angle that succeeds with media placements.
Macias PR was named the 2016 “Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA” and the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly. We have launched and led media campaigns for clients in healthcare, finance, tech and the nonprofit sectors. The founder of Macias PR – 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.
By Mark Macias
Potential clients always tell me the PR industry is not transparent. They complain – and rightfully so – that PR firms over-promise, under-deliver and never provide details on what they are doing.
Macias PR believes in complete transparency, which is why we continue to announce our media placements via quarterly milestones. It’s a way to keep our firm accountable and to provide complete transparency for potential clients.
In the third quarter of 2016, Macias PR secured publicity for our clients with the New York Post, Channel 11 in New York City, The Financial Times, US News and World Report, Sirius Radio, I-Heart Radio, Singapore News, Sports Illustrated, Time Out New York, The Daily Mail in the UK, The Sun in the UK, Fox Business, Kiplinger’s Wealth Magazine, TheStreet.com, Marketwatch, Value Walk, Fund Society Magazine, The Brooklyn Eagle and others.
We also grew in the second half of 2016 with new clients in health tech, finance and technology. In September, Macias PR will launch three local media campaigns in Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida as well as in San Antonio, Texas for a nonprofit organization that helps veterans and military families with VA housing programs. That nonprofit, VAREP, has been a partner with Macias PR for more than 3 years, and we are proud to have helped it launch new local chapters in Hawaii, California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, DC and now Florida.
August was also a big moment for Macias PR. The international finance publication, Finance Monthly, named Macias PR the top 2016 “Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA”.
Macias PR was the only public relations firm in the USA honored with this award, and it is the second year in a row that Finance Monthly recognized our firm with this award. Their team of researchers and journalists evaluated our PR performance based on media deliverables, expertise, client relations and innovation in PR.
If you’re looking for the top healthcare or tech PR firm with proven results, send us an email and we’ll chat.
Macias PR was named the 2016 “Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA” and the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly. We have launched and led media campaigns for clients in healthcare, finance, tech and the nonprofit sectors. The founder of Macias PR – 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.
By Mark Macias
New York City is an artist’s muse and for creative publicists, it’s equally inspiring. Our team put this video together to showcase our home – the place where we work around the clock to make sure your business gets the attention it deserves.
Here’s a glimpse at why Macias PR was named the 2015 and 2016 Firm of the Year by Finance Monthly.
By Mark Macias
How valuable is a press release when it comes to moving the market? Try $30 million dollars. That’s how much a 28-year-old Ukrainian hacker generated by hacking into PR Newswire, Marketwired and BusinessWire last month.
According to the FBI, the hacker stole 150,000 unpublished press releases and traded on the information before it hit the news.
What does this mean to you as a firm or company trying to reach investors?
Press releases – when done effectively – can influence the market. A recent study by Engleberg and Parsons revealed that trading volume increased by 75 percent after a stock appeared in the news. Another 70 percent of investors said they reallocated their portfolio after reading a story on the news, according to Cogent Research.
This ability to influence investors will only grow larger as more companies actively go after investors following the recent SEC Regulation A changes.
I’m constantly meeting with fund managers and business owners who are trying to attract investments to their fund or company. Most of these people seek investments through the traditional route: via networking at investor conferences and investment forums. But as the SEC Regulation A changes become more accepted and smaller companies begin seeking more funding through mini IPOs, the pool of quality investors via friends and family will get smaller and become less effective.
At the same time, the ability to reach targeted investors via the financial media will continue to remain the most influential medium for introducing your fund or business to investors. The job of securing media placements will get harder for financial PR firms, which is why even more so – you will want to make sure you do your due diligence on your financial PR firm before signing up.
Did we mention that Macias PR was named the 2015 top “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly based on our expertise, media deliverables and innovation in PR?
By Mark Macias
I recently read a story in the Financial Times, Financial PR spins a new global story, which takes a closer look at the evolution of financial PR in the UK and USA.
Their article described how the biggest PR firms are consolidating and in many cases, putting the PR boutique business models under pressure to sell to the global PR giants. As the owner of Macias PR, I am always trying to stay ahead of the trends on where my industry is going and how it is evolving.
The PR industry is quickly evolving into a content-marketing oriented business model that places a larger emphasis in reaching the online reader. If your product or service is not on the first few pages of Google, your business doesn’t exist. But getting your website on the first few pages of the search engines is more than an SEO strategy. It begins with content marketing.
At the same time, clients are also placing a larger emphasis and desire to get their stories told with the largest media publications. Bigger and smaller brands are realizing it is harder to get their company above the clutter, but a big story in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Post or their local newspaper, gets consumers talking instantly.
This approach also applies to industry PR. A reporter with Bloomberg News, CNBC and Fox Business News all appeal to a business audience, but they are vastly different with editorial. A successful media strategy takes this editorial into account when identifying a media strategy.
Finally, this FT article explored a disturbing trend that is hitting the PR industry: multi-nationals and global conglomerates, like PWC and McKinsey, are buying PR firms because they see their value. This is bad for all businesses that hire those global financial PR companies. These consultancies might be great at tax law and regulatory matters, but the media is neither.
As your business begins looking for a PR firm, take time to research the owners or specialists who will be leading your media campaign. Don’t be deceived by big-name PR firms that razzle and dazzle you with power point presentations. During my time consulting global PR firms, I saw how great sales people sold PR to clients, even though they know nothing about PR or the media.
I hope if you Google the top financial pr firms in NYC, you will see Macias PR on the first page – and read why we were named the PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA by Finance Monthly. And for the record, we were the only PR firm named in that bracket by their financial journalists.
By Mark Macias
Clients are always asking us, “how do you measure PR campaign success?” Media placements are one of the easiest ways to evaluate the success of a PR campaign because it is measurable by viewers, influence and conversation.
Roughly 5 million people pick up the Wall Street Journal daily – and that doesn’t include the number of online readers who find their stories from search engines, news sources or social media feeds. A story in the WSJ reaches influencers who lead the conversation. It brings credibility and exposure that no amount of introductions can make in a single day.
So how does Macias PR compare when it comes to media placements? Here’s our showcase reel of what we have delivered for our clients with the media. Oh – and this is only from the past 30 days. We don’t brag. We just work harder and think smarter.