Media Case Study – PR vs Advertising

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

The week of September 19th was a big week for Macias PR. Our team secured a total of 14 news stories with local and national news outlets in TV, print, radio and online publications for clients in healthcare, health tech, finance and mobile apps.

Local TV played a crucial role with our team’s success, securing local TV segments in New York, Miami, Phoenix and San Antonio. On Friday, September 23rd, our team secured a TV segment on the PIX 11 Morning News for our health tech client, MD Acne. We also secured that same day a story on NBC 6 in South Florida for our nonprofit client, VAREP.

But Phoenix and San Antonio proved to be an even bigger week for our team. In Phoenix, we secured publicity for a mobile app on four different TV stations in Phoenix: 3TV, CBS 5, ABC 15 and a live morning segment on Good Morning Arizona. That’s right, you heard us right – four different local TV stations. We also secured two TV segments on two different TV stations in San Antonio with KENS 5 and KSAT 12, as well as stories with the San Antonio Current Magazine and KYKX radio.

Media Case Study – The ROI of PR vs Advertising

So how much would have these media campaigns cost if they were run as advertising campaigns?

Macias PR put together an ROI Cost Comparison of these two local media campaigns. We compared ad rates and ad times to the equivalent air time spent during these newscasts. I’m sure after reading this cost analysis case study, you will see why Macias PR was named the top PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA by Finance Monthly and the 2016 top Financial PR Firm of the Year – USA. We were the only PR firm in the US honored with this recognition.

Here here to Click here to Read our Media Case Study – PR vs Advertising

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.

Healthcare PR – Pitching Medical Reporters

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

The bar for securing healthcare and health tech stories is much more difficult with local and national news outlets, which means your media strategy and editorial campaign need to be that much stronger from the start.

Generally speaking, healthcare and medical reporters are more educated and more suspicious of stories that aren’t backed by science or peer-reviewed studies. Yes, that is a very broad statement but during my time with NBC and CBS in New York (as an Executive Producer and Senior Producer respectively), as well as my journalism years in Phoenix and Miami – I repeatedly observed how medical and health reporters analyzed story ideas with more skepticism.

This difference in editorial style was even more pronounced in New York.

Healthcare PR in New York

During my time as Executive Producer with NBC, I oversaw the consumer, health and medical units, approving scripts and story ideas from producers and reporters. It was much harder to sell medical reporters on news stories. Even when I – as their boss – wanted to pursue a medical story, I frequently had to sell the medical reporters on the substance or research behind the story.

These reporters were also more educated. The medical and health reporters with NBC all had post-graduate degrees that included an MD from Harvard, an MD from Yale and a PhD from Princeton. The medical reporters at CBS also had MD and experience in the hospital.

I’m sharing this information not to brag, but to help you see that if you want to run any media campaign targeting the health or medical reporters, you must make sure your media strategy is full of substance. Don’t think you can get away with fluff, or internal science that has little merit outside of your company.

Take the time to identify strong editorial angles that are backed with objective research. If you take these initial steps before you launch your healthcare or health tech PR campaign, you will have more success with your media placements.

Top 10 Healthcare PR Firms – The Back Story

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

Type in “top 10 healthcare pr firms,” “top 10 tech pr firms”, or any other “top 10 pr firms” derivative and you will see different websites that rank PR firms. The top-10 lists lead consumers and business owners to believe that PR firms are ranked by a legitimate source, but here’s the inside scoop.

These lists are paid placements. That’s right, PR firms pay to be on that list. I know because they emailed my PR firm and asked if we wanted to pay to be on their top-10 list.

My firm passed on this offer because we had already won the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” award – and that was an authentic honor given by researchers and journalists with Finance Monthly. Not some made-up site that gives away awards based on money.

Top-10 PR Lists are Paid Placements

10BestPR is actually an incredibly smart idea. Consumers love to break down products and services by rankings, so why not assume they will do the same when researching their PR firms? Hopefully, most entrepreneurs and business owners will dig a little deeper than these top-10 PR lists.

Do your own homework. Ask the PR firm for a media strategy, ask to see their case studies and speak directly with the media strategist who will lead your PR campaign.

But even if you don’t have the time for that, please, please, please don’t fall for any top-10 PR website list. You’re smarter than that.

Healthcare PR – Is Bigger, Better?

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

If you type top-10 healthcare PR firms on Google, you will see websites that rank PR firms by revenue. Edelman PR is at the top of the list bringing in $854 million as a whole and $154 million as a healthcare PR division. But do the bigger healthcare PR firms deliver more media placements than smaller, boutique PR firms?

Unless you’re Coca-Cola or Walmart, those types of retainer fees are reserved for the multi-nationals and publicly traded companies who can afford to pay $100-thousand-plus a month for PR representation.

If you’re like most businesses, you don’t have $25 thousand dollars a month for a retainer fee. Your total yearly marketing budget is probably closer to $25 thousand for the year. Here’s the good news.

You Don’t Need to Hire a Big PR Firm

Don’t be deceived by those big numbers.

PR is not about numbers. It’s about MEDIA strategy.

A short time after I left CBS, I consulted two global PR firms under NDAs. Both were big names in the industry. This experience allowed me to see how they work from the inside. It was eye-opening how little media strategy and knowledge these PR teams have. I’m not saying that to disparage their PR expertise. I’m trying to shed light that these PR firms bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year are not bringing the equivalent market value to their clients.

Inside Story of how Big PR Firms Work

Throwing bodies at problems doesn’t work in corporate America, and it doesn’t work in PR. More people on a project just causes more bickering, debate (which can be good, but typically leads to a stalemate). It also ignites poor communications channels.

I saw that consulting these global PR firms. Politics set in as SVPs questioned who this former media guy was (ME) – with no PR experience – telling them what to do. They thought they had to know more about PR based on their decade long career in the industry. They didn’t realize or understand how every morning I pitched story ideas and got real-time feedback from journalists and news managers.

If you have a PR budget, don’t assume that you need more bodies to succeed on a project. You need a solid media strategist and a team to execute. If bodies thrown at a problem with your business don’t work, assume the same with your PR firm.