Have you ever poured days and dollars into a publicity campaign with an expensive public relations agency -- only to win one or two placements?
It's a familiar story. But here's a secret:
You don't need a fancy PR campaign to get publicity.
Last December, the HubSpot team launched a home-produced
music video about inbound marketing
. We had no PR campaign, and our only strategy was to make our content as available as possible by tweeting, blogging and submitting it to social media sites. Then we pinged a few of our
friends
, launched it on a Monday morning and waited.
It resulted in 43
blog placements
in twelve days, 19 of which were
written the day of the video launch
.
What can we learn from this?
1) Focus your efforts on making creative content, not an elaborate outreach campaign .
Agencies and public relations professionals spend days hammering out press releases, compiling media lists of targeted verticals and crafting compelling pitches meant to convince journalists and bloggers that their client's story is newsworthy.
Imagine if that same brain power and creativity was put into making something that the client's customers thought was useful, interesting or even funny! It could be in the form of a blog post, a video or even a cartoon. That's the type of content that someone would
want
on their blog.
Tell people about your newly-published content, but don't pitch it. The qualities that make your content interesting or useful should allow your content to stand on its own.
The day we launched our video, we pinged a few of our friends to let them know the video was up. There was no "pitch" explaining "why the video was so cool." We let people decide for themselves if the video was good enough to be covered.
3) Quality content and news will spread naturally without a PR campaign.
Far too often, PR agencies are asked to create a publicity campaign around information that isn't newsworthy.
Don't spin your news to "sound cool" when it's not. Instead, spend time thinking of newsworthy things your company can start
doing
. Real news will spread on its own.
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Paul Roetzer 9:55 AM on March 12, 2009
Rebecca,
Many PR pros and firms will fight it, but you're right. The future of the PR industry is content marketing, search engine marketing, Website development and social networking, not publicity campaigns.
PR has to deliver measurable and meaningful results, including Website traffic, inbound links, leads and sales. Impressions and ad equivalency just don't cut it.
There will always be a place for strategic PR efforts that strengthen communications and build relationships, but the days of large retainers for limited results are quickly fading.
Thanks for the post.
tom breen 10:02 AM on March 12, 2009
I agree. Having (in a previous role) managed an external agency, there is often a touch of the black arts going on. It's always advisable to ask for an estimate of the outcome/s expected, and follow up with the PR person if the results are disappointing. Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but many of us trust the PR professionals and don't want to appear to be too controlling!
Leon K 10:26 AM on March 12, 2009
Love the videos. Any suggestions on making our own? Did you hire a professional to produce it?
Michael Mallory 10:28 AM on March 12, 2009
Ummm, I think you pinged more than just "a few friends." It was absolutely appropriate and I was happy to be one of the "pingees", but I think we need to be honest about why/how this was viral. Those of us who got it and passed it on are excited about this stuff (which supports your statement about giving people content they really WANT). Content is critical, and good content needs to be audience appropriate. But do you think it would have had the same impact (or speed of impact) if you had only sent it to "a few" friends--or if you hadn't carefully selected those friends?
Amy Burnis 11:23 AM on March 12, 2009
I have worked in marketing roles at technology companies, and I've also worked at a public relations agency with tech clients, so I understand all perspectives of public relations.
Years ago, print coverage was king. If an article only appeared online, it was considered OK, but not a grand slam. Eventually, people realized the value of online content and now prefer it. (The bar for entry is/was typically a customer reference, compelling use of product/technology, ROI etc.)
The media industry has changed dramatically in recent years. There are fewer publication, print pages and reporters, so the bar for coverage is higher.
Interesting, original content has always been important, but I think companies now recognize it must be a priority as they seek to reach target audiences through new communication channels and social media tools.
When I originally signed up for facebook and twitter for example, few people I knew where on it, so it was difficult to see the value at that time. Adoption has since skyrocketed, and so has the value of these communications channels.
No matter what tool/channel companies use, it it still critical to define and know the target audience and the best way to reach the. The tools, channels will vary depending upon industry, b2b or b2c.
No matter what channel or tool, the content must always be useful and relevant otherwise, it's clutter and ignored.
great video by the way!
Rebecca Corliss 4:24 PM on March 12, 2009
Hi Leon K: Thanks for your comment. The video was something that we made all on our own! I wrote the song, the team recorded the video and I edited it. It took some time, but we're pleased with the results. You should give it a shot!
Lisa 6:07 AM on March 13, 2009
Rebecca,
I completely agree and appreciate the support on 'doing', as opposed to 'spinning'!
I am currently, albeit slowly, convincing PR clients of the importance of CONTENT and 'doing' something worthy of PR, but this is not always easy. Too many businesses still believe in traditional, non-news worthy/not interesting PR campaigns.
-Lisa Morrissey
P.S. Thanks for the presentation at GeekGirlCamp!
Jerry Smith 12:52 PM on March 13, 2009
Always good to hear the message about content. What struck me was your reference to energy that is often put toward trying to get ideas out there, when it would be better placed developing great content.
There is so much spoken about Search Engine Optimization etc. that seems to me to be an attempt to somehow "fool" Google. Creating relevant content does require energy but it seems to be much more productively spent there.