Tag Archives: Ad Agency Publicity

Ad Agencies Need to Avoid Headlines Like This

During my days as an editor for a healthcare magazine, I received some interesting mail.  Here’s a news release headline a well-meaning hospital PR executive sent me one day:

 CDH TO HOST LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIORRAPY PRECEPTORSHIP

 Huh? I’m guessing one in a half-million or so people would have a clue what that headline was about.  And ask yourself: how much interest does it generate?  The release itself was fairly well written, and once I read the first few sentences I realized the hospital was hosting a seminar about advancements in hernia operations.

 Trouble is, most reporters wouldn’t get past the headline – the release would end up in the recycle bin before the first paragraph was read.  Why not just say in the headline, in simple terms, what the seminar is about?

 Headlines are vital to attracting interest and getting people to read the release or article, similar to how the wording on a subject line can make the difference between you reading or deleting the e-mail.  Make your headlines readable or you risk having the release discarded before it even gets read.

 

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

 

Ad Agency Stories Can Bring More Clients

Schatzie Brunner spent nearly a decade at Turner Broadcasting as talent coordination for “Larry King Live” and as a CNN news anchor.  Today, she does individual and group communication coaching.  In a recent article she gave some good advice:

 “We have all heard about needing a 30-second commercial or elevator speech that encapsulates all the important things about your product, service or talent.  But what you might not have at your fingertips is what I call a working inventory of stories and analogies with which to impress clients.

 Schatzie contends that if you’re asked what you do for a living and say, “I’m an accountant,” the conversation doesn’t have anywhere to go from there.  But, if you say “I save people money” or “I help clients grow their money,” you naturally invite interest and provide a way to keep the conversation going.

 If you tell interesting stories that are not about you, but the results you’ve accomplished for your company or client, “you have staked a claim to an advantage over your competitors,” she says.

Schatzie counsels businessmen and women to “Live 2009 with an inventory of responses that allow you to never miss an opportunity to engage someone else or have that person engage you.  It can pay off with new business contacts and more success.”

Good advice for small and mid-sized ad agencies that want to grow in the new year.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Understanding the News Media for Your Agency’s Publicity

 

Every week reporters across the nation must fill up many thousands of pages in publications and fill countless hours of radio and TV air time.  As a result, they’re constantly searching for information.  At the same time, reporters are besieged daily by individuals and organizations seeking publicity for themselves or their causes.

What do they want, and how can you get their attention?

Reporters are looking for high impact stories that will capture attention.  They are very sensitive–and averse–to attempts to disguise advertising as news.  When pitching a story about your agency or one of your clients, the most important things you can tell a reporter about your story are who will care about it and why.

Before you make a pitch, always try to put yourself in the editor’s or news director’s shoes and ask:  “Would this story be interesting to my audience?”

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

Why an Ad Agency’s Publicity Matters

People make purchasing decisions every day based on an organization’s reputation.  What people see or hear in the news media and from word of mouth influences many of these decisions.  Media coverage is particularly important because it is generally considered to be more credible than advertising.  Even companies with well-established brands use public relations to nurture their reputations and to maintain awareness in the crowded communications jungle.

Publicity is especially useful in generating awareness and positive associations,and a sustained publicity effort will help generate inquiries that can be turned into sales. 

Publicity allows an objective secondary source–the news media–to tell your story, providing your agency with enhanced credibility.  More than any other discipline, effective public relations through the use of positive, ongoing publicity, is responsible for a company’s image and reputation.

Ad agencies that use publicity strategically have a competitive advantage, especially when it comes to new business development.

A start-and-stop publicity effort makes about as much sense as running a print ad once every six months – there just isn’t enough ongoing exposure to make it work, even if the ad itself is great.  Consistency is the key.

Having an ongoing public relations program will build your agency’s brand and give you a consistent presence in the marketplace.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.