subject: Why Your Promotional Message Is Not Your Pr Angle [print this page] Whether you are promoting a company, book, product or service, the goal is to get your message out so people will decide to buy whatever it is you're selling. Promotion often revolves around your key market differentiators - the things about you that make you different and better than your competition.
However, when it comes to your PR campaign, the press isn't interested in your market differentiators or whatever it is you're selling.
Their position is that they don't exist to provide coverage to help you sell or to make money at all. The press corps in broadcast, online and print exists to inform and entertain their audiences so THEY can sell advertising and make money.
So, given that understanding, you might ask, "What is PR and how can it help me?"
PR is the art of helping the media do their jobs so that you can get exposure for yours. It is really an exercise in helping the media supply their audience with informative and interesting stories to consume. And so the immediate question that may come to mind is, "How does that help ME?"
To understand that, you have to understand one primary principle of sales - most people do not like being "sold." Most prefer to be "informed." Think about it - when you go to a department store, do you seek out the salespeople, or do you carefully avoid them so you can shop independently? How about when you get home from work and sit down to watch some TV, do you sit through the commercials or do you hit your remote to see what else is playing on other channels?
Most people prefer to be educated before they make a buying decision. We look at prices and quality and compare, and if we are REALLY hardcore, we hit the Internet before we hit the mall. We want information before we buy, not hype.
And, that's what PR provides. By appearing as a guest on radio or TV, or quoted in newspapers and magazines, you get the opportunity to educate people about your expertise, commenting on news stories and providing information that you know best being an expert in your field. This positioning not only educates the audience about you, but it also portrays you as someone who knows a lot about your field. That engenders trust, and where there is trust, there is a potential for sales. If no trust between you and your potential customers exists, it's highly doubtful much commerce will result from the relationship.
So, in approaching PR, don't focus so much on whether your campaign is highlighting all your marketing messages and unique sales propositions. Give the media the benefit of your knowledge and experience, and provide information and commentary that will help their audience make better choices. In that sense, not only will you achieve more coverage, but you will be much better received by the media audience.
Use PR to help the media do their jobs and they will definitely be on board to help you do yours.
