Don’t expect publicity to work like advertising. Advertising content is something you pay for such as: radio/TV commercials, newspaper ads, banner/billboard ads, etc. However, publicity can basically be obtained with absolutely no cost to you. Publicity is free content through a third party that appears in the media. It is what others say about your company or product. Publicity content can be found in an article that some journalist just happened to write after one of your company’s big promotional events, or when you release new information, for example, through a media alert, about your company or about a new sales promotion to an editor and he decides to do a feature piece in his publication. The worth of this publicity clearly depends on the amount of circulation a particular publication receives. The key objectives are to keep releasing press releases with new information about your company or product that will be interesting to your consumers, and to have promotional events throughout the year to keep your company’s name stirring through the media. The media will pick up on the press releases and events, and consumers will view your company through their story and believe that the information is purely from their third-party point of view. Obviously, most consumers who look at a newspaper or billboard ad automatically know that they are being sold something, but if they hear or see it from a third party about your company, they will be more “attracted” to the information and over time the impression of your company will remain positive in the consumer’s eye.
Below is a link to an article by Apryl Duncan, who writes for About.com. The article “10 Differences Between Advertising and Public Relations” gives a concise understanding of what I am trying to convey in this post. The article is focused on “public relations” rather than “publicity,” but since they are so close in the way they work together I figured the points that Duncan makes are valid and relevant to my blog.
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