Ten Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Publicist Now More Than Ever

TEN REASONS YOUR COMPANY NEEDS A PUBLICIST NOW MORE THAN EVER

Indisputably, news about your company impacts your potential customers infinitely more than advertising – and far more cost effectively. You want it to be positive, timely and accurate news. So why does your business need a publicist now more than ever? Here are ten reasons why…

1. No one is looking for you — unless you’re in trouble (and then it’s usually lawyers or regulators). The days of, “If I’m good, I’ll be discovered” — are long gone. Your most successful competitors know this well.

2. Journalists are stretched thinner than ever. Given a choice between a story requiring a lot of research and interviews – or one that is already pre-packaged requiring only calls to two key sources verifying facts, a journalist will do the pre-packaged story every time, especially if…

3. The Story pitch comes from a Professional Publicist. Why? From a reporter’s point of view, a Publicist knows exactly what the reporter needs. Practically all top publicists are former journalists themselves, and truly understand how to make the reporter’s job easier.

4. Need for speed. By making the reporters’ job much simpler by supplying just the facts needed, providing prompt responses for info, fact checking and access to Company officials, your Publicist enables the reporter to produce a robust story, efficiently, and file on deadline. By missing today’s deadline, tomorrow your story may be “killed” for bigger breaking news.

5. Yes, there are many more “news” outlets than ever before and the lines between journalism, the blogosphere and even social media news are rapidly blurring. That just makes for a far noisier news marketplace. To rise above and break through the noise requires a professional publicist who knows the landscape intimately.

6. Especially amongst the new, young and small news organizations, many will only report a story if they get the “scoop.” You want your story being pitched to the optimal publications first.

7. Exclusives. Embargo Interviews. Backgrounders. Off-the-Record Briefings. Not unlike a scalpel, in the hands of a professional such tools and techniques can successfully upgrade your company’s news coverage. In the hands of a DIY amateur, they are dangerous and more likely to do harm. No matter how pleasant they are, there are no do-overs with journalists.

8. The efficiency a publicist generates by directing your proactive media campaign, and managing media inquiry timely responses, not only makes the reporter’s job easier. It makes your life far more efficient so you are not having to step out of an important customer meeting, or family dinner, to take a reporter’s call for which you are unprepared.

9. Every publication and reporter has biases and agendas. A publicist researches these in advance to ensure a productive interaction and avoid stepping on toes.

10. Fake news. Alternative news. Opinion and Editorial. Where to start, how to know who’s who and can be trusted? Every publication needs to produce content. Your Company needs to place the right story, in the right context, for the right platform.

The good news is most journalists are responsible and want to write good, accurate and fair stories. At Black Ink PR, all of our senior level practitioners have worked in the media earlier in their career prior to earning a position at BIPR. We know well how journalists think, what they like, need and fear and most of all, we truly enjoy working with them.

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