If you work in pr and marketing, you may hate this post. I’m going to share a non-conventional, proven method of how I efficiently hired a PR agency guaranteeing exposure results, which in my case were placements of my jewelry brand in: People StyleWatch, Cosmopolitan, New York Times blog the Moment, Entrepreneur, etc.
Like many business owners I get pitched by PR companies often. Surprisingly however, all the agencies, which have been approaching me gave the same “no-results guaranteed” pitch where the client pays a hefty recurring monthly sum without knowing the outcome of the campaign. They also say not to expect any results for three months. This basically means that clients are asked to invest around $10,000 and wait for months for the exposure that may or may not happen. This agreement would probably never work in other industries but for some reason PR companies continue getting away with making clients pay without having to deliver results. I needed press exposure but I didn’t feel comfortable with this “no-results guaranteed” way of working. I started thinking of innovative ways of hiring a PR agency considering how compensation could be directly related to the outcome. I knew that this was not a usual way of hiring a marketing firm but since the supply - the number of PR agencies out there was higher than the demand - companies needing and willing to pay for exposure, potential clients had an opportunity to disrupt the current ways of working and start collaborating in a more client friendly, “result focused way.”
When two young women approached me at one of the trade shows pitching their PR services, I suggested an “a la carte” agreement. When they asked me for clarification, I shared with them my idea, which I was still forming as I spoke. I suggested providing them with a list of blogs and magazines, which I aspired to have my brand featured in. Every editorial exposure had to include a picture of a jewelry piece and a mention of the website. If they managed to secure a feature, they’d be compensated according to our agreed upon “price list.” As an example, if the jewelry was in People StyleWatch or Elle, the compensation was $3,000 - the payment was tied to the circulation and potential sales. Exposure on blogs, depending on readership was $250.
This tactic however did backfire once. People StyleWatch feature happened to be right by the fold of the magazine, which made the mention very hard to notice. The placement converted to few sales and I had to pay the agency fee as it wasn’t specified where the editorial mention should be. Besides this, the PR agreement was beneficial for everyone - as a client I felt comfortable and both the agency and I knew what to expect. Lucid New York was featured in a number of publications and the agency was compensated accordingly. There was no initial investment for me and usually a magazine mention was causing a significant spike in sales, which funded the agency fee. Thanks to our collaboration, my sales and brand awareness increased.
Anna Sabino is a co-active certified business growth and life coach. She is writing a book on being a successful creative entrepreneur. You can find out more at AnnaSabino.com