10 Things Your Publicist Won't Do
It’s too often that people are getting it wrong about what public relations can and can’t do for them. As the landscape in PR is changing, you will see that PR and marketing will intermesh. But there are still going to be things that a publicist will never be able to do for you, so asking will be a waste of time. It just shows that you do not truly understand the function of public relations. While it’s an area of the business that helps alongside your marketing efforts, it does have limitations.
1. PUBLICIST WON’T MAKE YOU FAMOUS
Here’s the cold fact: you want to be a celebrity but your publicist won’t do it. You have to have projects or things you are working on which make it worthy for a publicist to pitch about. Becoming a celebrity takes time and also interdisciplinary work across different areas of your business or brand.
2. GUARANTEE MAJOR PRESS
We all want to get major press with reputable publishing houses or even broadcast news. You have to have something for publicists to talk about. For example, you might be getting ready to launch a new album or maybe you are launching a new product that solves a problem in the world. Whatever your noteworthy news is, you need to have something to talk about, something for your publicist to pitch. Landing major press is about timing and what is happening in society in real-time. In the end the editors and producers make the decision on whether or not to feature you.
3. AD BUYING
Some publicists will be able to help in this area but for most publicists buying ads is not in their wheelhouse. Whether you want to buy a billboard or social media ads, there are companies who specialize in these areas. Do some research to see which companies work in the ad buying space.
4. BUILD MOMENTUM IN A COMPANY
Some companies want to hire a publicist to help build momentum. This is something that has to be built within the company itself not by hiring a publicist or PR agency.
5. GUARANTEE SALES
Publicists are not sales people, they can not ensure that you will get sales. That is going to be something your sales team will have to do.
6. LIE FOR YOU
Yes, being a publicist you do have a professional responsibility of integrity. Most of the time people don’t realize but a publicist probably knows more than others do about a company. But that doesn’t mean they will lie for you when you are doing something unethical. A good publicist will guide you before you step into hot waters because they already see the outcome a mile away.
7. GET YOU FOLLOWERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
As a talent or client it is your responsibility or the responsibility of your social media team to help you build your followers. They are the arm of the business that should focus on growing your social media followers.
8. SHARE THEIR ROLODEX WITH YOU
That’s a hard no, publicists will not share their rolodex for you because these are relationships they have built and nurtured over the years. You have to also understand that journalists only work with those who they trust to be a reliable source for them. So as professional courtesy don’t even bother asking your publicist to share their rolodex.
9. BLIND CC’ING YOU ON PITCHES
Definitely not something you ever want to ask your publicist to do. This tells everyone that you are unprofessional and a newbie. When your publicist pitches they have a unique way of connecting with a journalist and they don’t want to risk losing that pitch because you wanted to “jump in” on the email. The news industry works quickly and as publicists we can’t afford to have clients interjecting and losing the opportunity to be featured.
10. CONTROL GOOGLE SEARCHES
As much as publicists are amazing folks, they don’t have the magic to push your website to the top of a Google search. When it comes to Google ranking and Google searches, it is controlled by an algorithm that most of us aren’t privy to. Make sure you research companies or experts in Google Search or Google advertising to help you.
Lastly, with all the changes happening across all industries, PR is still relevant. Even though it’s still a traditional means of media, today it’s morphed into digital PR where many practices are born from it. Make sure you are doing the research to find the right publicist or PR agency that will work for your business and brand.
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