Alexandra Marvar’s Post

I am normally not shocked by things around me. Hurt yes, disgusted yes, but not shocked. But yesterday was different. A PR girl made that happen. Or at least she used to be in PR before. She WhatsApps me and very calmly tells me that she wants to place articles in our magazine for some B2B client. Me: Sorry, it does not work that way She: But we will pay you Me: In case you pay us, you can put an ad. There your CEO can write 10 pages about his pet poodle for all I care. I need to put you in touch with the marketing team. She: No, I want paid content that looks like an article. Me: You are barking up the wrong tree. She: No, we have clients like......... Also, it's not we are going to give you one story and pay for that. We will pay you approx 5-6K for an article and give you nearly 10 articles in a month. Me: Listen sorry, am not a pimp. Let's end this now. She: How dare you call me a pimp! Me: I did not. Also, by definition a pimp is a man. Thanks for making me feel like one. I blocked her. What is sad is not that these kinds of offers are made to journalists. The sad part is that there are journalists who take up such offers to make a quick buck. As for me, if I wanted to make some quick shady money, I would not be a journalist but be a member of Mamata Banerjee's party :P

The Biggest Mistake in Dealing with Media That Almost Everyone Makes. Most organisations vie for media coverage, considering media mentions as part of the KPIs reported to their senior leadership ( which is not the most effective way to assess the effectiveness of media work, but people keep on doing this) Countless hours are spent preparing and approving stories, pitching, and then following up with journalists. Yet, often, the outcome of these efforts is close to zero. I have experienced this myself many times. However, organisations frequently overlook the most straightforward way to gain coverage, build relationships, and become one of the media's go-to experts. The key is often just to be there when approached by the media and to deliver a quick, insightful, and quotable statement within a very tight deadline (usually a couple of hours). This approach sounds simple, but many teams are still caught off guard when approached because they either a) did not anticipate it, or b) are reluctant to engage on the topic (but remember, just because you don't want to engage doesn't mean you won't be asked). As a result, they end up issuing platitudes at the last minute or declining immediately, knowing thee is no way they can get a statement through their internal processes quickly enough. Here are two suggestions to improve your media responsiveness: 🎈 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. If there's even a slight chance your organisation might be approached, prepare a statement, a short Q&A, and have it validated in advance. You might not need it 90% of the time, but you'll be thankful for the 10% when you do. Prepare even for topics you wouldn't normally pitch proactively. 🎈𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧-𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐬, like a WhatsApp group dedicated solely to this purpose. Everyone in this group should be prepared to respond immediately. Keep the group small to avoid 'death by committee’ and agonising over every comma for hours 😰 Journalists know it's challenging to obtain quotes and soundbites within a couple of hours from most organisations, so they appreciate those who can consistently deliver on short notice. If you can do this, they'll keep coming back to you for more.

Top mistakes people/businesses make when hiring a publicist: 1. Prioritizing contract length above all else Most reputable publicity firms will work with you on the contract terms; however, wanting a 30 or even 60-day trial shows that you're not serious about your long-term growth and may not trust who you are hiring. "It takes a long time to achieve overnight success." 2. Looking for a bargain deal If you're looking for the cheapest publicist in town, save your money. Chances are, this publicist will get you in a couple of scammy, guaranteed publications that'll do nothing for you. In addition, avoid a "pay per placement" system at all costs. No reputable PR firms use this model. Save your money. 3. Thinking you're hiring a genie, not a publicist Unless you're Beyonce, it will take time to introduce you to the media and get meaningful traction. Think of your publicist as a partner and work together to grow your profile/your company's profile. You'll get there. Be patient. 4. Disregarding strategy & messaging So many publicists will cut corners in favor of a trial-and-error period that will ultimately end up hurting their clients long term. Instead of hiring this publicist, go for the publicist who wants to strategically place you in the market with a killer message and story. Long term growth > short hits, I promise 5. Either micromanaging or not being involved Your publicist should be a valuable partner whom you trust. You should trust them to pitch you effectively and do their job; however, you should also make sure that you keep them in the loop on what's going on with your business and make sure they message you correctly. No, I will not CC you on every email. I will also not wing it and feed journalists whatever they will like. What am I missing here? Let me know. #publicist #hollywoodpublicist #hollywood #protip

“I’m afraid we will need to change the embargo release date on our news,” I told a client. Which is never something an emerging tech founder wants to hear from their PR firm. But I had to be honest. And I explained why: - One of the important journalists we’d pitched needed a month’s advance notice to interview and write a story. The client was totally reasonable about it. - “I get it and appreciate your candor,” he said. Every founder knows things never go as planned. But it’s accountability and the ability to pivot that matters. That setback didn’t stop us from getting him: - Tier 1 coverage in publications like Forbes, Business Insider, and TechCrunch - Over 1,500 visits to their website in a single day, with a consistent uptick in traffic (100+ more visitors per day) after that - Over 50 new business leads from enterprise-level clients (who wanted to work with them ASAP) I’ve heard too many PR horror stories of: - Founders paying five figures a month - And getting false promises - Instead of actual coverage That’s not what I stand for. If there’s a change in the timeline— We’ll let the client know. If a publication has rejected our pitch— We’ll let the client know. If they don’t have anything newsworthy— We’ll let the client know. (But also create something newsworthy on their behalf and start pitching instead of collecting a retainer fee for nothing) Because the foundation for a good relationship with your PR firm is the same as the foundation for any good relationship: Honesty. Accountability. Trust. P.S. We had strong success stories in emerging tech last year and are looking to bring on a couple of new clients in the space. If that’s you, send me a DM. I’d love to talk about how we can help.

“I’m afraid we will need to change the embargo release date on our news,” I told a client. Which is never something an emerging tech founder wants to hear from their PR firm. But I had to be honest. And I explained why: One of the important journalists we’d pitched needed a month’s advance notice to interview and write a story. The client was totally reasonable about it. “I get it and appreciate your candor,” he said. Every founder knows things never go as planned. But it’s accountability and the ability to pivot that matters. That setback didn’t stop us from getting him: - Tier 1 coverage in publications like Forbes, Business Insider, and TechCrunch - Over 1,500 visits to their website in a single day, with a consistent uptick in traffic (100+ more visitors per day) after that - Over 50 new business leads from enterprise-level clients (who wanted to work with them ASAP) I’ve heard too many PR horror stories of: - Founders paying five figures a month - And getting false promises - Instead of actual coverage That’s not what I stand for. If there’s a change in the timeline— We’ll let the client know. If a publication has rejected our pitch— We’ll let the client know. If they don’t have anything newsworthy— We’ll let the client know. (But also create something newsworthy on their behalf and start pitching instead of collecting a retainer fee for nothing) Because the foundation for a good relationship with your PR firm is the same as the foundation for any good relationship: Honesty. Accountability. Trust. P.S. We’ve had strong success stories in emerging tech recently and are looking to bring on a couple of new clients in the space. If that’s you, send me a DM. I’d love to talk about how we can help.

Most people don't understand public relations because they only see the end result, so they think it's far easier and faster than it really is. After all, someone just published an article, how hard could that be, right? That thinking may seem logical at first, but it completely omits all the work that's required before an article (or TV segment) can be published...the time spent researching media outlets and journalists, developing an effective strategy, building and nurturing relationships with journalists, researching current events to tie into the story, crafting the perfect pitch, coordinating between the client and the journalists, and monitoring the web for live placements, to name just a few of the things that happen long before the publicity we see at the finish line. That leads to a distorted mindset that prevents them from getting the results they want. Here's an example... A few years ago, I was approached by someone who wanted us to get his client featured in some of the largest, most authoritative media outlets, and he was in a hurry because his client was on the receiving end of some bad publicity that he wanted to drown out. "Cool. We can do that," I said. Then he started talking about his experience working with publicists so far, sharing stories about all the terrible people on Fiverr who promised him the world but never delivered any kind of results. He told me they were charging outrageous prices but still couldn't get his client into Entrepreneur magazine. When I asked what they charged him, he said, "A few hundred dollars." 🤣 When I laughed, he seemed genuinely surprised, and responded with, "I don't see any reason this should cost more than $100-$200." He viewed PR as a commodity, and over every other factor, he focused on getting the absolute cheapest prices he could find, which of course, led him to Fiverr—a gig platform that makes a flea market seem classy and upscale. So, no shit he didn't get results there. But he (and his client) still saw PR as a commodity, so when they came to us, they had a completely distorted idea of how it should work. In fact, he initially ignored the initial invoice for about a week but still expected work to begin immediately. (It didn't) Then, he finally paid the initial invoice when it was clear we wouldn't start until it was paid, but it was near the end of the day, and by 10am the following day, he was clearly annoyed that his client hadn't already been featured less than 24 hours later. I explained to him that wasn't how any of this works, and we seemed to be on the same page for a minute, but that was short lived, because once we started executing the campaign, his client repeatedly failed to show up for meetings with me and for interviews with journalists. In the end, we secured a few placements for his client, but the campaign never got much traction because he didn't take it seriously. That's what happens when you approach public relations with the wrong mindset.

One question that truly terrifies a publicist... "Can you GUARANTEE features?" There's a reason why it's called EARNED media... ya gotta EARN it. At NEAT: The Agency, we've had a great track record in getting clients featured in national and local outlets, but we can never promise that a journalist will absolutely 100% write about you! Even if you get an interview, it still doesn't guarantee you'll be published. Ex: we had a former client interviewed by Business Insider, and because she couldn't verify her income claims, they didn't feature her. 👀 Here are a few tips to boost your odds of landing media features when working with a PR agency: Respond to your PR team. Quickly. We have opportunities that land in our inbox that require a response within 24-48 hours, sometimes less! Journalists will move on fast if they don't hear back. I can't tell you how many opportunities our clients have missed because they took 1-2 weeks to respond! Let your publicist lean into trending story topics for pitches - trust me, you'll get WAY more features this way. Clearly communicate what makes you/your product or service DIFFERENT. And no, statements like, "We care about our people" and, "We believe in honesty and integrity" will not fly in 2023. What questions do you have about working with a PR agency? Drop 'em below. #pragency #agencyfounder #mediafeature

Casey Newton has been writing Platformer - a newsletter on social media and democracy - for 3 years, and shared his learnings. One thing that stood out: His observation how plenty of newsletters are not written by people with some kind of media or journalist background. I am a definite example of this: I have no formal or informal journalist training; had to pick up things as I went. But this is the beauty of these newsletter platforms like Substack, Ghost, Buttondown, beehiiv, ConvertKit and many others: that you can just start. No previous "qualification" is required. You can pick up what you need, as you go. It's what I did! Here are all of Casey's learnings; a worthwhile read: https://lnkd.in/eC5Um4BG I'm also a paid subscriber to Platformer and have been for a long time: it's the best publication I found to keep up-to-date with what matters with social: Instagram, Threads, Twitter and so on.

It's so important to know where your adverts are going, especially in the digital world.   I try really hard on LinkedIn to be as positive as possible.   You won't see me commenting on things I don't actually like.   You won't see me slating companies that do a poor job.   I don't work in newspapers, and I promise I'm not posting this simply to have a dig.   But,   Below is a screen shot I took last week, from a well known national newspaper (deliberately not naming them as this isn't meant as a slate post)   Headline - issues with Zombie Knives. 'Idris Elba argues against mandatory prison sentences for people carrying a knife.'   Advert (literally on the same page just 2 stories below) - buy our cheap knives.   Now, I'm not suggesting that people reading the paper are going out carrying knife attacks, but this is a good example of why it's important to know where your adverts are being placed, and to make sure the content is appropriate for your brand.

Programmatic buying has its benefits, but this ad selling knives around a ‘Zombie knives crackdown’ article raises many questions. Whether they should be sold online at all is one, but its positioning and the context is another completely. Brand safe environments are massively important for audiences and advertisers. Where context is used, sentiment, not just keywords has to be used. We’re including sentiment scores for our contextual plans to ensure this and the actual footage is scanned by AI not just taking subtitles text. Targeting weddings as an example may mean sitting alsongside Four Wedding and a Funeral, but could also mean the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones unless the real context is included… and there’s a big difference .