What is Business Publicity: the Difference Between Publicity and Promotion
In my conversations with small business owners I frequently encounter surprising lack of understanding of business publicity. Any time I bring up the subject, I get the same response: “I don’t need any more advertising”. Strangely, the response tends to be the same, no matter who I’m speaking with (a small mechanic shop or a medical doctor) so clearly there is a misperception of business publicity in the world of small business. (Big business understands it well and utilizes it for all its worth.)
Why does small business mistake publicity for promotion? Well, in marketing there are direct as well as indirect ways of generating customers and / or sales. Most business owners are familiar with the direct ones and ignorant of the indirect ones. Publicity (like a brand, for instance) is one of the indirect methods. To clarify, both the direct approach to marketing and the indirect approach produce results. In many cases the indirect methods (which are less known to the consumers as well) produce better results.
Back to the subject: everybody knows what promotion and / or advertising is. Anytime a business owner puts out a message promoting his /her business and pays for making it available to the public he or she engages in promotion. An ad, flier, bumper sticker - you get my drift - are all forms of promotion. An interview, article, press release, news tidbit - to name just a few examples - is not. These formats speak of the business or its owner (most often in a third person) and the publication or distribution, as it may be the case, is not paid for by the business itself. Stop and think for a moment of your own impression when you see an interview or read a press release; most likely, you’re thinking “Lucky guy / gal if the media were speaking about my business, I’ll be rolling in it”, right? Did it occur to you that these pieces in fact are generated by the business they feature?.... (It didn’t occur to this business’ customers, either.) Another thing, Let’s imagine some business owner (let’s take a dentist for the sake of this example) explains a particularly mysterious or little known procedure on TV (did you know that the Titanium used in teeth implants eventually becomes a part of your natural jawbone?) and you’ll assume that this specific dentist is either the only one who performs this specific procedure (uses this specific material) or the best one. Your assumption may or may not be correct, but the good doctor will be flooded with patients... Moving on, what did this dentist achieve in addition to generating a major increase in the number of patients? He / she positioned him or herself as an expert, achieved nice exposure, has been seen by the community, his competitors, peers, neighbors... His image, importance, professional authority and standing in the community have all drastically improved. As a result, the good doctor will not only make more money now, he’ll gain more recognition, will be asked for advice, approached for various functions, and most likely asked back for another interview or presentation. In some cases such an appearance may even lead to a regular media feature or a segment.
Can you appreciate the difference, now? The huge difference lies in perception. A dentist who runs an ad “Family Dentistry” with his name, address, phone number, Website address and business hours is trying to sell you his / her services. A dentist you’ve seen on the news is the best dentist in town. The dentist running his ad is desperate for patients; the dentist on TV is surely booked for months in advance, but you’ll be glad to wait in line for. One is a shopkeeper, the other a valued expert.
Which one would you like to be? Which approach - do you suppose - produces better results? Well, business publicity - which comes in many forms and produces similar results for all types of business - defines the business’ image in a way that makes it desirable to customers without the BUY NOW sign. The overall impression of consumers exposed to a business’ publicity is that of being spoken to by a third - objective! - party. This isn’t you, the small business owner - pleading for business; it’s the media (in the form of an article, press release, interview, what have you) speaking about you. If you state in your ad that you’re serving the healthiest food, I may or may not trust you (after all, as the restaurant’s owner you have an obvious agenda); if the media says that I’ll most likely take their word for it. You might be lying to me to get my money; the media has no interest in my money.
So, here you go that’s (in a nutshell) the difference between business publicity and promotion. This article however would be amiss if I didn’t mention that business publicity comes in all shapes and sizes and yes, there is the right size for your type of business and your small business’ budget. Business publicity can be built gradually over time or launched as a huge campaign.
Business publicity can do more for your business than all your advertising efforts combined. The important thing to remember here is that business publicity has a lot to do with business’ image. That’s why I’m including a note to the do-it-yourselves: don’t try it at home! Publicity is a very powerful weapon, when used appropriately it can have an immense, positive impact on your business; when used without the proper preparation it can also be destructive. That’s why even if you’re a maverick at article and press release writing as well as in media relations; you’ll be well advised to consult a professional publicist / PR before embarking on a quest for business publicity.
Why does small business mistake publicity for promotion? Well, in marketing there are direct as well as indirect ways of generating customers and / or sales. Most business owners are familiar with the direct ones and ignorant of the indirect ones. Publicity (like a brand, for instance) is one of the indirect methods. To clarify, both the direct approach to marketing and the indirect approach produce results. In many cases the indirect methods (which are less known to the consumers as well) produce better results.
Back to the subject: everybody knows what promotion and / or advertising is. Anytime a business owner puts out a message promoting his /her business and pays for making it available to the public he or she engages in promotion. An ad, flier, bumper sticker - you get my drift - are all forms of promotion. An interview, article, press release, news tidbit - to name just a few examples - is not. These formats speak of the business or its owner (most often in a third person) and the publication or distribution, as it may be the case, is not paid for by the business itself. Stop and think for a moment of your own impression when you see an interview or read a press release; most likely, you’re thinking “Lucky guy / gal if the media were speaking about my business, I’ll be rolling in it”, right? Did it occur to you that these pieces in fact are generated by the business they feature?.... (It didn’t occur to this business’ customers, either.) Another thing, Let’s imagine some business owner (let’s take a dentist for the sake of this example) explains a particularly mysterious or little known procedure on TV (did you know that the Titanium used in teeth implants eventually becomes a part of your natural jawbone?) and you’ll assume that this specific dentist is either the only one who performs this specific procedure (uses this specific material) or the best one. Your assumption may or may not be correct, but the good doctor will be flooded with patients... Moving on, what did this dentist achieve in addition to generating a major increase in the number of patients? He / she positioned him or herself as an expert, achieved nice exposure, has been seen by the community, his competitors, peers, neighbors... His image, importance, professional authority and standing in the community have all drastically improved. As a result, the good doctor will not only make more money now, he’ll gain more recognition, will be asked for advice, approached for various functions, and most likely asked back for another interview or presentation. In some cases such an appearance may even lead to a regular media feature or a segment.
Can you appreciate the difference, now? The huge difference lies in perception. A dentist who runs an ad “Family Dentistry” with his name, address, phone number, Website address and business hours is trying to sell you his / her services. A dentist you’ve seen on the news is the best dentist in town. The dentist running his ad is desperate for patients; the dentist on TV is surely booked for months in advance, but you’ll be glad to wait in line for. One is a shopkeeper, the other a valued expert.
Which one would you like to be? Which approach - do you suppose - produces better results? Well, business publicity - which comes in many forms and produces similar results for all types of business - defines the business’ image in a way that makes it desirable to customers without the BUY NOW sign. The overall impression of consumers exposed to a business’ publicity is that of being spoken to by a third - objective! - party. This isn’t you, the small business owner - pleading for business; it’s the media (in the form of an article, press release, interview, what have you) speaking about you. If you state in your ad that you’re serving the healthiest food, I may or may not trust you (after all, as the restaurant’s owner you have an obvious agenda); if the media says that I’ll most likely take their word for it. You might be lying to me to get my money; the media has no interest in my money.
So, here you go that’s (in a nutshell) the difference between business publicity and promotion. This article however would be amiss if I didn’t mention that business publicity comes in all shapes and sizes and yes, there is the right size for your type of business and your small business’ budget. Business publicity can be built gradually over time or launched as a huge campaign.
Business publicity can do more for your business than all your advertising efforts combined. The important thing to remember here is that business publicity has a lot to do with business’ image. That’s why I’m including a note to the do-it-yourselves: don’t try it at home! Publicity is a very powerful weapon, when used appropriately it can have an immense, positive impact on your business; when used without the proper preparation it can also be destructive. That’s why even if you’re a maverick at article and press release writing as well as in media relations; you’ll be well advised to consult a professional publicist / PR before embarking on a quest for business publicity.
