|
Publicizing Your Clients
By Publicizing Your Firm
By David M. Grant
President, LVM Group Inc.
New York, N.Y.
"Clients First" doesn't necessarily mean "My Firm Last."
In the world of publicity, reaching out to the media can simultaneously benefit both your client and your own firm. Indeed, it will generally appeal more to the media than will a presumptuous "Write-About-Me" approach, because it will appear less self-serving to them.
What specifically should you be doing to publicize both your client and your firm simultaneously? Here are some suggestions:
Look for good story ideas. When you're involved in an interesting project, ask yourself:
|
|
|
Does the project relate to a current trend? How does your work on a property enhance its value? Is this an up-and-coming neighborhood?
|
|
|
|
Is there a human-interest angle? What's unusual or offbeat about this project? Does the property have a seemingly trivial but surprising feature? If it's historic, were any amusing or startling discoveries made during renovations?
|
|
|
|
Did special challenges have to be overcome in working on the project?
|
|
|
|
Were any unusual or pioneering technical innovations employed on this project?
|
If you're involved more with a trend than a project, there may be other opportunities for publicity. For example:
|
|
|
|
What aspects of architecture, construction or engineering are changing? Are new markets opening up? Have different techniques in your profession come to the fore? Has a new law been passed affecting your profession? In what way? What's doing in re-use of old buildings, modernizing the computerized office, battling the cost of land with space-saving design? Etc., etc., etc.
|
|
|
|
Be a useful source: Return calls promptly, generally avoiding the end of the day, when many reporters are facing deadlines. Be a good listener. Ask, "Am I giving you what you need?" Unless you're speaking with a trade publication, avoid jargon; try to explain the project in laymen's terms. Be specific; say "pink granite and mahogany" instead of "stone and wood." Try to use colorful analogies.
|
|
|
|
Keep in mind that very few serious business publications will let you see an article before it goes to press. If you're concerned about accuracy, courteously invite the reporter to call you back for a "fact check." Be aware that he or she may decline this offer.
|
|
|
|
You may spend an hour -- or a day! -- with a reporter over the phone and get only a few lines in the story. But the more patient and informative you are, the more likely it is that the reporter will call you again -- for the next story. Furthermore, even a few lines in an important story can represent major visibility.
|
|
|
|
Try to avoid telling a reporter something that's "off the record." You can't be sure it won't appear in print.
|
|
|
|
It's generally impossible to "kill" a story. (By the way, it's usually counter-productive to threaten to pull advertising, unless you're certain such leverage exists.)
|
|
|
|
Try to continue the relationship with the reporter. Offer your assistance on future stories. Treat him or her with the same courtesy you'd extend a client. It can pay off.
|
|
|
|
Unless your client insists on it, weigh the options before you decide "No publicity." In some cases, avoiding the press is necessary. But keep in mind that if you install a ban on public relations, you may not be cutting off publicity -- just your participation in it.
|
|
|
|
In any case, try to avoid saying "No comment." Instead, tell the reporter you can't discuss the information, and offer a brief explanation why.
|
Before going further, it might be worthwhile to speak briefly of the distinction between public relations and advertising, which is often misunderstood.
Buyers of advertisements work with the ad departments of magazines and newspapers. The finished product runs exactly the way the ad agency prepares it. In contrast, public relations people work with the editorial departments of magazines and newspapers. The reporters and/or editor may take an idea from a public relations person -- but the journalist will write it the way he or she wants to.
In general, public relations is much less expensive than advertising, is a less obvious tool, and has greater credibility with the audiences you wish to reach.
Given these facts, what kinds of media should you be concentrating on, in order to get the most benefit for your client -- "Clients First," remember? -- and your own firm? (Indeed, please note, as I expand on this theme with historical examples, how often the publicity benefited our client's client, as well as just our client.)
In large part, this depends on what kinds of audiences you -- the architectural, engineering or construction firm -- want to reach out to. More and more, when I'm talking to a firm, I am told that the very first target they want to reach is corporate decision-makers, preferably the Fortune 500. What I'm hearing is that this audience can best help the bottom line. What media, then, do these decision-makers follow? Obviously, business publications.
These are among the most important of media for you, for two reasons. One: they are read by people with considerable money and authority -- people in organizations to which you may well be able to sell your services. Two: they are read not only by corporate executives, but also by virtually everyone else you want to reach -- whether it's the big mall developer, the health care operator, or even the more literate of your government people. And the business press is of course read very carefully by the bankers, who can be influenced by good publicity to be more amenable to giving you a loan when you need it.
Getting an a/e/c firm into a business magazine is generally not an easy thing to do, especially if yours is privately-owned. Unfortunately, much of what a/e/c firms do produces little but vast yawns from the business press. But there often are newsworthy angles to exploit, if one looks for them astutely, as I will illustrate.
For example, an engineering client mentioned to me one day an upswing in trolley work he was performing. This strikes a nostalgic note in many people, even grizzled business editors. And that's how we were able to get a nice piece in Forbes on our client and one of his client's projects. Thus Point #1: look for an angle that appeals to a large percentage of the audiences you want to reach.
|
|
