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Publicity_Campaigns_How_Many_HoursHow_Many_Months
| Publicity Campaigns: How Many Hours.How Many Months?
When it comes to generating publicity for a product, business or
website, one of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs have to make
is whether to launch the campaign themselves. What makes it
tough is trying to determine the amount of time it might take to
launch and maintain a successful publicity campaign. This
article will help address a couple of those critical elements:
the length of your publicity efforts and; the respective number
of hours it may take to get the job done effectively.
In my PR career, I have launched campaigns that needed the blast
of just a few weeks of publicity and I have also maintained
lengthy campaigns that generated media exposure for years. From
my professional experience, I can tell you that a single
distribution of a media release is rarely effective. Most times,
editors and reporters are working on multiple stories at once
and need some time to consider your pitch. Although your release
may indeed be interesting and newsworthy, the editor may simply
not have the space to use your pitch at that point in the media
outlet's editorial calendar. So make sure he/she sees it again
when that editorial calendar opens up a few weeks down the line.
Keep in mind also that because media outlets receive so many
media releases and story pitches these days, it can sometimes
take them weeks before they actually get to something you may
have sent their way. That's why it's important to conduct
extensive media follow-ups over the course of several months to
ensure media reception, proper media digestion and hopefully
media acceptance of your release or pitch.
I tell my clients, "No PR agency or publicist in the world can
FORCE the media to use their releases, but they CAN make sure
that by the end of the campaign, the media has seen or heard
about your message in one form or another - which will lead to
solid media coverage."
One of the keys to determining the length of a successful
campaign is knowing when you have fired all your publicity
bullets; when it's time to re-pack the chambers with new ammo;
or when you should move onto other marketing targets. Over the
past several years, here's how the campaign lengths have broken
down for my clients:
1-2 month campaigns : 9% 3-6 month campaigns: 46% 6-9 month
campaigns: 29% 9+ month campaigns: 16%
ˇ 1 - 2 month campaigns are most often timely, date-sensitive
campaigns -- a release or message tied to a current event that
may be outdated in 6 - 8 weeks. A while back, one client of mine
quickly produced a website aimed at stopping Napster's file
sharing services. We launched a campaign a few weeks before the
Supreme Court ruling and generated some great spot coverage in
newspapers and TV news shows nationwide -- the site and the
campaign were finished in 6 weeks. ˇ Most new product publicity
campaigns are best suited for the 3 - 6 month time frame --
allowing for the often drawn out lead-times of some media
outlets. Having said that though, some product campaigns can be
extended for several more months based on media reaction and
subsequent consumer interest. For instance, the "scooter"
product publicity campaign likely started out as a six-month
program, but that was stretched out over a year because of the
sales fervor and popularity of the product. ˇ The longest
campaigns are for those clients whose businesses or expertise
are "evergreen and regenerative" - meaning they are not tied to
the shelf life of a new product launch; aren't linked to a
specific date; and can be re-stoked for a new round of media
interest every few months. One of my longtime clients is a
"tradeshow specialist". Her expert advice is newsworthy anytime
of year and can be covered editorially year after year -
especially in business and trade magazines. That lends itself to
multiple articles and features month after month in a wide array
of media outlets. Remember -- creativity and media pitching
ingenuity can help add months of success to your publicity
campaign.
HOW MANY HOURS: A large number of hours will be spent planning
and shaping your publicity campaign for the media market. The
preparation of the media market research and the polishing of
the media release may seem painstaking, but when done right,
they are well worth the effort. After the initial launch of the
campaign, be prepared to spend at least an hour or two each day
maintaining it: conducting numerous media follow-ups and making
new media pitches, (emails, faxes, mailings and phone calls);
fulfilling media requests (forwarding product photos, media
kits/product samples, arranging interviews) and
tracking/clipping articles and features.
Here's a brief rundown on the number of hours that may be
involved in a typical campaign: (These hours are averaged
estimates. Many PR specialists might be able to get the work
done more efficiently for you.)
CAMPAIGN LAUNCH Media Release Writing/Editing: 5 hours Media
Market Research: 15 hours Media Distribution: 10 hours
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- TOTAL LAUNCH HOURS: 30 hours
CAMPAIGN MAINTENANCE: 30+ hours /month (3-Month Campaign) (90
hours)
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-- TOTAL CAMPAIGN HOURS -120+ work hours
If you have the time, staff and expertise to launch your own
campaign, then take advantage of the media and get your message
to them. But if your expertise lies in another area, and you or
your staff lack publicity generating skills (or have little or
no experience in dealing with the media) it might be best to
hand it off to someone who can make sure its done right - the
first time. Ask yourself these questions when deciding whether
you can handle your own publicity campaign:
ˇ Do I have the expertise and time to get it done effectively
without hampering my current workload or that of my staff? ˇ Do
I have the writing capabilities to put together a media release
or feature pitch to which editors, reporters and producers will
respond? ˇ Do I have the resources to conduct the media research
and distribute my release to those media outlets?
If you answered "yes" to all, not just some of these questions,
then perhaps you can benefit from launching your own publicity
campaign. Best of luck!
About the author:
Todd Brabender is the President of Spread The News Public
Relations, Inc.. His business specializes in generating
publicity & media exposure for innovative
products/businesses/websites. http://www.spreadthenewspr.com
(785) 842-8909 todd@spreadthenewspr.com
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