Why Do We Listen to Movie Critics and How Can You Use That Paradigm in Your Business?
Movies are getting more expensive and before we plunk down $9 for a ticket, and perhaps spend an additional $15 – $20 on popcorn and sodas, most of us first look to see what the critics have to say about the movie we’re planning to see.
In some cases the review will sway you, and in other cases it doesn’t and we know that – even when reading the reviews. Yet most of us check the reviews before deciding which movies will get our money and time. It’s such a given that movie studios spend millions of dollars on junkets and advance screenings in order to ensure reviews hit the papers before their movies are released.
Studios know that people follow Roger Ebert’s recommendations. They know moviegoers visit Web sites that provide reviews and previews and that their reviewers are opinion leaders to these consumers.
So what does the business of movie critics have to do with YOUR business? In the same way that Ebert’s thumbs up encourages you to see the movies he recommends, media coverage for you and your company offers an implicit endorsement that can have a similarly favorable effect on consumers.
This same paradigm relates to every business – not just the film industry.
When you appear as a guest on radio or TV, or journalists write about you in newspapers and magazines, their implicit endorsement is PR’s most fundamental value. Oftentimes people confuse the activity of PR with sales, and expect a dollars and cents return on their investment. But that’s an incorrect valuation. The value of PR has everything to do with fueling the public’s trust and establishing credibility – a good PR campaign delivers this in a way that no other form of marketing can do.
Customers need more than one reason to make that purchase decision – price, value, quality and need all play into that. However, the most important element is trust, and that trust is best established by someone who is an opinion leader in the media and who has taken the time on their show or space in their column to talk to you or about you.
But it’s naive to think that the job is complete once you’ve appeared on some talk shows or have been interviewed by the press. If you don’t then DO something to promote your media coverage to your public, you’re wasting valuable marketing opportunities that can strengthen and grow your business.
No doubt the hard part is earning the media’s trust. But once you’ve had that success it’s completely up to you to market the heck out of it. It’s up to you to spread the word, make sure your prospects and consumers know about every inch you’ve gained in the press, every minute of air time you’ve gotten. That’s where you’ll see some of the greatest return on your investment.
Every time you’re scheduled to appear on a radio or TV show or you’re being covered in a news story, post it on your website. And if you’re involved in social media marketing, make sure all of your connections and followers know about it. Of course, use that customer list you’ve built over the years, or that database of prospects you’ve created, to let people know about it as well. If they’re already a customer, hearing you on a talk show or reading about you in the press will validate the decision they made to use your products or your services. They thought you were the best when they made that decision to buy, but when the media also takes their time and space to interview or write about you, it reinforces that decision and strengthens their confidence and trust to continue being a customer.
And if they know about you but have never bought – that third party endorsement from their favorite talk show host can turn them into a buyer!
In today’s competitive marketplace, and especially in these economic times, you need to be seen and heard by the masses or by your niche audience to grow your business. It’s not an overnight process nor is it an activity that you do one time and it’s done. Gaining a spotlight in the media should be a mainstay in your marketing strategy, no matter how big or small your business is.
With specialty programming on radio and TV – shows that cover every topic imaginable, from health & fitness, to gardening & interior decorating, financial planning and legal advice – combined with online publications looking for 24/7 quality content to keep their Web site visitors coming back to their favorite site, rest assured there is a place for your message and your company to be spotlighted.
This is marketing at its best – especially in today’s fast paced, Internet-based world where the Web is the new background checker for customers looking to buy goods or services. The more they see others endorsing you, the more likely they are to look to you for their solutions.
Like Ebert giving a thumbs up to a movie you think you want to see, the media’s endorsement of your products and services is the same thumbs up for your consumers.
But it’s up to you to pursue it and then incorporate the ground you’ve gained into your marketing efforts to see measurable results that are lasting and will put you heads above your competition.
For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI. Go to http://emsincorporated.com/pr-education/signup-for-pr-insider-newsletter/ to signup for her free PR Insider Newsletter today! Or call 727-443-7115, ext. 202, or email at mfriedman@emsincorporated.com.
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