Having a great publicist can do wonders for your campaign. Whether it’s a product, service, or event, a publicist will help provide the publicity needed to make your campaign shine. But sometimes it may not be about having the most expensive or best publicist on the market, it’s about having the right publicist cater to the demands and goals of what you need done. In this article I will help with picking the right publicist for you.
Goals
Before picking a publicist, you want to make sure that the publicist knows your goals and vision so they can put you on the right road to get where you want to be. With each newly released product there should be benchmarks in place to best evaluate and analyze whether or not your campaign will be successful. Nothing is worse than having not only a publicist, but a core member of your business team, not in sync with the vision of the product. A lot of time and money will be wasted if everyone is not on the same page.
Connects
The game of public relations is part technical knowledge but mostly connects and relationships. Building the relationships with publication editors and brand managers takes months and even years to build. Early in ones career you may not need the best publicists on the market, but if you have a publicist that is just as effective as far as working with the right brand managers and editors, than it should be a lot easier to hit your benchmarks and goals.
Costs
Let’s be real, publicity isn’t cheap. Senior and veteran publicists can arrange between $2,000 to $5,000 per month. Let’s not take away the great work that newer publicists are doing. Rasheed Van Putten did some amazing work for the Souls of Liberty, whom had a pretty reasonable budget for independent artists. Reminder though, it’s not about the cost of the publicists. It’s about the collaboration between you and the publicist and creating good strategies for a successful campaign.
Don’t take it from me. My good friend, Kevin of Uncovered Third PR, talks candidly about The Importance of PR on his podcast, Kevin Hates Hip-Hop. Uncovered Third PR has represented the likes of Dom Kennedy, GLC, Fly Union, and others. Kevin will provide great insight and a look at it from the publicist perspective.
Know any PR firms that do amazing work? What do you look for in picking the right publicist for you? Let us know and tell us in the comments!
