Publicists are Economy Drivers

By Megan Gasper, Senior Publicist

The difference between the general public’s perception and reality of exactly what our jobs as publicists entail is striking. However, at its core, the job of public relations professionals is about creatively keeping the economy running and people employed. Publicists quite literally have their fingers on the pulse of the industries and businesses they represent, knowing which are seeing great success and where others are struggling to make ends meet. A great PR campaign can breathe new life into a product, production or service – at Heron, we’ve seen it time and again! Whether you are familiar with PR or have never worked with an agency, the following are key ways that experts in this area are crucial players in the success of industries, business and the overall growth of the economy.

Publicists Generate Business

As a business ourselves, it is at our core to stay in business and continue to provide services to several clients. If our clients don’t do well, then we don’t have clients and so the cycle goes. One of our favorite stories to tell at Heron is that of the campaign we did for Bettinardi Golf, a company known for crafting the finest putters in the world for PGA Touring professionals and amateur players. Having never worked with a public relations firm, the team at Bettinardi Golf jumped in with our firm and quickly began to see a massive spike in demand and business. In fact, the Bettinardi Golf team could hardly keep up and now credit the work we did together with the brand’s continued success. When stories about businesses and unique individuals are carefully crafted and told, business does increase, but it is also so much more than just reaching the media. Publicists who understand the current media landscape like we do at Heron know that getting a few placements online is not enough to continually generate business, especially in markets as saturated with choices like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, but we’ll get into that a bit later.

Publicists Create Jobs

More importantly than the large impact a great PR campaign can have on any brand, it has an infinitely, yet sometimes more invisible effect on the service industry. Publicists are economic drivers, because they keep people employed and assist in the job market. The better a restaurant is doing, the more servers have full shifts with constant guests. Similarly, well-performing theatre productions will need additional show times or an extended run in a commercial space, meaning more pay days for actors, producers and creative teams. Again, when PR firms generate business and therefore create jobs, their own agencies can grow and succeed, so we also create the opportunity for other aspiring public relations professionals to enter the market and help brands succeed.

Publicists Reach Decision Makers

Just as much as it bothers business owners, we cannot stand seeing empty seats at concerts and theatre performances or open tables at restaurants. This is typically a sign that there is work that we can do to help, whether it be general awareness with traditional media placements, building buzz on social media through a strategic and comprehensive advertising campaign, with or without influencer support or facilitating outreach directly to decision makers and movers and shakers within the community to encourage groups to visit, meetings to be set up and the word to be spread in as many creative ways as possible. At Heron, we pride ourselves at being able to not only reach, but also influence, major decision makers in each category we work. Whether it be hotel and residential high-rise concierges, leaders of non-profits and philanthropic organizations, moms in Lincoln Park and more, we can reach the correctly identified decision maker, based on the target audience for our clients. If you want a local social group of women in their 30s without kids who like to work out, we’ve got that… or sports fans that like to dapple in performing arts, we have that, too! Just in that reaching decision makers can spread the word about a business, at Heron, reaching decision makers directly impacts business, by getting these VIPs in the door and talking about our clients. Anyone can send out an email cold but working in a variety of industries for more than 19 years has helped our staff collectively be able to manage relationships and keep them coming back for the next cool experience or opportunity we present.

Publicists Act with Growth Mindsets

The sky’s the limit and we truly mean it. Publicists drive the economy by constantly embracing change and growth. Without either, stories become stale, tactics become tired and client businesses will just stay the same. Publicists constantly are monitoring for trends in the news, thinking outside the box for where their clients will be in 5, 10, 15 years and beyond, while also finding new ways to make noise and create impact in the ever-changing realm of media. If a client looks to be a huge success in their Chicago neighborhood, we take that to the next level, working to secure opportunities and coverage on a regional, national and even international scale. If we have a goal to reach 1,000 new followers on Instagram, we go above and beyond to crush our numbers week over week.

We Genuinely Care

A hallmark of a great publicist is that he or she cares about their work, their clients’ success and reputation and their integrity. At Heron, we understand that it takes a lot of trust and guts to hire professionals that manage the image, reputation, language and activity in the market and our reputation and track record spanning almost two decades strongly supports our character and results-driven campaigns. Publicists do care about their clients’ accounts, but they also care about each of the individuals they work with on a given day. We prefer to be true members of our clients’ team, friends and confidants, rather than consultants – and oftentimes, this is the reality. With a strong team of publicists who care about you and your brand, have the knowledge and capability to develop and execute a fantastic campaign and the grit to creatively grow their offerings and a business, you can be unstoppable.

Interested in learning more about our services or our track record producing results for clients in a variety of industries? Please contact us at info@heronagency.com.

Megan