Many busy business owners consider it a wise investment to hire professionals
to handle important marketing tasks. While the well-heeled may opt to retain
full-fledged ad agencies (firms that can take care of a variety of functions
under one roof), lots of entrepreneurs work with their own roster of independent
promotional players. Typically, this includes a marketing consultant,
copywriter, graphic designer, webmaster and public relations specialist.
Peg Feodoroff, co-originator of
Healing Threads and
Spirited-Sisters, shines as an example of the power of including top-notch PR
professionals in her marketing mix. Feodoroff--a Massachusetts native who
started a high-end hospital gown apparel company with her younger sister after
learning they both had cancer--ended up working with a top New York City public
relations firm.
Though kismet played a part in her choice (her daughter had recently been
hired by the firm), Feodoroff knew she could only get so far on her own. She
also knew that whomever she worked with would need time to get the job done
right.
"Because our garments were revolutionary, it was critical that we had PR;
otherwise, who would know about us?" says Feodoroff, whose "desk sits" (meetings
with editors and writers arranged by FactoryPR) resulted in coverage in The New
York Times and Women's Wear Daily, Health and Elle magazines. Then, in a scene
reminiscent of the movie The Devil Wears Prada, Feodoroff provided sample garments for
FactoryPR's accessories closet.
As luck would have it, one of Oprah's fashion editors saw the garments while
she was perusing the closet for another photo shoot for another designer. The
result: A story about the fashion-forward hospital wear, which enables women
undergoing various invasive treatments to retain their dignity in style, ended
up in O, the Oprah Magazine. A stint on FOX 5's Good Day New York opened
television opportunities in Boston, as well as editorial coverage in The Boston
Globe.
The result of all the coverage: Orders poured in from all over the country.
Working with a well-known agency gave this newbie company an infusion of
much-needed credibility, Feodoroff says, especially because the niche PR agency
that Healing Threads retained only works with top-name brands and designers.
Feodoroff says that every dollar invested came back to the company: "Our
revenues shot up," she says.
She acknowledges that it's hard to maintain that large bump in sales, so she
let her contract with FactoryPR lapse after more than a year and has turned her
attention to online marketing. She'll be blogging (a cooler PR outlet), checking
out Google Analytics to measure performance on Healing Threads' newly updated
website and sending news releases to other promotional online outlets. Feodoroff
is right on the mark, as online spaces (websites, blogging and social media
outlets such LinkedIn and YouTube) are powerful PR portals for today's consumer.
The moral of the story: Great PR works like a charm. To make sure that
winning print, online and television coverage comes your way, add PR to your
marketing mix on a regular basis. That translates to at least several times a
month in online spaces and six to eight times a year in traditional print and
television media.
With smart PR, you can introduce your brand and story to the right editors
and producers, and get some profitable buzz going.
Got an amazing PR story to tell? We'd love to hear
about it, so pop us a note and we may include your story in a future column.