By Richard Virgilio
During the past few years, pay-for-placement PR has been gaining traction. Some newly launched agencies, in fact, are built exclusively around this model, and they are racking
up some respectable clients. So why are corporate PR departments embracing this model, and is it a passing trend or here to stay?
Pay-for-placement service is built on a simple concept: The most effective way to get what you pay for is to pay only for what you get. Usually, a set fee is charged for each
placement a client receives, keyed to the depth of coverage and the circulation or audience rating of the media outlet -- an attractive idea in this era in which every CEO is on a
return-on-investment (ROI) crusade.
The traditional retainer-based value proposition, under which a PR agency sells hours and not outcomes, works well for clients who:
- Require a broad range of services to supplement their own in-house capacities
- Need help with their messaging, positioning and target markets
- Are winning the publicity they need, where they need it
- Are achieving targeted and measurable ROI
The persistent problem for many retainer agencies and in-house teams is Numbers 3 and 4: publicity and ROI. Publicity is the PR capability that corporations and their
agencies struggle hardest to manage, principally because media relations has become a more sophisticated and specialized endeavor that demands greater amounts of time, expertise
and contacts across an increasingly diverse range of print, broadcast and online media.
Additionally, most corporate management unconditionally demands positive coverage in precisely those media venues that reach and influence their particular stakeholders. Pay-
for-placement agencies marshal all their resources to achieve that single objective.
As to ROI, CEOs are not now, and probably never will be, satisfied with our publicity-measurement techniques and, therefore, our ROI estimates. The pay-for-placement model
does not directly address the ROI problem, as some of its practitioners may contend. But the model is client-driven, as clients may choose to commit their investment based on
their assessment of the placement's worth - the risk is assumed by the agency. So while it is not the answer to ROI, pay-for-placement PR does represent an unmistakable investment
result to which management can clearly relate.
Pay-for-placement PR is not here to replace retainer agencies. On the contrary, its function is to supplement corporations and their agencies. According to a recent study by
CoolWire Inc., corporations are choosing this model for several reasons:
- To penetrate vertical media where their current PR resources lack expertise
- To cover a particular media sector, such as national business press, TV, or online media
- To provide extra short-term bandwidth, such as when internal PR staff is on maternity leave
- To maximize media placements for beyond-the-normal campaigns, such as product launches
But remember, the pay-for-placement firm's mandate is publicity, and only publicity. Don't expect proposals, plans, strategy, counseling, reports and meetings about
scheduling the next meetings. Those are the provinces of a full-service firm. And don't ever think a pay-for-placement firm will guarantee placement; it will simply promise that,
unless you get the stories/air time you want in the types of outlets you target, you will not pay.
The pay-for-placement option likely is here to stay. Pay-for-placement agencies, working hand-in-glove with a corporation's PR staff and/or agencies, have the potential to
give top management predictable bang for their buck - and that's a small, but real step in the direction of viable ROI.
Contact: Richard Virgilio is managing director of PayPerClip (Califon, N.J., Morro Bay, Calif.), a PR agency that provides pay-for-placement media services. Virgilio can be
reached at 732.361.3823, [email protected].
How To Qualify A Pay-for-Placement PR Firm:
- Do they publish their rates?
- Is there recourse or a satisfaction guarantee if you don't like the story?
- Do you have the option to decline an available media opportunity?
- Are you required to sign a contract with a time commitment?
- Are you able to specialize by media type?