Why Publicity Beats Advertising for the Fitness Entrepreneur
Public relations and publicity are all about managing a brand’s reputation and creating a buzz or hype around it. Similarly to marketing and advertising, publicity is focused on getting visibility but comes with the added element of a third party endorsement. It also has the potential to establish you as an expert in your industry, position you as a thought leader, and extend your influence. All fantastic for gaining credibility in the eyes of your prospective customer!
Comparing advertising vs publicity, with the first image, we have an ad for a boot camp fitness program that you’d come across in a print publication, whether that’s a newspaper or magazine. Alternatively, the second image is an editorial in a newspaper about the same boot camp. Consider this from the customer’s perspective: which one would you be more enticed to pay attention to and put your trust in? The ad that the company paid to have inserted into a magazine, or the editorial feature in a national newspaper where a journalist shares a rave review of her boot camp experience? I’m guessing you’re more likely to invest your trust in what the journalist had to say over the promotional advertisement.
Let’s shift perspectives and reconsider this from the business owner’s viewpoint: putting the full-page colour ad on the left into a magazine would cost in the thousands. Alternatively, know what the full page write up in the paper, complete with a colour photo costs? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Yup, getting the same amount of, if not more, coverage, along with a media endorsement is FREE!
Think about the same thing from the perspective of television. When you buy an ad during a TV show, it’s typically airs for approximately 30 seconds, once again costing thousands of dollars – and that does not including the cost of creating the commercial. However, when you get interviewed on the news, or secure a segment on a TV show, that can run for anywhere between four to eight minutes long. That’s up to SIXTEEN times longer than an ad – and guess what it costs? Absolutely nothing. Even better? You can even get paid when you become a resident expert who’s regularly featured on the same show!
As a small business owner, having owned a small vehicle wraps in Tampa company before moving onto the one I have now, I can say: attracting new clients and bringing in revenue is an absolute must. When it comes to deciding between what to invest in, marketing, advertising or publicity, publicity is most definitely the best bang for your buck.
You get the opportunity to tell your brand’s story, get massive exposure to build awareness and visibility around your brand, plus an endorsement from a trusted media source, while spending nothing.
Of course, you want more than being seen, you want to make sales and bring money into your business.
Exposure through publicity will drive revenue by generating interest and drawing attention to your brand. You’ll stimulate desire within prospective customers. You’ll also enhance your credibility – buyers are more likely to purchase from the trusted brand they’ve seen featured in the news over a competitive brand they’ve never heard of. Also, you end up creating evergreen content. For example, if you were to purchase an ad online, it would run until the budget was exhausted. Alternatively, editorial features and news stories have an indefinite lifespan on the web, meaning that coverage does not disappear.
The beauty of publicity, especially for the budget-conscious entrepreneur or small business, is that it’s incredibly low cost. Rather than paying thousands of dollars for an ad in a magazine that someone will more than likely flip right past, with publicity, your product or service can get similar, if not better, coverage within editorial content.
Lisa Simone Richards, founder of online PR school Make Media Friends, is a publicity expert who’s spent the last 10 years helping fitness, health, and wellness-preneurs shine the spotlight on their businesses through press coverage. Her clients have been featured in some of North America’s largest media outlets like SELF, Shape, and Fitness RX. A sought-out speaker, panelist and writer, Lisa Simone is also a former personal trainer, bodybuilding competitor and fitness model. Click here to get her FREE download, 7 Ways to Get Press for Your Health & Fitness Brand Right Now!
Lisa will be running our September ‘Virtual Roundtable’ on the Member Hub from 5th September to the 15th September. This is your chance to ask Lisa’s advice and ask any questions relating to PR in your business.
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Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.