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By Anthony Mora
Perhaps the most difficult question that a filmmaker, musician, actor, painter or writer has to answer when it comes to public relations or marketing is "why?" Isn't having created the art enough? The short answer to that is no - particularly not now. If you want to reach your public and get your art exposure, you need to take control of your marketing and your career. The music world gives us a particularly good snapshot of an industry in flux. The days of label-launched careers are all but a memory. Now, with the seismic shifts taking place, promoting one's own work has become a necessity. And this isn't only true for musicians, this holds true for all artists.
Working both as a PR consultant and a novelist, I can speak first-hand to the issues and concerns surrounding promoting one's own work. You'd think being in PR it would have always been easy for me to market my own works, but sadly, this was not the case. I'd have no trouble promoting you, but until recently, when I came to terms with the fact that I owed it to my work, I ran into the same roadblocks as any other artist when it came to promoting my writing.
So, what is an artist to do? For building an image and a personal brand, PR remains the most effective and validating form of promotion. Through public relations, you become the news. Think about it - if you were to read an ad for a musician, actor or writer in a newspaper, or read an article profiling that artist in same paper, which would grab your attention? One is a paid ad; the other is a news story. Which would you be more likely to believe? Other forms of marketing can't offer you the basic trust factor that comes from being featured in the media.
Now with the capability of the Internet to make the local global, you can take a small, regional newspaper story and magnify it. By utilizing online techniques and social media you can amplify that local article in a way that, not long ago, would have been impossible. A local newspaper article can suddenly become a national or international story. The same is true with a TV interview or segment in which you're featured. You can take that segment and, through online video sites such as YouTube, Flickr and a host of others, you can turn a local story into an international one. Because of the power of the Internet, a local TV segment can now receive worldwide coverage.
Although YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace were very big Internet stories, they became global powerhouses because of traditional media coverage in such outlets as CNN, the Today Show, the New York Times, Time and the Wall Street Journal. The myth is that it all happens online, where actually it's a sequential process. These stories start online. They grow - often in a big way - but the stories truly explode after the mainstream media covers them. The media coverage drives the online title wave.
With the power of online marketing and social media, PR campaigns are more important than ever. Combined with a social media campaign, public relations takes on a whole new look. Most people see PR and social media as an "either/or" choice, where it really should be an "and" decision.
Many have tried to replicate phenomena on the Internet and failed for not realizing they are leaving out the most important element, PR - targeted media coverage on mainstream TV and in major newspapers and magazines. Because online marketing and social media are still relatively new and compelling, most miss the PR part of the marketing equation. There are midfields and marketing pitfalls and because many artists can't afford to hire a PR or marketing firm, we have developed packages and consultation services to help guide them through the process.
With the right tools, know-how and information, you can begin to take control of your art, your image and your career. Marketing yourself as an artist is an ongoing, cumulative process. If you are going to implement a PR and social media campaign, make a commitment to stay with it. It will be worth it. Your career will be glad you did.
For information visit: www.PRforArtists.com
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