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| Andrew Blum |
For a long time, pay-to-play has been the thing that PR people don’t speak about much but it has been lurking behind the scenes. Recently, the ranks of the players in the pay-to-play game have been increasing, and PR people have at times had no choice to use it more frequently as part of their PR playbook.
Is it a good thing for PR? Is it good for the clients? Certainly, it is good for the pay-to-play industry, as I call it. More on these questions later.
Over the years, in-house and agency PR people have been routinely pitched all kinds of pay-to-play opportunities – well beyond the old “advertorial.” All kinds of companies claiming they would tell your client’s story on video, in print or online have cropped up – including a production company once headed by a former TV sportscaster, and offers from another company to put your client on TV and radio on airplanes or in airports – sometimes for thousands of dollars.
PR people, book authors and book publicists, law firm marketers and others have all been bombarded by pay-to-play opportunities. An old standby of press releases about personnel and hiring moves have been met with pay-to-play offers for “People on the Move” columns. This also happens when you have a really strong announcement with real news value.
Even Bylined Articles and Speeches?
Bylined articles and even speaking opportunities have turned into pay-to-play in some instances.
And just when you thought the pay-to-play players had tried it all, now some of them are offering the opportunity for PR clients to be on huge video screens multiple times a day in New York’s Times Square. The cost? $17,500 a day, $35,950 for three months, or $7,950 a week.
In the past, and to a lesser extent today, when a pay-to-play pitch is being made it’s vague so you can’t be totally sure it is pay-to-play, as if they are hiding it. Then the PR person has to spend time asking what it is, and deciding whether to tell the client or reject it outright.
Another problem is that even if the PR person turns it down, sometimes the pay-to-play people call or email others in your organization and those employees come to you as the PR person asking what it is. This becomes a waste of time and resources.
What has Changed in Pay-to-Play?
The change these days? More and more the pay-to-play people aren’t hiding it as much. A number of podcasts have gone to the pay-to-play model straight up. And a number of pay-to-play pitchers have offered paid book reviews and other services to authors, making a number of authors wonder if some pay-to-plays are scams.
As to the questions I posed earlier: Is pay-to-play a good thing for PR? Is it good for the clients?
It may be bad for PR because in most cases, you are hired to get solid media placements for clients with no cost attached and media that helps a client achieve publicity goals.
Pay-to-play may be bad for clients since they weren’t expecting to pony up for pay-to-play in addition to PR fees and expenses. Additionally, a good deal of the pay-to-play opportunities may not serve client needs.
How to Handle Pay-to-Play
At the start of the PR engagement, ask the client if they would entertain any pay-to-play, and what their budget is for pay-to-play.
If they are interested, give them a few ideas. You can also say that you will present any that come to you to them. Take them on a case-by-case basis and vet them thoroughly.
If there is a good podcast or a good book reviewer, for example, that are now pay-to-play and may help the client, offer it to them. It may be worth it as some of the pay-to-play podcasts end up airing on many radio stations.
Make sure the pay-to-play opportunity serves the client’s needs and fits into your other PR efforts. While the client may be okay spending up to a few hundred dollars for pay-to-play in select media, if the cost is too much and it doesn’t serve their needs, reject it. And ask to be taken off email and phone lists.
Should a client spend $17,500 a day, $7,950 a week, or $35,000 for four months on a pay-to-play? No.
Unless your client is Coke, Apple, or American Eagle, that huge video screen offer with multiple air times a day in Times Square is way too much money for most clients and won’t serve their PR needs.
But sometimes a more reasonably priced and targeted pay-to-play -- a necessary evil -- may be a good option.
While some PR people may hold their nose at pay-to-play, you still need to do the same pitching, scheduling, and prep work, except that the client pays for the interview.
Just remember the Latin phrase caveat emptor: "let the buyer beware.”
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Andrew Blum of AJB Communications is a PR consultant and media trainer who has directed proactive and crisis PR for a wide range of clients and issues, and has done PR for more than 40 authors, professional and financial services firms, NGOs, startups and PR agencies. Email: [email protected] or Twitter: @ajbcomms
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