How to Make Paid Media Pay Off
Gregg Greenberg, General Manager, C-Suite TV
Listen PR professionals, I know better than anybody how hard it is to place your clients on quality media outlets these days. If it’s not Trump-related, it doesn’t get on-air. I get it. I know.
I know because for over a decade I booked and interviewed CEOs, fund managers and best-selling authors as the lead video anchor at the financial website TheStreet. Working with hundreds of PR firms over a 13-year stretch, I welcomed thousands of guests to sit beside me for video interviews to discuss everything from the economy and the stock market to the political landscape and beyond.
Unlike at other media outlets where a segment producer could kill even the most-timely pitch with a single keystroke, I accepted PR pitches directly and made sure to reply to every last one. Yay or nay, I believed that every pitch (well, not robo-pitches) deserved a response. In my view, the PR/media relationship should not be a one-way street.
I’ve since moved on from TheStreet to C-Suite TV where the model is different (I’ll explain in a moment), but the problem persists:
Due to the hollowing out of the business media following a pair of stock market bubbles, as well as the media’s Pavlovian response to all-things Trump, the number of available avenues for PR firms to book clients has constricted to an all-time low.
I’ve spoken to numerous PR professionals and the majority agree with my assessment of the current environment. Some have circumvented the sad situation by branching-out into new, niche areas like AI, cannabis or crypto. Others have opted to build production studios in-house in order to create their own videos. However, this still leaves them with the problem of finding distribution for their content.
But on the whole, the complaint is the same. It is a brutal environment for booking guests who simply want to get their unique stories out.
Well, it doesn’t have to be. There is an alternative that provides you and your client a wide audience without having to opine on the latest Trump tweet, or kowtow to the whims of network producers who only need you when they need you.
That solution is so-called ‘paid media’. Yes, I am well aware that paid or ‘sponsored’ media is considered a derogatory term in the corridors of some PR firms. I have many friends in the PR game who simply refuse to pay for play.
But I can tell you firsthand that paid media does not need to be looked down upon. In fact, it can be a valuable tactic as part of a complete PR campaign.
I say firsthand because my new program, C-Suite TV Insights, offers PR firms a media outlet with an extensive reach. Paid media like C-Suite TV Insights enables you and your client to tell your own story, as opposed to letting the network drive, or quite often, interrupt, the conversation. I personally work with each guest to make sure there are no surprises once the cameras start rolling.
As we say at C-Suite TV Insights: Don’t let anybody else tell your company’s story. Tell it yourself…even if you have to pay for it.
About the Author: Gregg Greenberg is the General Manager of C-Suite TV and Host of C-Suite TV Insights. Before joining the C-Suite Network, Gregg was the anchor at TheStreet for over a decade, interviewing CEOs, fund managers, Wall Street strategists and bestselling business authors. Prior to TheStreet, Gregg was a writer and segment producer for CNBC’s Closing Bell. He previously worked at FleetBoston and Lehman Brothers as a Vice-President in their Private Client Services divisions, covering high net-worth individuals and midsize hedge funds. Greenberg attended New York University’s School of Business and Economic Reporting. He also has an M.B.A. from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business, and a B.A. in history from Amherst College.
To learn more about being a guest on C-Suite TV Insights, contact Gregg at Gregg.Greenberg@C-
