The question asked whether seeing that a local financial advisor had received publicity in national media outlets would make respondents more or less interested in hiring the advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I expected most respondents to say either that the publicity made no difference to them (since publicity doesn\u2019t actually demonstrate competence) or that it made them more interested in hiring the advisor (the halo effect).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, a sizeable minority replied that the media coverage made them less interested in hiring the advisor.<\/strong> This surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Was it envy? Was it a feeling that national publicity opened up too much distance between them and someone in the spotlight? The comments revealed three interesting reasons in the minds of those reacting negatively to this scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, some respondents assumed that this advisor\u2019s rates would be much higher<\/strong> than they would be willing or able to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith all that fancy-schmancy media coverage I probably wouldn’t be able to afford him,\u201d one said, \u201cso I’d tend to look for someone else.\u201d Another remarked, \u201cThey would probably charge more than someone who wasn\u2019t an \u2018expert.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second concern was availability<\/strong> \u2013 not just in terms of scheduling, but also in the advisor\u2019s attention to clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause of all the buzz, I’d worry I couldn’t reach the person if I had a question,\u201d said one respondent. Another put it this way: \u201cIs he or she more interested in publicity than working on client accounts?\u201d Another wrote, \u201cI\u2019d prefer to have a lesser-known financial person who I\u2019m sure I could reach easily when I had a question.\u201d Someone else wondered, \u201cPerhaps they are spending too much time doing interviews to focus on the job at hand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third were opinions that publicity seeking indicated a personality type that the respondent would prefer not to work with<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI try to stay away from celebrity types,\u201d commented one person. Another wrote, \u201cThey might be more hype than substance, and I’d want Steady Eddie for a financial consultant.\u201d In the words of another: \u201cI don\u2019t want or need a celebrity for an advisor. I want someone who understands my needs and goals and manages my portfolio accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that these three drawbacks were all operating in the realm of assumptions. With no additional information, people jumped to conclusions<\/strong> about fees, availability and personality from the mere fact of media coverage. Keep in mind also that the negative attitudes were in the minority. Most respondents in my survey reported a positive or neutral reaction to the financial advisor\u2019s publicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also worth pointing out that the scenario in my question concerned a local professional getting national coverage and involved a financial advisor specifically. Responses might have been different had the scenario asked about a cardiologist, a college professor, a bed-and-breakfast host or a tutoring service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, the survey in which these responses turned up happened to be targeted to introverts.<\/strong> It\u2019s conceivable that extroverts, who comprise the majority in the U.S., would have had fewer negative reactions to my question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, the negative assumptions were common enough and strongly expressed enough in my survey to spark several suggestions for professionals who work one-on-one with clients who don\u2019t normally come into contact with or seek out nationally known people. When you receive national publicity, consider the following options to make sure that the publicity doesn\u2019t boomerang on your practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, don\u2019t present the publicity you received as the top reason to do business with you. Place it in context<\/strong> with your educational credentials, client satisfaction, customer-friendly policies, specialized experience and impressive results, so that the media coverage comes across as icing on the cake rather than the cake itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, specifically counteract the three worries described above if they don\u2019t fit you or how you work. Adjectives like \u201caffordable\u201d or \u201creasonable rates\u201d<\/strong> head off the \u201ccan\u2019t afford this person\u201d thought even if you don\u2019t quote your rates, while client testimonials about your responsiveness and likeability reassure those who wonder whether you have a swelled head and care only about the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or third, perhaps you\u2019ll end up contenting yourself with the \u201cexpert from afar phenomenon,\u201d where you respond to national publicity by raising your rates above what most locals are prepared to pay and having those who are impressed with your reputation fly in to meet with you. I\u2019ve seen this dynamic happen with dentists, accountants, sculptors, chefs and even marketing experts like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the whole, publicity is a great way to boost your career. Be alert to these possible disadvantages, though, and you can keep it a wholly positive factor in your success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Marcia Yudkin In a recent survey I conducted on feelings about \u201csocial proof\u201d in marketing, the comments on a question I asked about media coverage made my eyebrows go up. The question asked whether seeing that a local financial advisor had received publicity in national media outlets would make respondents more or less interested in\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":2,"wds_primary_category":691,"footnotes":""},"categories":[691],"tags":[518,468,724],"class_list":{"0":"post-27185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-publicity","7":"tag-public-speaking","8":"tag-small-business-marketing","9":"tag-social-proof","10":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"contributor","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/contributor\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42980,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27185\/revisions\/42980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Survey](\"https:\/\/www.publicityhound.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Social-proof-survey2-233x300.gif\")
<\/a>Why The Negative Reactions?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3 Ways to Avoid Publicity That Backfires<\/h3>\n\n\n\n