Publicity or Advertising?

[maximforest]

I run a small company and the recession makes me re-examine my advertising budget. I ran across claims that publicity may be much more cost effective than advertising, but found no formal studies on it. I always thought PR was too expensive for small businesses but in doing my research I posted my project on AllPublicists.com (it’s a free service), and got many low-cost offers from publicists. One firm for example, called Publicity Guaranteed (PublicityGuaranteed.com) doesn’t charge anything unless they deliver results. However, most companies still put much more reliance on advertising than on PR. Is it because pay-for-results-only publicity such a new option or am I missing something? Are there any studies on the subject?

[DrJonRich]

However, most companies still put much more reliance on advertising than on PR. Is it because pay-for-results-only publicity such a new option or am I missing something? Are there any studies on the subject?

You make some good points, Maxim. I think most book publishers and authors rely heavily on publicity. There is much more credibility when an author offers an opinion as part of a news or feature story. Pay-for-results publicity is a new option that I haven't heard much about. Maybe it's taking off because the internet makes it much easier to track results.

[Robin Hoffman]

Publicity gets the word out and builds credibility for businesses, and advertising can be effective too.

Paid advertising for books is a waste of money. Never do it.

Publicity, public speaking and social media are the best options to promote books.

You can do a lot on your own to generate publicity. I would not pay a publicist for their time without a guarantee of results.
I know a great publicist who does "pay for play" publicity, Marsha Friedman.