Why You Need To Know The Difference Between Visibility + Publicity So You Don't Make These Classic Mistakes!

marketing publicity visibility Nov 08, 2020

There's a huge difference between visibility + publicity.

And if you're still blissfully unaware of the difference...

You could be suffering from sporadic social media, unfocused publicity campaigns + even total avoidance of the whole thing altogether.

In this post, I'll show you the difference so you can understand how the flow is SUPPOSED to work + you can make your visibility + publicity strategies work together for the best end result.

Ready?

And before we dive in, if you're someone struggling with your visibility + publicity, know that you're not alone. The good news? I've figured out a system that WORKS. I'll show you every single step for FREE in the video training series! Get started here.

The Top 3 Mistakes You May Have Fallen Into

First, I want to cover what may have already happened in your world due to not knowing the difference between visibility + publicity.

And, if you have made any of these, please don't beat yourself up!

It's ridiculously common + very easy to fix.

Let me show you...

#1 "I'm just posting everywhere I can + occasionally landing press. I'm staying afloat."

This is the "survival mode" strategy.

Usually, these brands are exhausted from working IN their business, so visibility + publicity tend to simmer on the back burner.

Social media posts are random + inconsistent.

So the following isn't really growing in any significant way + engagement is zero.

Then any hope for booking podcasts, stages or publications is pretty far off.

Maybe one podcast every quarter, but nothing steady.

And I hear over + over their frustrations of WHY they're so tired, fighting for sales + not gaining any traction in being known as the go-to expert in their field.

#2 "It's all about landing press, so I don't focus my time anywhere else."

A few years ago, it became the "cool" thing to get publicity.

Certain programs were released, affiliates promoted them everywhere + entrepreneurs across the world fell into the trap of thinking booking publicity would solve all of their problems.

Thousands of dollars later + 10 features down the road, they were MISERABLE + so frustrated because it didn't boost their bank account.

The sad thing is that then they gave up on the whole thing.

Visibility + publicity were given the finger, so most of these students kept limping along, thinking their marketing would be stuck in neutral forever.

#3 "I have a great business + visibility plan. Features will just find me!"

This usually comes from entrepreneurs who follow coaches + gurus who appear to have features magically fall into their lap. And students. And followers.

{can you tell I'm not a unicorn? lol}

So they've been taught false confidence + that visibility is "all that matters".

Then, even if they're the most AMAZING coach in the world, they usually come to me because they want the next step + can't book features.

So I have to show them how to position themselves in the market + start pitching.

Because sales + visibility are GREAT, but book publishers don't care about that. Neither do huge publications like Entrepreneur.

I could go on + on.

Is there one you specifically relate to? Let me know in the comments below.

And now, let's move forward to understanding the big difference between visibility + publicity so these mistakes never happen again.

WHAT IS VISIBILITY?

A lot of people don't know this about me, but I was one of the FIRST entrepreneurs to talk about the word 'visibility' online in 2016.

They would talk about 'marketing' or 'advertising', but 'visibility' was NOT commonplace back then.

But when I trademarked Visibility Vixen® , I KNEW this was the word of the future.

I never thought it would become so commonplace that it would start getting confused with publicity!

But it did.

VISIBILITY IS THE MARKETING STRATEGY YOU HAVE IN PLACE TO TURN ORGANIC OUTREACH INTO WEBSITE TRAFFIC, SUBSCRIBERS + CUSTOMERS.

Does that make sense?

Pretty much whatever you're doing online to get people to your website + offers.

This could be:

Blogging
Podcasting
Livestreaming
Video
Social Media
Summits

Visibility needs to be specifically about converting traffic because this is how you make money!!

And it HAS to come before publicity because there's no point in how much exposure you're getting if it doesn't translate into revenue, right?

So that's why I start all of my students + clients with visibility.

You need clear branding, on fire messaging, a high-converting funnel + a solid visibility strategy in place before you even think about stepping into publicity.

WHAT IS PUBLICITY?

Publicity is just a fancy word for guest appearances.

Every piece of it is considered 'publicity' or 'press'.

Publicity is meant to do one step further of what visibility can do for your brand/business.

I like to define it like this...

PUBLICITY IS THE ESTABLISHING OF ONE'S AUTHORITY IN THEIR NICHE AS THE GO-TO EXPERT THROUGH INTERVIEWS, APPEARANCES + FEATURES ON OTHER NETWORKS, BUSINESSES + BRANDS.

Making a little bit more sense?

Publicity is the authority establisher. Traffic is a bonus, but not a necessity.

And too many entrepreneurs hang on publicity as their saving grace to drive revenue to their business.

See why this is a disaster? It's not supposed to work that way!

This could be a guest:

Podcast
Blog
Video interview
Television
Article
Publication
Book
Event

Publicity needs to be specifically about building your authority + expertise in your niche!

And it HAS to come before after visibility because traffic is a nice side effect {that will convert higher because you have the funnels in place}, but the "go-to expert" status is what we're striving for here.

You need a clear publicity strategy after your visibility strategy is in place so you can continuously book opportunities to further your brand notoriety.

LEARNING MORE

I hope that helped you see why one HAS to come before the other.

That way, your plan builds upon itself + nothing ever falls off the radar or through the cracks.

Because there's nothing more frustrating than not making sales or still being invisible to the world when you're such a talented business owner.

The best place to build your step by step visibility AND publicity plan is inside of my signature membership, The Visibility Lounge.

I'll show you what to build in the right order so nothing is left up to confusion or chance.

Feel free to join here, we'd love to have you!

To recap, it's vital to understand the differences between Visibility + Publicity so you can successfully grow your revenue, notoriety + success in the online space.

If you're ready for the next step of your career, join a community of 100+ entrepreneurs who are taking action with their visibility + seeing huge results! Join here.