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As we kick off a new decade, it’s a great time for companies to evaluate how each of their teams are working to support overall brand growth, boost exposure and drive demand among new customers or investors. Part of an effective growth strategy requires ramping up or initiating a comprehensive marketing plan, including a results-driven public relations program.
Whether launching a new product, entering a new market or simply boosting awareness, PR can significantly help B2B tech companies reach target audiences via third party endorsements from the media, influencers and analysts. When enlisting the support of a B2B tech public relations agency, it’s important to keep a few primary goals in mind to ensure you’re maximizing ROI. That said, unlike some marketing initiatives, PR success is largely above the funnel, measured in its ability to reach target audiences and build brand reputation. While a great feature article may generate new business, the goal of PR is to amplify a company’s exposure and boost name recognition, so prospects have a foundation of brand knowledge walking into initial partnership discussions.
Grow Your Garden
If you think of a company’s growth as a garden, its innovative services, products and solutions are the seeds. Public Relations is the fertilizer and nutrition that help those seeds grow. Once planted and nurtured, email marketing, content creation and lead development get you to harvest—closing the deal or securing target investors.
We would all like to jump straight from seed to harvest, but as anyone who has ever tended a garden knows, it simply doesn’t work that way. In order to get the most out of PR, brands need to understand the importance of the growth process—realizing that above-the-funnel PR tactics lead prospects be more receptive.
Boost Awareness
We’ve all heard that “if you build it, they will come,” but in today’s world—where every option is at our fingertips—that mantra simply doesn’t ring true. A multi-faceted B2B tech PR program needs to combine thought leadership, positive third-party reviews and features across media tiers and verticals to effectively build awareness, trust and credibility. Many brands make the mistake of just skimming the industry landscape, when a deep dive into finding the sources your audience trusts and securing media attention in those outlets is key in turning targets into viable prospects.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Like all marketing initiatives, for optimal results, public relations can’t operate in a vacuum. When building a business, every penny counts, so don’t miss the opportunity to amplify your story. Executing a program without support from social media, SEO, lead nurturing and website optimization essentially equates to leaving money on the table. You need each aspect of the marketing machine working together to get the most out of your investment.
Finally, it’s important to assess whether your brand is actually ready for PR. Do you have the internal staff in place to facilitate PR campaigns? Does your executive team understand that while PR is an integral part of a company’s evolution, it isn’t a direct sales tactic? Do you have team members overseeing each facet of marketing, ready and willing to support your brand’s growth strategy? If not, do you have a fully integrated marketing agency capable of facilitating cross-functional support to achieve success?
If you answered yes to these questions—or are ready to enlist the support of an agency to help you get there, you’re ready to grow. At Idea Grove, we strive to maximize each of our client’s investment in B2B tech PR and marketing, so we help our existing and potential partners check all the boxes necessary to reach their goals. But we also know that identifying the right partner isn’t always easy. That’s why we created a guide to hiring a PR agency and the 25 questions you need to be asking in the process.
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