By Emily Frumberg
Business-to-business (B2B) public relations has many purposes but knowing how, where and when to use PR, can be challenging for B2B companies and marketers, alike. In this two-part series, we will discuss when to use PR in the B2B world and the fundamentals of building and carrying out a B2B PR program.
Part 1: When to use Public Relations for B2B Organizations
The corporate communications field is more dynamic than ever. Today, PR is a critical piece of a comprehensive and fully integrated marketing program. When planned and executed effectively, PR can be a great tool for awareness, credibility, and even lead generation for B2B companies. Further, a strong PR strategy can scale an organization to new heights and can enable them to connect with key target audiences — customers, investors, partners — that help the business grow.
Though media relations can be used for a myriad of reasons and in numerous ways, it can be difficult for companies to figure out when (and when not) to use PR in their B2B marketplace.
Here are our recommendations for when to incorporate PR tactics:
Growing your business
PR can be especially effective when trying to scale your business. By creating brand awareness, raising your profile and positioning your company and its leaders in the right light, you can reach and engage key target audiences—customers, clients and investors.
There are countless of ways to grow your business using PR tactics. Thought leadership is a widespread and often extremely-effective PR strategy. When done well, it can make your organization’s specialized expertise accessible, strengthening your business’ reputation and sparking meaningful conversations that lead to tangible business results.
READ MORE: 14 Underused B2B Content Promotion Channels
Sharing company success stories and milestones
Tell your customers how your product has successfully helped your customers. In addition, when you win an award or reach a big milestone, share it with your customers. Sharing stories of your company’s successes can engage interest among prospects who want to want to ride on that success and choose your business over your competitors. Further, sharing success stories and business milestones can help internally at your organization. Because when a company is recognized for its great work, employees have an explicit chance to be proud of an industry-leading organization. As such, employee morale will likely increase and reap benefits beyond PR wins.
Entering a market
For organizations that have yet to break into a market, PR is a cost-effective way to generate buzz before the anticipated entry date. A fantastic way to create interest and attract potential customers is to use PR in a way that tells the industry who you are, what you have to offer and why your product is better than your competitors. Whether it be a worldwide announcement or securing TV or radio hits on the local station, PR is an essential part of making your company’s introduction into its respectively industry or field.
Launching a new product
Another example of when to use PR is when your company is introducing new products in the marketplace. When you’re offering a new product or service, a strong media relations campaign can attract attention and create buzz about your launch. Further, earned media gives your organization instant credibility and far greater exposure than simply sharing on your owned channels, like social media and your website.
It’s important to note that there’s no bad time to use PR when it comes to promoting and growing your organization. In fact, a consistent and continued media relations program can help B2B companies create and shape their public image, as well as maintain their public spotlight long-term. After all, successful PR campaigns have been the driving force that propelled many of our favorite companies to become the industry leaders they are today.
