Jo Wilmot, PR Director & Ros Rowlatt, Digital Media Director
We know that B2B comms professionals and marketers must prove return on investment for communications efforts. At the same time, we have seen internal clients sometimes need guidance to get the most out of their media relations activity.
Here, two of our directors, PR specialist Jo Wilmot and paid digital expert Ros Rowlatt, run through the best routes to ensure your PR endeavours get the impact they deserve.
Frequently, media relations is seen by brands as an effective, good-value channel for raising awareness through securing coverage in print, online or broadcast outlets likely to be read, watched or listened to by its audiences.
Understandably a business wants as many people as possible to see the article featuring their spokesperson or hear about their company.
Using the halo effect of being in The Economist, Construction News, or Wired provides a great opportunity to burnish your reputation, including in front of potential customers. Legacy media brands still exert a powerful pull, and these outlets will likely be respected by the audiences you’re trying to reach. A key benefit of PR is the concept of third-party endorsement – and inclusion in a reputable title is a valuable way to secure this.
It’s a reasonable assumption to think, great, we’re on the BBC or in the Financial Times, job done, pats on the back all around and the phones to start ringing off the hook. This is far from the case.
While there’s now a lot of chatter about all media now being niche and the fragmentation of audiences, it’s always been the case. Even in the glory days of mass media, most of the time, many of the people you’re trying to reach wouldn’t read the article or see the TV show featuring your company.*
Sometimes, additional social media traction will deliver more impact than the original article. For example, we once secured an Evening Standard letter to the editor on IR35 changes from a spokesperson at Bishopsgate Financial. When our client posted on her LinkedIn, she received over 1,200 likes and multiple comments from key industry names. Far more chatter than the piece in the paper – yet the Evening Standard provided weight to her views.
It proves there are ways to leverage your brand’s inclusion even if someone’s missed the piece or doesn’t subscribe to that outlet.
As above, the first and most obvious approach is for the person quoted to comment on their social media channels (don’t forget to @ the journalist and title) and, even better, for colleagues to post too. For copyright reasons, don’t share a picture of the article, but do share the link. We’d also suggest there’s a post about this coverage on the company page, using the opportunity to add further nuance and context.
However, when a piece of coverage is truly outstanding, either because of where it’s appeared or because it’s an OpEd with perfect articulation of your key messages, it’s probably a good idea to use paid social to drive further traction. We find LinkedIn’s Thought Leader ads (TLAs) provide an ideal marketing tactic to increase your readership both from your followers and your target audiences.
These TLAs expand your organic reach through paid engagement and help build authority and credibility, thereby fostering trust amongst your community at a lower cost-per-click than you would pay when boosting content from your LinkedIn company page. All of this additional mileage from your coverage increases reach and supports with building your reputation.
High-quality media coverage also provides a good reason to update your company blog to further enhance your website’s SEO. You can mention the inclusion in Architects Journal, Microscope or Fast Company, and take the opportunity for a deeper dive from your expert. What did they not get the space to cover in the article? Also, this provides a natural link to a marketing call-to-action. New and relevant content is the doyenne of Google’s algorithm, therefore if you bring more traffic to your site from the publication, organic and paid social media or from your marketing outreach, then this will positively impact your keyword rankings and overall SEO.
Until now, we’ve focused externally – remember your internal audiences too! Sharing press coverage can be a great way to help support your company culture, as people want to be proud of where they work. Having colleagues seen as leading experts in the media is compelling and helps reinforce the perception that it’s a great place to work.
Showcase on your intranet and include updates on press activity in internal newsletters.
Another critical internal audience is your commercial team. Sales professionals often leverage articles in conversations with prospects to demonstrate authority, credibility and expertise, and to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Press coverage scratches the surface of what B2B PR can achieve; campaigns often use other channels beyond the media. The tactics we’ve laid out work (with some adjustments) for everything from panel discussions, keynote speeches and customer testimonials invitations to round tables, inclusions on judging panels and award shortlists. Anything involving a choice to include your expert or company above another should be highlighted ideally in a way that avoids seeming boastful or too self-serving.
The other point is around recycling. We’ve said it’s easy for people to miss things on news websites or not to watch a TV show. They might miss your LinkedIn post too, or forget about it. So, when there’s an opportunity for a fresh hook, repost the link. The other point is that your expert is likely a specialist in a niche topic, and their views will probably be pretty stable. So, don’t forget to showcase it again when further coverage is secured on a similar theme in a different media outlet. You and your team will probably get tired of repeating key messages before external people will.
Great PR campaigns deliver real results, particularly if you remember to run through a mental checklist that covers: what you have put on owned channels (blog), posted on shared (social), visibility of further coverage coming in (earned), identification of budget for paid social). Those of you familiar with the PESO model of media channels (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned) will recognise this, providing a tactical way to continue strategically building your brand and spokespeople’s reputation.
*Unless you’re a wedding dress designer and your dress is being worn by a Princess at a Royal Wedding
