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By definition; corporate public relations – or B2B PR is a combination of earned, owned, shared and paid media that focuses on the needs of the buyer, while simultaneously satisfying the media. Skilled PR practitioners balance these two needs – even when there are conflicting interests.
How Corporate Public Relations works
Great PR will pay attention to your company and its image – not solely its products and services. B2B public relations builds trust in your company, informs and educates your relevant audience (buyers and media) and builds your credibility.
The end goal of PR is to convince key decision makers to buy your product or service. PR does this by identifying a need that the buyer has, then creating trust in you to fulfil that need. An effective PR campaign can transform a simple product from ordinary to extraordinary – all thanks to a cleverly-crafted story.
At its core is a simple formula – hone the unique value an organization offers, craft a strategy to reach key decision makers and highlight the personal benefit to their company. The size of a business does not enter into this equation – small businesses and startups are at the heart of PR professionals desire and capability to carve out an exciting place for their niche in the market.
It is also essential that your brand story resonates with the media. This may require expanding your story so its not just about your company, but in fact part of something that is trending. Or it might mean focusing on research behind your story to give it more weight. Effective PR will fashion your story into a tale that has meaning both for buyers and media.
No. While corporate PR may involve some paid opportunities such as native advertising or social or Google ads that are paid for, PR and advertising are not one and the same. Bottom line – advertising always costs money. And no matter how much money you throw at an advertising campaign – you don’t always know how effective it will be – if at all.
Is PR worth it?
The question on many lips is often – is PR actually worth the investment of time and money?
Public relations agencies typically work on monthly retainers, or they may come on board for a short-term project such as new product release or launch event. The thing is – while you know your business inside out – you do not know the business of PR in the same way.
And when it comes to the public image of your company, you don’t want to take any risks – you need to get it right first time.
A good PR campaign will always have the following:
Can public relations be measured?
Don’t believe everything you hear – PR can in fact be measured. Historically if a company received press coverage it was impossible to know how many times it had been seen – or if those seeing were in fact the ‘right’ audiences.
Fast forward a few generations and agencies are now able to measure many components; backlinks to your site, clicks on CTAs, press mentions and site traffic. PR results can be best seen by watching your traffic grow.
Yes, while there are many moving parts to public relations, the gist of it remains simple: It’s using multiple channels to support your brand, boost your credibility while speaking to the needs of the media and your buyer.
Make PR work for you
Effective PR considers both the needs of the buyer and the needs of the media.
Why Impact PR:
Corporate PR (or business to business public relations) has traditionally focused on communicating to their stakeholders. In recent years, we have seen more interest in promoting the corporate social responsibility work of our clients.
Impact PR has developed a specialisation in this area of communications and offers a range of services including media training, crisis & issues management, market research and media relations. Your firm will have the benefit of our directors’ decades of experience as business owners and consultants to some of the world’s highest profile brands.
