Five Reasons Why “The Big Mo” is Vital in B2B PR

Many a battle has been won thanks to the juggernaut power of momentum. The same is true in business. Nothing builds confidence more than a series of wins. The snowball effect of one contract leading to another – often snaffled through the simple act of applying the elements that worked in one pitch to subsequent situations – is worth considering when plotting out a PR and comms strategy for the year ahead.
Here’s how it can work:
Smile and the world smiles with you: A constant flow of good news and strong views will breed an audience of its own over time. People will recognise your company or spokesperson’s name in headlines. They may even start proactively seeking your opinions and looking forward to your next missive. Don’t see announcements as humblebrags though; find a way of creating a positive glow without plumbing the murky depths of Lake Smug.
An informed team is a happy team: What works externally often has a halo effect internally. There’s an obvious feelgood factor for your workforce in telling the outside world about the good things going on at your organisation. A company only grows if it retains its staff and clients alongside regular new business. PR is a great way to motivate people while keeping them constantly in the know about what a great collective job the organisation is doing.
Sanity not vanity: What you decide to go public with should always be of interest to your wider audience and, better still, of use to them. There was a debate on LinkedIn recently when someone posted a photo of his new-born baby, claiming the (usually) professional network could benefit from the personal touch. Now, being proud of my three daughters, I’m not saying there isn’t room for that somewhere on the Internet. But too many updates about your company’s charity jam festivals or office moves (yawn) will put the brakes on The Big Mo.
Slave to the algorithm: The more your PR reflects the business’s central positioning, the better your natural search ranking will be. This means considering the tone of voice and specific language used in all of your online content. Be careful, as Google will be quick to pick up on a blatant piece of sales puff. Instead, well-crafted copy that gives something back to the reader while subtly extolling the virtues of your own organisation can leave everyone happy (particularly your digital marketing manager).
PR isn’t a tap: Some people believe that ad hoc comms is the best way of balancing a limited budget with bursts of activity to maintain some sort of profile. In truth, a steady stream is more sustainable than an on-off approach. Certainly where external consultants or agencies are concerned an unbroken campaign prevents the need for constant re-education and planning with the client. This saves time and keeps The Big Mo rolling. You’ll probably even end up spending the same budget to greater effect if you avoid breaks in play. Your internal PR guys will tell you the same: structure a calendar of content and comms and they won’t be scratching around for things to say during a PR lull.
There you have it. Flow, impetus, propulsion, momentum. Describe it as you will, The Big Mo is as crucial to your organisation’s proactive PR as it is to political victories, championships and even the economy. Time to start the ball rolling?

 

Stop wasting your breath: in digital space, no one can hear a PR scream

In a world festooned with communications channels, PR professionals have to make their campaigns shout louder than ever if they are to be heard by the right people. Untargeted, irrelevant work simply reverberates around the digital universe, falling on deaf ears. I’m sure it’s dawned on you by now that yelling through a loudspeaker to whoever might be paying attention no longer works for us folks in B2B PR.
Meanwhile, a working week once punctuated by long lunches with trade journalists now flies by amid the daily combination of content creation and carving out precious media slots for your perfect prose.
In spite of this shift to targeted content, lots of businesses still see the value in ‘vanity’ PR. There is a case for it, after all. Raising awareness of a brand or organisation will never do any harm and can boost search engine ranking along the way.
But there are pitfalls in a singular, media noise-based approach. When was the last time a PR article written purely for the sake of untargeted profile-building helped secure a piece of business? A quantifiable win that could be directly attributed to opinion alone (your own opinion of its quality notwithstanding)?
Let me give you an example. Client X, MD of a customer experience marketing agency, wants to arrange a media tour (getting in front of as many journalists as possible on the same day) to wax lyrical about his ‘unique’ approach to digital transformation. When the journalist finally glazes over, she extricates herself from the meeting by agreeing to commission a two-page comment piece.
All well and good – and a great chance to set out positioning and include key messages – but how is that contributing to the ultimate goal of helping to book and close meetings with prospects?
Media relations and thought leadership in the trades is a faithful, but tired, tactic. As an ex-hack it pains me to say it, but publications are now only one ‘route to market’ for news and opinion. Enter PR’s role in content marketing: reaching the right person through the right channel at the right time.
Content is nothing new; in fact, it’s already becoming a cliché. Despite that, it’s growing in importance. The key to PR’s future success is to prove it can directly drive new business meetings.
Getting the nuts and bolts in place is paramount. Content creation should be a given. Clients naturally expect PRs to handle researching, writing, shaping and filming. What they may not realise is that a good content strategy means the creation of a day-to-day editorial calendar, encompasses targeted distribution, and ultimately underpins lead generation and nurturing.
In B2B PR, it’s now vital to develop ‘prospect journeys’ much like marketers do (or ought to do) for consumers. Get your content distribution strategy right and the person you’re targeting should have no excuse for ignoring the article, report, video or tweet you are putting directly in from of them.
There are so many different ways clients can spend budget these days that PR has to fight harder to prove its worth. Traditional aspects of our craft just don’t do that job. It’s time to get used to the idea that something many PRs never thought we’d do – namely, cosying up to the new business strategy and effectively becoming part of the lead gen team – is the way forward.
In the modern PR landscape it’s what you say and who you say it to – not how loud you say it – that matters.