Sometimes when change happens, you don’t see the change coming, but when it does, it’s hugely significant. With ever increasing dependence on digital technology amongst businesses and individuals, this is exactly what has happened within the B2B PR industry.
Below we share some advice on how to make your B2B public relations campaign dominate in the digital age.
Use Social Media to your Advantage
One of the huge influencers, and one of the driving forces for such a dramatic change, is the importance of social media. Today it is easy to have a dialogue online with reporters and clients via LinkedIn and Twitter. It is a fast way in which to send out any press releases and related images, as you have a ready and captive audience.
Successful B2B PR uses social media to its advantage. The use of the Twitter hashtag enables prospective clients and those individuals who work in a similar industry to easily find you and your brand. First you need to find the right social media platform to fit your needs. Then you need to capitalise on it with a distinctive, consistent, on-point brand and an engaging campaign for maximum exposure.
Collate Results, Evaluate and Adjust
Today, online B2B PR can be measured. You can analyse anything from the number of social media shares and how many clicks per page your website receives, to how much time people spend engaging with your content. Carefully collating results will allow you to tweak the way in which you use your marketing resources, enabling you to gain a larger, more engaged, and more valuable audience.
Identify your Audience
A major factor in running a successful PR campaign of any type is that of identifying and then understanding your target audience. Once this is understood, you can then tailor your content. The format is important, as is the timing and delivery. Customer profiling is vital for successful B2B PR. You should be looking to find out the company position and location of every relevant decision maker for every potential client, their interests, values and most importantly how they view you and your business. This applies to all suppliers and other business contacts.
The Importance of Attainable Goals
We all know the importance of setting goals in order to strive towards success. However, when it comes to successful and productive B2B PR, setting goals is vital. Clear, results- focused objectives allow you to view your achievements and successes, which then set in motion new goals to be achieved. It is important to keep in mind those goals that you wish to achieve via your B2B PR campaign. These could include goals for boosting your brand awareness, establishing media and online presence and ultimately to generate leads. All of these goals are important for success, but also as a means of establishing the way forward for your business and creating a path to follow. In terms of increasing brand awareness, you would need to identify the client base and what social media platform is most suitable.
High Quality Online Content to Inform your Audience
Your website is your shop window. Getting this right is vital and it should be informative, eye catching and the go to place for all related information for your chosen industry. You should strive to be the most informative and knowledgeable website within your business’ industry in order to prove your mettle and to show a willingness to help and inform. This is achieved via informative blog posts, ‘how to’ articles and engaging professional videos. Find out the most asked questions relating to your industry and provide those all-important online answers. Infographics, images and case studies, are also useful online tools for giving information.
Search Engine Optimisation
There is no use in having an all-singing, all-dancing website if it is not fully optimised for search engines. If it is not, then you will most certainly be losing out on potential clients. Optimised content will make you more visible to search engines and will greatly improve your brand awareness.