Making B2B PR effective for demand generation

B2B Marketers, do you worry that your pitches are being ignored by journalists?

Getting the attention of journalists is among the top items in the wish lists of high performing marketers. You want to ensure that you secure more media interviews and all your interviews get published. But do you pursue journalists and they escape you?

[More from Maneesh Sah of Aon Hewitt and other senior B2B marketers at B2B Asia 2015. Join us on 20 November for a day of great presentations, case studies and sharing on the state of  B2B Marketing.] 

Here are 5 tips to turbocharge your B2B PR:

1. Provide a point of view, not data

In this age of content clutter and 24x7 connectivity, information is freely available.  So when journalists approach you for quotes, don’t just stop at providing information.  Instead, provide opinions and insights based on data and analyses so that they develop topical and relevant stories. Train your spokespersons to give local examples and references to help them build context and create meaning. A well-articulated point of view gets your quote published and helps your brand stand out. A good example of a strong point of view is this post in Aon Hewitt’s Insights@Work blog.

2. Show social proof, increase credibility

Invite journalists to attend your client events. Your participants’ presence and engagement levels present social proof about the relevance of your topics.  This increases the credibility of your message for the journalists.  Social proof is the concept that if we conform to the behaviour we see around us, we are less likely to make a mistake.

3. Help them build a complete story

Facilitate one to one discussions for the journalists with your speakers on the sidelines of the event. Also, offer to facilitate interviews with your clients who are attending the event. The scribes will thank you for it since this will help them to file comprehensive stories covering all angles (both from the supplier and buyer), making it easier to get them published. If you present only your spokesperson to the journalist, there is a real risk that your story won’t get published!

4. Produce by-lined articles

Editors are always on the lookout for quality content. But they are facing budget cuts with fewer full time journalists producing content for them.  Fill that gap by providing them with by-lined articles rich with commercial insights. Develop a strong understanding of your (and the publications’) audiences and produce by-lined articles addressing their pain points.  Quote data and findings from relevant research. If your story consists of only product plugs, it won’t get published.

A well written by-lined article can get you the coveted Op-Ed position increasing visibility of your experts. According to Hinge Marketing, Visible Experts get invited for pitches and consistently win more business for their firms. An example is here.

5. Humanise your brand

According to 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in corporate leaders is at an all-time low. CEOs are at the bottom of the list with extremely low trust levels. You can use PR to earn trust by humanizing your leadership team. Collaborate with editors to feature them in personality based profile stories.

Readers love authentic stories where they get to know the personal side of a leader. Anecdotes about their early career struggles, how they overcame them, their passions and even regrets can build a bond with your audiences.

Connection with your leaders will increase trust and differentiate your brand. Columns related to Leadership, Travel, Food and Health are ideal platforms for these. A good example of humanizing your brand is here

Use these tips to increase the quality of your engagement with editors to secure media interviews and get them published consistently. By doing that, you will transform your PR into a demand generation engine that accelerates brand favourability and sales.

The writer is Maneesh Sah, head of marketing - Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Aon Hewitt 

Hear more from Sah at #b2basia. 

To book your seats for the conference contact Czarina Solomon at czarinas@marketing-interactive.com or call +65 6423 0329 ext: 227, +65 8112 6351.

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To discuss the agenda, enquire about presenting or to suggest topics, contact Preeti Varadarajan at preetiv@marketing-interactive.com or +65 6423 0329