No business operates in a vacuum. Whatever you do, you have to share your story with others to build understanding, dialogue and the trust that sustains business relationships. This is especially true today, when there is so much chatter and noise, your message needs cut through the clamour.
One aim of PR is earning attention. Every business has stories to tell: about research and development, training, investment, problem solving, skills, people, technical breakthroughs, business gains, innovation and more. These are unique stories that together build a complete picture of your company. Paid media channels cannot do this. Social media cannot do this, but owned media, when professionally executed, can provide an additional channel for the engaged business partner.
Earning attention is not easy. It requires a feel for news values, an appreciation of human relations, business issues, economic and technical developments so that the stories offered attract attention. This is essential because the editors, publishers and producers who are the gatekeepers to print, online and broadcast media want relevant, lively content that will engage their audiences.
Developing meaningful content requires research. Technical B2B audiences want facts, not fluff. Why are you investing in research development? Who is driving the research? What outcomes do you expect and when? Where is this taking place and how will the new technology be commercialised? How many new jobs will this bring? The form of research questions will differ with every story and for different media outlets because the message needs to be tuned to make it relevant to the gatekeeper and audience segment.
Sometimes, but less often these days, we can spread the message with a simple press release. Often the story needs more than this. Case studies are perfect to talk about problem solving and technical issues. Bringing in comment from a user of the product or service adds reality and credibility. Feature articles, negotiated and placed with targeted core media outlets, are an ideal medium for exploring issues and promotion ideas in greater depth. White papers are the ideal medium for demonstrating expertise and thought leadership.
Every company has multiple stories to tell. In most cases the natural content to sustain a rolling programme for media outreach already exists. We can help you mine that content, engage with your experts and construct the stories that editors and producers are clamouring for.
If you require public relations and content creation services contact us now.