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Like many other industries, the PR industry has adapted to the digital landscape. With many media publications having a strong online presence and podcasts and video platforms becoming more and more influential, PR has moved from traditional TV and newspaper media coverage to a much more dynamic environment. This environment contains a set of new strategies, techniques and implementations that define a new way to do more detailed and advanced, scale PR. Many CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) are accustomed to the old method of PR and are still tracking and analyzing their PR efforts based on irrelevant data which has nothing to do with the actual results and effectiveness of their campaigns. In this article, I will list 5 key points that CMOs need to consider when effectively running a modern PR campaign.
In modern public relations, quantity is just as important as quality
When a CMO contacts me for PR services, usually they have already tried PR. If they raise a fair amount of money, they probably get some excellent media coverage in places like Techcrunch or VentureBeat. The thing is they thought it was enough. One or two articles expected on major news sites will make a huge difference in their business. While you can get a lot of website visitors from TechCrunch articles for a day or two, it is not enough to stand alone in such a noisy landscape and gain enough brand awareness. In order for a PR campaign to work, your company needs to be consistently featured. Not every article has to be on Techcrunch, and diversifying into population, outlet size, and audience segments is actually a very powerful way to achieve business results from PR.
Related: 7 must know public relations strategies for 2022
Thought leadership is more important than news announcements
At my PR agency, we refer to some startups in the ecosystem as “advertising enthusiasts.” Basically, these are startups who like to announce funding, hiring and how many ice cream machines they have in their office. While I’m not against fundraising, it’s not enough to provide your ideal audience with the information and value they need to find out about your product or service. This is why thought leadership articles and interviews are so important because they allow you and your startup to interact with key product and technology features, as well as gain a competitive market advantage. Also, thought leadership is much more sustainable, and it also brings value to media publications that can give their readers broad insights that they can’t find anywhere else.
Related: Think about how to win the leadership arms race in 2022
If in doubt, expand
Sometimes I hear CMOs say: ‘We just shared the article about us on Monday, let’s wait for next week to share the new article we mentioned.’ Dear CMO, please realize that you need to constantly publish and share things in order to stand out and cut the noise. Technology is competitive. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. Also, sharing is caring, so when you share, you also help the journalist who wrote the article, encouraging him to write more about you. So, don’t wait a week until you share another article.
Advertising as insurance
Often, CMOs come to me and say they want to hit a super detailed audience. They put a very specific job title or two in a small niche. The only way to do this and make sure you’re hitting your niche-level target audience is through LinkedIn ads. This is the only platform out there that can guarantee you to hit a specific job title in a specific company. If you earn media coverage, set an advertising budget to show your earned articles in your ideal target persona.
Related: Promotion is not free advertising. Don’t waste your effort to get the press by slipping into sales mode.
PR is a long term investment
The powerful thing about media coverage is that once you get an article featuring your startup, it’s always there, syndicated to Google. It’s not like an ad, where once you turn it off, it no longer converts. With PR, your content is always one click away from providing you with a great client, partnership or contract. This is why your PR should be seen as a long term strategy that can prove your ROI for a longer period of time than other marketing activities. Also, your brand’s trust authority is enhanced when a potential person googles you and sees that you’ve been featured in high-profile media publications.
