Vague goals
The Public Relations investment was tied to outcomes such as “increased visibility” or “leadership positioning”. Vague objectives. With objectives, there needs to be mutual agreement on specific outcomes, a detailed program, choice of social platforms, use of target media sectors, etc. This all needs to be worked out in detail. There are manuals on the internet for this. Vague objectives do not work.
Nothing new
The appeal of news is that it must be current, innovative or relevant to the media. So use the expertise of a Public Relations team or external professionals. They immerse themselves in the journalist and his/her principles, so they act accordingly. So don’t go tinkering yourself.
Speed and multiplicity
Once you get to the point where you want to go to the media, you tend to want a lot of information in the media quickly. That’s not always the best solution. Sometimes you have to wait for the right time for a campaign. And be limited, but effective in the information. Take the time for good preparation and make sure that the attention is drawn immediately. Getting a lot of information into the media quickly is usually a waste of time and money.
Highfalutin
Not every promotional story is an opinion piece for the Financial Journal or some other national medium. Unless uniqueness is involved, but that is usually not the case. So make an appropriate choice of medium. Know that if it is interesting, that media tends to follow it. If the other media also pick it up, you will still have the result of a larger spread. Start with an appropriate medium and build that into a top story for the future.
Personalize the media pitch
Top media outlets are only interested in exclusive posts. They do not benefit if readers dismiss their media pitch as spam. If there is no exclusivity, a media pitch will be forwarded many times to journalists. Try to personalize a media pitch and send it in a targeted way to selected media, so that they recognize the personalization and publish it.
Service
Within the B2B industry, service is an extremely important tool. The content of that service is based in part on communicating and solving customer problems, providing useful information and support to that end user. Don’t put the focus on selling, because that will backfire.
Word of mouth
An external professional will have to read up very well on all the ins and outs of the product and the company. That also has a price tag. After all, an overly cautious or commercial spokesperson may not kill the presentation.
The CEO or a senior executive of the company, speaking on behalf of the company, knows the facts, controls the process, provides evidence as an argument and has the focus on the whole. Train this and it has results.
Also read our blog about augmented reality.