Several years ago we helped enterprise application integration vendor SAGA Software launch a new product. Interest from the analyst community was high. The media coverage was excellent. Conferences warmly welcomed the CTO as a speaker.
Yet, the PR placement that resulted in the most positive impact on SAGA’s sales pipeline came from an unexpected place: a vendor produced e-newsletter.
Proactive outreach to the industry analyst and media communities is the staple of most public relations programs. The increased awareness and credibility conferred by these influential audiences creates an environment in which a company can more successfully execute its growth strategy.
Core media and analyst outreach is just the baseline though. Strategic subscribes to a more creative PR approach. We work with our clients to take a deeper look at the possible channels we can tap to communicate with their most important audiences – customers, prospects, investors and employees.
Here are a couple of high-value targets we’ve identified:
1. Vendor-produced publications, e-newsletters and user conferences. Talk to your partners to learn how they market to their customers and prospects. Can you contribute a bylined article to their e-newsletter? Will they include one of your executives on a panel at their user conference?
For SAGA, our coverage in a newsletter Emailed by ERP vendor SAP to 10,000 of their customers – highly qualified, senior IT decision-makers – produced a flurry of leads.
2. Trade associations and industry groups. Many of them publish magazines, newsletters and content on their Web sites. Identify the groups with which your company is affiliated (both at the corporate and individual levels) and ask how you can support their publications with thought leadership content.
For instance, Strategic recently coordinated a Q&A with RFID edgeware provider GlobeRanger’s founder and CTO for AIIM’s series of executive podcasts. GlobeRanger’s VP of Engineering and Chief of Architect has also been centrally involved in EPCglobal’s Software Action Group and, as such, has been a vocal and visible proponent of industry certification efforts in a variety of public forums and related media initiatives.
3. Personalized social networks. Marc Andreessen’s new venture Ning hosts a myriad of user-created communities. Do a quick search to identify issues that are important to your company? And then contribute to the content via blog posts, podcasts and comment. This is a great way to reach targets who have already qualified themselves by shared topics of interest.
