Use PR To Build Credibility and Boost Sales

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Your lead generation channels have reached a plateau, and your sales operation is stuck in second gear. Enough is happening to get by, but that electrifying atmosphere is waning. PR might help kick things up a notch, but where exactly do you start?

Mickie Kennedy, Founder & CEO of eReleases, a leader in affordable press release writing and distribution, provides the answer.

PR strategy must-haves

The role of the press release.

It’s not a copy-and-paste scenario. You need to provide newsworthy facts for the journalists to turn into articles.

Have no news? Make your own.

It takes less than a week to craft and distribute a survey, interpret the data and represent it in a valuable way to journalists and their audiences.

Variety is the spice of life.

Only 15 years ago, bloggers and online influencers weren’t invited to the newswire parties, but everything has since changed. Not only have the professional profiles diversified, but so too has the content format: audio and video content is taking over.

Stay one step ahead

Preparing the perfect press release.

Don’t overthink it. Don’t complicate it. State the facts and provide statistics, impact statements and contact information. Then step back and let the journalists do their job.

Think about what you’re sending from the journalist’s perspective. Include controversial or thought-provoking quotes — it’s okay to color a little outside the lines here.

Making your own news doesn’t mean fabricating it.

There’s a difference between generating and fabricating information. Today it’s possible to spin up a viable survey in a few hours using social media platforms and survey tools to gather data related to your newsworthy topic.

Create compelling infographics out of the data, or, even better, an interactive dashboard.

Expand the scope and depth of your list.

While you’re trying to find more journalists, search for more people of influence across multiple channels: YouTubers, Instagram influencers, bloggers, you name it.

“There are Instagram influencers with more pull than some industry trade publications.”

Mickie Kennedy, Founder & CEO of eReleases

Profitable PR in action

A local carpet company was struggling: They put out a monthly press release with no traction after almost half a year, so Mickie turned their strategy around by asking them what they knew about the industry that buyers didn’t.

Their response: Bigger enterprises in their industry were appointing contractors for installations which meant the chain of accountability was fragmented, and, while cheaper, quality issues continued to surface for customers.

Using eReleases’ magic contrarian formula, the local company switched focus to the inferior quality of padding being installed in many homes. This was picked up locally and traded up the media chain, enabling employees to share their press coverage while calling on prospects.

The coverage from media outlets trusted by those prospects increased sales by 20%. Now that’s profitable PR.

Mickie’s parting advice is to measure everything, not just your ads, and take advantage of split testing.

Now that you’re on your way to a winning PR operation, are you ready to dive into public sector lead gen or how to build a repeatable sales process? Check out the full list of episodes: The B2B Revenue Executive Experience.

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