Client: B2B technology provider, serving clients ranging from large brands to franchises
Situation: A B2B mobile technology provider – serving companies ranging from Sears and Redbox to quick-service restaurants and franchises – was on the verge of launching a new product. At the same time, the company was about to receive a major award and hoped to leverage this additional recognition to support the product launch. While the company’s original product was designed for large brands, the new product was created for small- to medium-businesses. By launching a “freemium” version, the company hoped to democratize the service, giving smaller organizations access to some of the mobile marketing tools used by their larger competitors.
After successfully launching the signature big-brand product and establishing a solid customer base, the company was entering a new market, which meant they needed to increase awareness among a new target audience – basically starting from scratch. While the client employed talented programmers, smart leadership, and savvy biz dev team, internal resources didn’t include anyone with a track record of securing strategically placed media coverage. However, the company believed that the right media could help them convey their expertise and value better than traditional or digital advertising alone.
And, that’s when they turned to Geben Communication.
Our plan of attack: We needed to educate potential customers about our client’s new, affordable service, while also showcasing its capabilities. The first step was to identify how we could reach would-be clients. We developed a media list of publications that the end-users would be likely to read, as well as sites read by potenital referral sources. Then, we went to work researching what kinds of content the editors would be open to receiving, how they like to be pitched, and what “ammunition” we could offer to pique their interest in our client.
Results: Taking the time to do this upfront strategy and research paid off. We secured a series of guest posts — a mix of case studies and “how to” posts — on targeted sites (those we’d identified as well-read by prospects and referrals). Each placement provided value to the reader, as well as a call-to-action to sign up for the client’s new service. Additionally, we secured interviews with key reporters, again increasing awareness and generating in-bound links to the client’s product-specific landing page.
The most important result? According to our client, traffic to the website that came directly from media placements converted into user sign-ups at a much higher rate than their other marketing efforts (e.g., pay-per-click ads, etc.). People were reading the articles we’d placed and going to the website to sign up for the new product.
Highly targeted, strategic media relations can — and should — have a direct impact on business goals. Taking the time to understand what sites and publications are read by prospects and referral sources and then generating coverage on those sites is a viable, effective PR strategy.
Click here to read additional Geben Communication case studies, or email heather [at] gebencommunication.com to learn how we can help you integrate traditional and digital PR to support business goals.
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