Your brand needs PR more than you think, especially if you want to generate income. As PR professionals, we may seem biased, but here’s the truth: PR is in charge of putting your products and services in front of the eyes of your target audience. It’s what shows consumers that you exist and can provide the solutions to their problems.
Once people see your brand for the first time, they’ll begin to notice it more frequently—this is called frequency bias. Frequency bias plays into the idea that once we notice something for the first time, we’re more likely to continue noticing it. And the more we see something, the more inclined we are to trust it—especially if some places people see your brand are esteemed industry publications.
According to Forrester, you’ll need to be in front of your consumers 27 times during their buyer’s journey before converting and making a purchase. With PR working on your side, those 27 touchpoints will happen more quickly, and each touchpoint will be more impactful—helping you build trust.
So how does PR generate revenue? It creates brand visibility through frequency bias while building credibility and trust—all of which leads to higher conversion rates and an increase in share of voice. With that said, here are five ways you can use PR to generate revenue for your business.
Related Post: How PR Impacts the Sales Funnel
Five Ways PR Can Drive Revenue For Your Company
Focus on Visibility
Like we mentioned earlier, getting people to notice your brand and develop frequency bias is a huge goal of B2B PR. So focusing your efforts on building visibility will only increase your company’s opportunities to build frequency bias. The more a person notices your brand, the more familiar they become. The more familiar they become with your brand, the more credibility you will have. And the more credibility, the more likely they are to spend their hard-earned money with your brand.
Develop Partnerships
When we think of partnerships in PR, we often focus on important reporters, media outlets, and even other organizations. But if we consider partnerships beyond publications and journalists, a new door opens to work with respected influencers and industry thought leaders. Similar to a newspaper reporter or a radio spokesperson giving a shout-out to your product, when well-known influencers and industry leaders talk about your product, it builds credibility for your brand. Additionally, because influencers and industry leaders often have captive audiences, working with them can give your brand access to a specific target market that you may not have been able to reach so readily otherwise.
B2B influencer marketing can help build your brand’s social proof—and that’s important since we know most B2B purchase journeys begin with online research.
Be Authentic
Building an authentic brand is crucial to developing trust with your target audience. Consumers have developed an acute spidey sense for insincerity, and they will let you know when they sniff it out. Since no one wants that PR crisis, focus on expressing your brand messaging in the most authentic, truthful way. Fact-check everything you share, avoid generalized statements about your brand without stats to back it up, and, perhaps most importantly, listen to your audience.
All too often, companies get caught up in the message they want to send to their potential buyers. They are focused on what they say and how they say it, which is undoubtedly important. But remember that the feedback loop is faster than ever, and consumers will let you know when they don’t love what you have to say. Even if they don’t express it on social media, they’ll show it by where they spend their money.
When you accurately and truthfully represent your brand and communicate transparently with consumers, winning market share is much easier.
Related Post: 5 Steps to Developing an Outstanding Brand Voice on Social Media
Show You Care
Now more than ever, consumers want companies to stand for something. Research shows that 46% of people believe that companies need to take more responsibility for their role in society, with 55% of people saying they’re more likely to make a purchase from a company that shows empathy. This is true in both the B2B and B2C markets—and consumers are demanding real action, not just donations and supportive press releases.
Not sure what your company should “stand for”? Find a cause in your industry or community you can really get behind—or even poll employees or your customers to find out what causes they care about most.
Have a Plan
PR by itself is great, but PR as a part of a larger B2B marketing strategy will really kick things up a notch. Here at Zen Media, our PR agency uses the term “PR ecosystem” to describe how PR is part of a marketing plan but needs to be combined with other strategies like social media, paid ads, and content marketing to make it as effective as it can be.
Having a full plan in place in support of PR efforts means that any PR hits your brand achieves get amplified and repurposed on social media, blog content, and more. Maximizing every piece of coverage solidifies your brand messaging, increases visibility, and drives traffic to your website. All of which, you guessed it, can help increase your revenue.
Planning and executing a PR plan to increase business revenue can be overwhelming. Building strategy, developing partnerships, managing brand voice, and measuring it all? Yeah, we know—it’s a lot. But never fear; Zen Media is here.
Need help developing a PR plan to increase your revenue? Reach out.
