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May 23, 2017
You EARNED It: 7 Things You Can Do With a B2B Media Hit
Zhana Veleska

You finally got the recognition you’ve been waiting for with a feature story on your product – congratulations! Favorable media placements increase your brand awareness, provide third-party credibility and can ultimately lead to more business.

Now what? If you assume that the story, on its own, will reach large numbers of the B2B audience you target for your marketing campaigns, you’re mistaken. Remember that positive earned B2B media coverage is an incredibly valuable piece of content, and you can make it even more so by extending its life and amplifying its audience.

Here are seven ways to get the most out of your public relations investment.

When an article is published or an interview is aired, check all social media accounts related to the publication and the writer or producer – retweet them, share the article and say thanks! This will help build your relationship with the writer or producer, and increase the odds that they’ll turn to you as a source again in the future. Additionally, do a quick search and add popular industry hashtags to your post to increase your views.

2. Be loud and proud.

Significant PR placements deserve to be featured on your website’s home page. Even if you already have a separate press section on your site, not everyone will necessarily visit that page. You want your latest and greatest achievements to be front and center, so you could come up with a teaser on the home page that leads people to the story.

3. End on a high note.

Close your emails by highlighting top-tier industry or national placements in your signature. Include the publication’s logo or a nice quote from the article and hyperlink to it.

4. Start listening.

Most online publications offer a comments section for readers to provide feedback. You should be monitoring all comments and responding as appropriate. Keeping the conversation going helps to drive traffic to your site.

5. Call in reinforcements.

Email the placement to internal team members, encouraging them to engage with the post and share it with their networks. Provide training as necessary to help them understand why this is important and how easy it is to do on platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

6. Go old school.

Print out the article so your sales team can use it as a leave-behind at trade shows or meetings with prospects. Media placements make great reading material in your office lobby, too.

7. Add it to the toolbox.

Great content has more than one life, and if you’re strategic, it can be used again and again in a variety of marketing and communications campaigns. Include the hit in your next customer newsletter or link to it in a company blog post. You can also use a published piece as a jumping-off point for your next piece of owned content. Take it one step further and use this as an opportunity to tell your brand story in another way.

Bonus Tip: Don’t forget to throw it back on #TBT.

Throwback Thursday provides individuals and companies alike the perfect opportunity to relive their glory days, or re-share their favorite media hits!

What’s the first thing you do with a media placement?