Brand awareness is blurry…but mighty. This is the final post in a three-part series that uncovers the hidden value and benefits of public relations for early stage technology companies.
Admit it – when you see your brand in a media outlet it makes you smile, boosts your ego and validates every fiber of your being. The truth is – PR reps get just as excited to see their clients in the news as you do. But landing a headline is just the beginning…
Rarely can just one media placement make all your customer acquisition dreams come true. Studies consistently show that it takes 7 to 13 touchpoints to generate a qualified sales lead. (If you’re a startup with zero brand awareness, this number can be even higher.) Unfortunately, it can become impossible to track those 7 to 13 touchpoints and accurately identify what single PR tactic spawned a lead.
Think about the last time you filled out a questionnaire that asked, “How did you first hear about us?” Chances are, it was a combination of word-of-mouth, SEO, media coverage, etc. that led you to that particular brand, and you frankly have no idea how you first heard about it.
The beauty of today’s media landscape is that you can amplify one press article to generate greater brand awareness by distributing it aggressively via social media and content marketing. Simply put, you can improve your chances of making multiple touchpoints by leveraging all available channels. At Alloy, we call it the “new PR” (learn more about our integrated communications approach to PR campaigns).
For example, if your company appears on NBC Nightly News, you can pitch your local NBC affiliate and encourage them to repurpose the story for your hometown audience. Many times bloggers, professional associations and other influencers will promote a brand that made a national broadcast. Additionally, you can push the coverage out through your company’s social media channels, post it to your online newsroom, draft a blog post about it and include it in your email marketing. To reach an even larger audience, all of your employees can share the article through their individual social media accounts – reaching potentially tens of thousands.
Bottom line, PR is an investment. Many times this investment produces immediate results, but it always builds over time, often snowballing into game changing relationships, traction, deals and sales. If your technology company is ready to #makenews and realize the full benefits of PR, contact Alloy for a quote on traditional services.