Is PR in Your Business-to-Business Marketing Toolkit? | B2B ...

We?re very happy to have Julie Rogier, Principal of Rogier Communications, return this month as a guest blogger for B2B Inbound Online. ?Julie shares her knowledge and insights on using public relations (PR) as an integral part of your B2B Marketing mix.

Guest Post by Julie Rogier

Principal, Rogier Communications

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A public relations (PR) program can serve as a useful component of your overall marketing toolkit. ?PR programs enhance awareness of your organization and support branding.? PR also fosters engagement with key audiences.

It?s important to remember that a PR program isn?t just about issuing a press release every once in a while. ??Instead, it is a systematic and consistent effort that supports larger strategic marketing and business goals.

With that being said, issuing press releases about your organization?s timely news, new customer wins, industry trends or other topics is indeed important.? Here are tips to keep in mind:

1)??? Be selective.? It?s wise to reserve a press release for significant developments happening in your organization. The topic should be timely, have a sense of urgency and relevance to general industry trends.

2)??? Be consistent.? Develop a press release format that follows industry practices.?? Aim to keep the release concise, preferably to a single page. Craft a brief description of your organization for the lead paragraph and use it consistently. Develop a consistent ?About? paragraph for the conclusion of the release with your organizations URL.

3)??? Consider keywords. To maximize the benefits of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), include keywords in your press release that your prospects are likely to search on.? Insert those keywords in the title of your press release, subtitle and in the first paragraph.

4)??? Know your targets. Send news releases to editors and reporters you?ve researched beforehand. These might include local business editors and trade publications.? It?s helpful to have read materials by the reporters to be sure they cover the topics addressed in your press release.

5)??? Use distribution services. Consider using PR distribution services to supplement your distribution and ensure that your releases get into news retrieval databases. Fee-based services include PR Newswire and MarketWatch.? Free online release distribution services include:

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About Julie Rogier:

Julie Rogier is principal of?Rogier Communications?and a marketing communications and PR specialist for business-to-business organizations. Follow Julie on?twitter.com/jrogier

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Image Credit:?Per Erik Strandberg

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