An interesting blog looking at how PR can lead to new buisness.
5 ways PR can lead to new business
There is a widespread misconception that public relations does not generate business leads.What many people do not realize is that the public often hears about companies or campaigns for the first time through various public relations efforts.
Whether it’s an article written about the company, or even something as simple as a tweet, PR can work some serious magic behind the scenes.
So how exactly does that help you generate leads? Take a look at these five PR tactics:
1. Generate inbound links
With all the media attention that your PR efforts are bringing to your business, it’s important to keep track of who is writing about you and what they are saying.
Set up a Google Alert for your company and executives to make sure you see everything that is published about them. Make sure that the articles that mention your company link back to your website or a landing page for one of your offers.
When people read an article about you or your company, it will encourage them to visit these pages where they can learn more about your product or service, making it more likely that they’ll convert into leads.
2. Publish your own press releases
It is important to create your own PR content, especially when you have an announcement about a new product or service. Even though people do not depend on press releases to get information to the extent that they used to, it is still a valuable way to publicize your content.
Once again, linking back to different parts on your website throughout your press release is a great way to generate leads by encouraging your readers to visit your site for more information.
3. Share customer success stories
Typically, prospective buyers like to hear about your company from sources other than your company’s website in order to find out about the experiences that others have had with your product or service and whether or not they would recommend your particular business.
Case studies are a great way to show off your company’s success while highlighting the specific benefits of buying your product. If you have recently developed a new feature of your product, you may want to emphasize how it contributed to a customer’s success with a detailed case study. Visitors to your website will be able to see firsthand how companies similar to them have benefited from your products or services.
4. Use social media
Social media is an extremely effective way to generate leads. Providing a glimpse into your business and a way to directly interact with your company encourages your fans and followers to take a look at your website and any pieces of content or landing pages you promote.
People who choose to connect with you through social media are more likely to want more information about your product or service. Even better, when these social media users retweet or share the information that you post, you’ll create even more awareness of your business, and even more leads.
5. Include CTAs
It’s crucial to include a call-to-action in every piece of content you create. How do you expect visitors to convert into leads without giving them a way to do it? Linking to landing pages in your content is great, but you also need to tell the visitor what to do next.
At the end of your press releases, blog posts, tweets or any other promotional materials, include calls-to-action that will take them to a landing page where they can fill out a form to download your ebook, register for your next webinar, or sign up for a free trial or demo of your product. Voila, more leads.
Marketing takeaway
Public relations can be a great lead generation tool for your company. Every time your company is featured in an article, every time you tweet or post content on Facebook, and every time you write a press release, you’ve got another opportunity to generate leads.
Use calls-to-action in all of these to direct your readers to the next steps toward becoming leads by encouraging them to download more of your content or take advantage of an offer that will help them learn more about your product. Start implementing these five strategies to convert more of your visitors into leads, and before you know it, you’ll be ready to start using lead nurturing and lead management to turn all those leads into customers.
Rachel Sprung is an inbound marketer at HubSpot. HubSpot is a marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA, that makes inbound marketing and lead management software.
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