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By Rachel Hunt, DPR Group (Published
February 6, 2006)
Is your company a well-oiled publicity machine that regularly “gets
ink” in key newspapers, magazines, and websites? Do your clients
regularly say that they read about you in a magazine or newspaper?
Have you ever gotten sales leads because of an announcement or
article that appeared about your company? If you answered “yes”:
Congratulations! You can stop reading this article.
However, if you are among the many technology companies that have
thought about doing some kind of public relations or “PR,”
yet still need to develop a strategy and enact a plan as to how
it will be performed – then read on.
PR is often considered to be something that is nice to have, but
not something that’s required. In fact, technology companies
typically focus so deeply on developing and delivering their products
and services that their efforts to create buzz about their company
move farther down their to-do list as the year progresses.
The plain and simple truth is that your prospects are more likely
to buy from companies that they have heard of before. And your prospects
are more likely to know about your company if you begin to develop
this recognition through a consistent PR program.
Fortunately, you can take a few steps now to ensure better industry
exposure in 2006. The following action items will help get you started:
- Plan your announcements. What will your company be doing that
will likely be “newsworthy” in 2006? Are you launching
new software or technology, hiring a new VP, or opening a new
office? Map out several potential topics and plan to have a steady
flow of news to the media, your customers, and your prospects.
– Identify the media. Editors are typically overwhelmed,
and many receive hundreds of news announcements each day. So it’s
necessary to not only identify the best reporters and editors
for your news, but engage them in a way that is relevant to their
needs.
– Examine your online newsroom. When a writer wants to find
out more about your organization, how many clicks will it take
them to obtain information about your company? A must-have for
your company’s website is an online newsroom, which should
include your latest press releases, articles about your company,
and your media/PR contacts. Other items to include are management
bios and your corporate fact sheet, which should be reviewed and
updated on a regular basis.
– Designate speakers. Who is authorized to speak for your
company? And are they fully prepared to jump in if the media calls?
Choose your best, most knowledgeable communicators and make sure
that they are trained in advance of any call or meeting with the
media. You will also likely want your PR contact to sit in on
every meeting with the media to ensure consistency and to follow-up
as needed.
– Identify analysts. Research analysts closely follow all
types of companies and technologies. It is important to get --
and remain -- on the radar screens of the analysts that follow
your business. Informational briefings with the best analysts
for your company begin with identifying those firms that cover
your market space.
– Prepare for a major launch. Many companies will spend
time, effort and money to bring new software solutions and services
to market, and then wonder why their key publications do not write
about their groundbreaking products. To help ensure success, develop
and stick to a timeline that includes action items such as meeting
with analysts, obtaining quotes from beta users, and developing
graphics, photos and marketing materials.
– Find someone to do the work. Often, the responsibility
for PR is performed by someone such as a marketing manager or
director of business development, who already has a full plate.
These individuals are already responsible for tradeshows, company
events, sales proposals and presentations, and a wide array of
cross-functional projects. In such cases it may make sense to
hire someone with PR-specific skills or outsource the function.
The best PR programs are consistent, executed properly and align
with your corporate strategy. With an effective PR approach, you
will stand apart from the competition and help ensure positive coverage.
With the right PR program, even the biggest PR skeptics can become
true believers.
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