Ahh, the joy of entering new relationships especially with your new B2B marketing and PR agency. Think back to the time you gathered the nerves to ask your first crush out on a date or accepted a date from someone you had a crush on. There is something innately scary, yet exhilarating, about allowing someone into your personal space whom you know will challenge you, excite you, and open up a world of new experiences for you. These same feelings are primarily the same happy/tentative feelings many B2B companies have once they choose to outsource and select their new marketing and public relations agency.
When B2B companies decide to devote company resources to outsource and hire a marketing and PR firm, two questions should be at the forefront of their final decision: Has this agency ensured us they understand our brand and business objectives? Can they make a solid contribution to our overall profitability? Over the past decade, there has been a shift in the balance of power in B2B public relations and marketing transcending traditional media and coalescing with digital media. Since the B2B public relations and marketing ecosystem continues to evolve at unprecedented rates, it is vital for brands to select a marketing and PR agency who understands not only their brand but also marketing and PR best practices amongst the changing face of the profession.
Let’s review several key factors that will guide you when selecting the best B2B PR and marketing company for your specific needs.
Industry Connections
Every industry has an ecosystem of influential editors, journalists, and social media influencers in each market. Elite PR and marketing agencies should be well-versed in the art of securing important, influential industry connections. In fact, they should already have the industry connections and communicating with them on a regular basis. Creating value for B2B clients by new media connections or through significant introductions of two business conglomerates is the lifeblood of effective integrated marketing and PR agencies. Moreover, while media lists are pulled from a plethora of paid sources, only the best PR and content marketing companies have a built-in, ready-to-fire media list of personal contacts in the industry. Perhaps if appropriate for your B2B marketing and PR campaigns celebrity and social media influencers they can contact and have existing relationships with them of their agents that are relevant to your industry. Despite marketing and public relations automation software, pitching via “spray and pray” does not yield the best results. The human touch is critical in both marketing and public relations.
Industry Expertise
The digital age has created an endless appetite for market-specific content in every niche imaginable. In its wake, it has produced a demand for highly, valuable content placement opportunities, out of which the smartest integrated B2B PR and content marketing agencies can secure for their clients. An agency that contains a robust expertise in the industry will have a trail of success to corroborate it. When evaluating agencies, asking for a list past placements for your specific industry niche. For firms to engineer success for B2B marketing and PR campaigns, their industry knowledge must be extensive enough to provide your company or organization a competitive advantage. In addition, all agency team members should be experts in research and market analysis.
Tailored Makreting and PR Services List
Ever heard of the metaphor, “too many pots on the stove”? This occurs in agencies when they attempt to do too many things at once, resulting in a lack of focus, poor results and diminished ROI for your B2B company. Don’t be fooled by agencies promising the world, because ‘there is nothing beyond their reach.’ When the truth is, some things may very well be. Firms that provide a tailored, structured list of services for your business are better positioned to produce increased ROI, customized reporting, and access to senior management not just a junior account manager. Just as you would not want an ophthalmologist performing your brain surgery, you do not want a marketing and PR agency who oversells themselves with a never-ending list of services that are not tailored to your specific B2B marketing and PR needs, goals, and objectives.
Technology Matters
Successful marketing and PR agencies in today’s marketplace, are agile and technically astute. Technology is part of everything that relevant, and successful marketing PR agencies do—they realize that it makes their jobs easier and provides fresh and innovative ways to connect with journalists, trade media, influencers and consumers. Technological advances such as media monitoring, influencer list-building tools, CRM integration and high-level reporting software have ushered in a proliferation of new media opportunities that have given agencies much-needed leverage and drastically overhauled the way they operate.
Start a conversation with Dreamweaver Brand Communications
Leading public relations agencies, such as Dreamweaver Brand Communications, know the value of and ROI of an integrated PR and marketing campaign. We have a recorded history of delivering value with consistency and unrelenting persistence. Contact us today to learn more about our tailored list of services that are designed to help you meet your B2B business objectives.
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