How to Get Creative in Building B2B PR
B2B public relations strategy is crucial to building the healthy business relationship with company stakeholders. They can be customers, public, suppliers, media agencies, Government and any other companies beneficial to the organization. Getting creative in B2B Public relations strategy means one come up with innovative ideas and solution to build organization relationship with its stakeholders to exchange mutual win for winning benefits for his company. These benefits can be fame, brand strengthening, positive image or strategic alliance, social recognition among the public, gaining credibility; trust in relationships and educating company positive brand value and image. Here as B2B PR personnel, one needs to think company benefits over the price. The PR campaign of B2B aims to highlight unique value and crafts a plan to reach key decision players. The B2B PR messages target B2B industry mainly. For this reason, word tends to be more complicated and sophisticated. To start the journey of creativity in the B2B PR, one can go through the creative process while thinking to generate creative sparks in making a strategy of PR B2B.
Orientation In this phase, B2B PR person needs to research the client market and immerse himself into the situation and business of the client or the organization. Think about client behavior, what are the needs and daily problems he encounters. You can also perform a research survey and note down crucial information to notice. Here, one also needs to work out on key players who can play the decisive role in PR success. The key people who are working in media, social media target audience, key personnel in other companies for developing strategic relationships, etc.
Preparation Here, one needs to go through industry knowledge, keep in touch with the industry and product news on offline and online mediums. If you notice on watching TV, you will come across different new technologies, product, and company latest updates and information. For this purpose, you can check out some TV channels or Programs and their timing about your product or industry. However, you can also browse Google NEWS option and play around different keywords check out the latest researches on your product and industry. Also check out information and updates of media groups, relevant company’s personnel, and B2B social media trends.
Focus In the above two phases, you can try to get as many pieces of information as you can. Moreover, you can expand the canvass of your activities on following PR activities. In other words, PR personnel needs to focus on speaking opportunities, strategic partnerships, and media relations, developing marketing and corporate material, social media usage, and crisis management, etc.
Formation Here, you can try to generate ideas on every option of B2B media public relation doorstep. Try to schedule your time that you can focus equally on what can be speaking opportunities, ways of strategic partnerships or alliances, anything creative to use in marketing material to arrest the attention of people, smart ways of using social media and techniques to effectively responding to crisis management.
Equation To generate creative sparks, you can use some innovative techniques. Like brainstorming, (you can discuss problems, needs, solutions, and strategies with your colleagues, friends, and customers and jot down unique and practical answers for executing PR strategy). Juxtaposition (putting two ideas side by side and see how they match), you can also a take time to think consistently on one problem and issue. Like you start believing in the morning, you will see your subconscious mind is giving you ideas and solutions time by time which make you surprise to get productive solutions. You can make a note of all those ideas, and creative sparks then use it promptly to strategize useful PR function.
Evaluation Here, you need to evaluate the solutions and ideas which are useful and ineffective. You can separate the workable ideas from dull ones. Then choose the correct timing of applying the best approach at the right forum.
Valuable Tips to Employ Creativity in B2B PR Strategy
Twitter is a great social media tool to connect and reach to the masses. However, Facebook and LinkedIn are also vital in establishing strong business relationships with the B2B intermediaries. Don’t depend on Press releases they sound to be dull and less worthwhile. In this age, the world is not going to set on fire hence the old spray and pray fashion of press release is not worthy of throwing great impact on your client business. If you are doing a media release, think about is this necessary to send this information to stakeholders? Will it create the effect or not? Monitor social trends about your company, products, and industry then align it with your target audience on social media. Using video information is catchier to the target audience online as compared to the text. As people are more inclined to see and listen rather than immerse themselves into the long dry paragraphs. Coordinate media channels, anchors, and personnel who can help you in sponsoring events, giving interviews and publish relevant news and reports on media which can provide fame to your organization and brand. Find out connections of strategic alliances or strategic relationships with other B2B companies in the industry. They can be product joint ventures to reduce cost or promotional alliances to reach quality prospects in low cost with high ROI.