|
|
| Home - Industry Article - Feb 03 Issue |
PR Strategies for Enterprise Software
continued... page 2 |
A Case in Point:
The ultimate measurement of a business success is a sale. Typically, PR can help build a pipeline that your sales team must work and close. But in some cases, the output of a PR program can actually bring home a deal. For example, one terrific analyst reference established as a result of a good PR program could help close a customer. Datasweep, a maker of supply chain software based in San Jose, CA did exactly that when an analyst of a major IT research firm provided a large telecommunications company with research and insight that lead to an order worth more than a million dollars. The cost of the entire annual PR program was under $400,000. The ROI speaks for itself.
To provide context for the PR and sales challenge, Datasweep was a privately-held start-up at the time with a, a complex technology story and competition from industry giants claiming similar capabilities. “Public relations is the most strategic marketing investment this company has ever made,” said Matt Holleran, Datasweep’s former vice president of marketing. “The positioning work and hard-hitting media and analyst results PR generates each quarter pay for themselves 10x over what we invest. One of the reasons why is because we have been to focused on using PR to drive a handful of sales and business goals.”
Business successes attributed to public relations
- Overall, PR generated 5x more sales leads than advertising as measured by Datasweep’s lead tracking system from business press and trade press coverage
- Q4 2000 sales were 150% higher than projections
- Awards programs and local news coverage helped boost employee morale and recruiting in its efforts to triple the size of the sales force
- IT and vertical market coverage helped gain additional partners, more visibility, and increased website traffic.
The Ultimate Measurement.
The ultimate measurement of a business success is a sale. Typically, PR can help build a pipeline that your sales team must work and close. But in some cases, the output of a PR program can actually bring home a deal.
Myths of Measurement
Any ink is good ink. Never fall into the trap of quantity over quality. You may get lots of coverage, but is it positive? Does it mirror your current positioning and benefit messages? Less is more. One good paragraph on a major customer win in the Wall Street Journal will help you reach more business decision makers than a column in a 10 page industry trend piece in Database Programmer’s Journal.
PR is free advertising. It is a mistake to equate PR column inches to advertising dollar value. The beauty of PR is that it results in editorial coverage from a journalist that has far more credibility than ad copy any company with cash can write and pay for. Again, advertising dollar value is a quantitative measurement that takes no accounting for quality or credibility.
Pay by the hit PR: Compensating PR professional according to when a story is published is highly inadvisable. Unlike advertising, journalists do not make any guarantees on coverage. It just doesn’t work that way. In PR, the journey really is the reward. To be compensated based on the occurrence of a hit cheapens the strategy, thinking, relationship building and effort baked into helping a reporter put together a balanced story.
Next Steps
During these challenging economic times, public relations can be a primary driver of sales opportunities. The key to any successful PR effort is close alignment to tangible business objectives, and measurement of that effort against those objectives. If you’re ready to get started (or start over), begin by determining what your company’s business goals are for the next year.
About the Author: Sabrina Horn is President and founder of HGI, a leading PR consulting firm for enterprise software companies with offices across North America. She was elected to the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame in 1997 and recognized as one of PR’s most successful entrepreneurs by ‘Inside PR’ magazine. For more information about Sabrina or HGI, email: ameshulam@horngroup.com.
 
|
|
|
