PR doesn't stand for Press Releases. It stands for Public Relations and everything you do in public affects it. Find out what PR is and what it will do. How it can enhance your profile but won't generate leads. It's not supposed to. Find more resources like this at http://www.technoledge.com.au/b2b-marketing-trends

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What is PR?
According to some people, PR is as simple as a press
release. It isn’t. PR is Public Relations: how you manage
the public’s perception of you. A press release is a tiny
part of it: the bit you approve for the media.
In its broadest sense, PR includes relations with
customers, employees, investors and visitors, as well as
with the community, media, industry and government. It
also includes crisis management, mediation as well as
publicity, communications and speech-writing. It’s
everything that anyone anywhere may hear or see about
you; it’s your reputation, whether you deserve it or not.
Many people also confuse PR with lead generation; they
think that, if they send out a press release, somehow it
will generate leads. It won’t. PR will raise your profile,
full stop. Below we summarise some of the facts about
the Press Releases part of PR, some context and rules,
how to use press releases and some insights to Thought
Leadership.
Reality check
In the technology market, press releases are often
announcements of major deal wins, new product
releases, alliances, resellers or staff. They’re usually
written for one reason: you want to raise your profile.
But wanting it isn’t enough. Here is a brief reality check:
 If you are Google or Apple, almost every breath you
take is news.
 If you are completely unknown, the reverse it true:
almost nothing you do is newsworthy even if it’s
extraordinary.
 If your company has a low profile, but has a high
profile legend like the late Steve Jobs on the board,
rule 1 applies, but only if the release mentions him.
 The IT (and other technology) media reserve 60-70%
of space for a few big names; everyone else has to
fight for the rest.
 Even a small amount of advertising will improve your
chances of placement. If advertising is regular,
placements generally follow.
 Any release has the best chance of being published
on a slow news day.
When major news breaks, the reverse applies; even if
you have a reasonable profile and you’ve done
something amazing, your piece will still be bumped.
Blasting out press releases is like EDM blasts; you get
low traction. You’re better off targeting a few relevant
media and cultivating them individually. Business media
like BRW and AFR aren’t interested in IT, unless it’s a big
story about big IT people and issues that impact
business and government.
If you’re not Google or Apple, your release must follow
some rules, and then you need to make it stand out.
Expectations
As a marketing tool, the press release has intangible
impact: improved profile rather than an expanded
pipeline, and it’s also transient. The window of
exposure is short, as are the period of relevance and the
memory of the reader. To build a media profile is not an
overnight exercise; you need to keep putting out
releases so people keep seeing your name, and you
need to vary them.
If you need a higher media profile to increase
recognition for lead generation, to attract investors or
to build credibility in new markets, regular press
releases in targeted media should be part of your PR
tool kit.
But, like all marketing, they’re part of the mix and they
may not be the right investment, all the time. If long
term profile building is less important and you want
Why PR Won’t Generate Leads
Realistic expectations are vital

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short term return on a limited budget, a better
investment may be advertising, like pay-per-click (PPC)
that delivers targeted white papers to selected
prospects.
If your market is specialised and there are specialised
media serving it, this can be highly cost effective, and
you also end up with the details of every individual
who’s downloaded your item.
If your market is wider, so will be the appropriate
media and the greater amount and frequency of
advertising you will need. Think of Telstra. At the other
end of the scale, if your market is tightly defined with
few players, more intimate tactics like breakfast
seminars may be more suitable.
A broader approach
The short answer is: using press releases isn’t the right
tactic all the time. A press release is one of many tools
in your kit, to be sharpened and used when it will have
most impact.
All tools in the kit are important; if any tool lets you
down, it reduces the effectiveness of the rest. For
instance, if you send out a release about a multi-
million dollar deal which includes customer quotes
about your global vision and reach, but your website is
10 years old and makes you look like a $2 company,
no-one will believe you. You’d be better off spending
money on the website first, which will amplify the
impact of both activities well beyond their sum.
If you have a limited marketing budget and specific
threats or opportunities, you need to consider all your
options and choose the one(s) that will deliver the
outcomes you want. A simple rule of thumb is that
mass methods (one message for all) are cheap per unit
yet yield very low results. Targeted methods (one
message for each) have a higher cost per unit, but
yield dramatically higher results. The method of choice
depends on your market, goals and budget.
Some rules
Assuming you are not Google or Apple, there are
certain rules to observe if you want your release to be
the one published on the day.
Your release must:
 Have a point of real interest (not just an
announcement).
 Be short and fit on one page (less is always more).
 Include succinct, relevant statements and quotes (not
just from you).
 Be validated by a 3rd party (industry source/analyst
validating is ideal; customer is good).
 Be relevant to the media audience (be it specific,
general, regional or national).
 Be written well (correct, intelligent, interesting,
different).
If your release doesn't contain most of these, your
investment in low level sustained advertising will be even
more important to tip the balance in your favour, even on
a slow news day.
In general, journalists are busy, handling a daily flood of
press releases. They appreciate releases that need little
work, that contain the elements they need to create a
credible story quickly for their own audience. When it
comes to press releases from overseas parent
companies, don’t just accept them and send them out.
Usually they need to be trimmed, adapted to speak to
the local market using and an appropriate voice.
Some logistics
Before you sit down to write your release, you may like to
consider:
1. Material
Type Is it a win announcement, new product release,
update, opinion piece?
Body What’s the story (who, when, where, how many)?
Angle Why is this interesting (who will care)?
Positioning How will we get journalists’ attention (over
competing stories/solutions)?
Interest Is there a personal or regional angle?
Relevance How does it fit with your strategic goals?
Money Is there a financial angle (cost, savings, value)?
Quotes Who is available to say what (better if not you)?

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2. Management
Timing What is the deadline (will we get approvals in
time)?
Priority Who will ensure priority to meet the
deadline?
Contact Who are the main contacts for details?
Authority Has the customer agreed to do this?
Approval Will marketing or legal approval be needed
(yours and customer’s)?
Thought leadership
Many of our clients have very smart technologies, and
frequently they ask us to write Thought Leadership
press releases for them, or arrange media tours for
their Thought Leaders or re-purpose existing collateral
to support their Thought Leadership position.
The truth is, there is more to being a Thought Leader
than just calling yourself one. Thought Leadership is
how others perceive you, not how you perceive
yourself, and their perception is framed over time. If
you consistently act like a Thought Leader, people will
believe you; if you just parachute in one day
proclaiming that you’re a Thought Leader, they won’t.
Particularly in the technology space, being a Thought
Leader is a strong position. More than that, it is the
thinkers in nimble, innovative companies who are
Thought Leaders not the CTOs of the Telstras, so
Thought Leadership is a worthy goal, even for small
companies.
Also, even if your technology isn’t ground-breaking, if
your CTO or CEO is active in the media, with stronger
opinions or more credibility than CTOs in companies
whose technologies are, you may still win the Thought
Leadership title. It’s all about consistent PR.
Some prerequisites for an effective Thought
Leadership strategy:
 Your company must be a technology leader (not
necessarily the only player).
 Your offering must have more than fleeting
relevance to business (not a flash in the pan).
 Your company must be active, generating a lot of
newsworthy items.
 Your CEO or CTO must be distinctive, interesting or
controversial (and willing to speak).
 Your competitors must not already be doing the
above.
Thought leadership and the press
If you have the
prerequisites,
everything your
designated Thought
Leader does in the
media must be
consistent.
Your CTO can’t
release a lofty White
Paper about ethics in
IT and then be caught
defrauding the
company, dancing
naked on YouTube or in a drunken brawl. Thought
Leadership is a relationship with the media and the
public, and it takes time and trust to build.
First your website must be credible. You can’t be a
Thought Leader if you haven’t published an opinion on
anything and if your website looks 10 years out of date.
Start writing in areas where your company has patents,
unique expertise or innovative technology. Write to
educate, to stimulate, to challenge or to summarise, but
not to sell. Your publications must be of value.
Then, once your online image is consistent, start to write
releases for selected industry press, starting with win
announcements (to show you have customers), case
studies (to show that they’re happy) and opinion pieces
(to show that you know your stuff).
While doing this, cultivate the press. Don’t just blast them
with releases; take time to get to know them, ask them
what they want, in what format, how and when to be
delivered; offer to give an opinion in your area of
expertise if they need a hand; keep them up to date with
key news –but don’t just add them to an email list and
blast them with everything. This will have the reverse
effect. You need to build these relationships like
friendships. They should be.
Act like a Thought Leader and the media and your market
will start to believe you. Rush it or muff it and you won’t
get a second chance for quite a while. Remember, bad
news travels to 10 times more people than good news, so
it’s worth taking each step purposefully and carefully. You
don’t need to take ten at a time and skipping steps can
be risky; you could trip up. # # #