Lead generation continues to be a high marketing priority for businesses today. In competitive markets, it's increasingly important that companies know how to communicate with potential audiences properly. Whether you're a startup or an established company, the right communication can make all the difference between growth or stagnation.
PR strategies like targeted media relations, content marketing, or influencer collaborations can feed a healthy pipeline of continuous quality PR leads, and benefit brand visibility, trust from third parties and a range of other things, too.
We will be reviewing a number of PR strategies that could be used to attract leads, from developing a press release to leveraging SEO and influencer marketing, and we will discuss the role PR has to play in lead generation and overall brand awareness.
What role does PR play in lead generation?
Considering the changes that PR underwent in the digital era, it's no wonder how proficient it is nowadays in driving lead generation. The online world has meant businesses have been forced to mark themselves out from others in content, website and SEO.
All these provide perfect opportunities for brand building and differentiation - and, therefore, PR's influence. After all, PR's role in lead generation is creating brand awareness that converts curiosity into intent and, ultimately, intent to action.
PR strategies effectively bring brand messaging in line with customers' needs and encourage prospects to interact with the company. Unlike traditional methods of lead generation, which often rely on paid advertising, PR concentrates on relationship-building through earned media coverage and thought leadership. Thus, relationships can feel organic and natural as prospects are drawn to the brand - great for conversions.
Perhaps one of the major differences between PR leads and leads from other forms of activity is quality.
PR leads often originate from trusted sources, like reputable outlets, existing customers or users, and trade publications, lending more credibility than, say, a paid-for advertisement. Leads are more likely to turn into customers this way, as they are already familiar with the brand due to organic exposure rather than a ‘cold’ ad.
PR advertising, and marketing drive traffic, engagement, and conversions, but accomplish those objectives differently. Whereas advertising may lean on direct calls to action, PR tells a story and cements trust, which is particularly helpful in industries where brand loyalty is key to long-term success. Just think about consumer electronics or cars, for example.
Boost your leads with PR
How to measure the success of PR in lead generation
Measuring PR's success in lead generation is important. Without doing so, you cannot really understand the value that PR is bringing. Although the effect of PR may seem hard to measure at first glance, modern tools and metrics allow for some quantifiable measuring. But you’ll need PR KPIs in place first.
When it comes to public relations for lead generation, one key metric that can help you measure the effectiveness of your PR efforts is website traffic. When a PR campaign secures media exposure or guest articles, you can see how much referral traffic you get. In this case, the metric is traffic, and the KPI could be the number of visitors you’re aiming for.
Another way to measure this could be through media coverage. But media coverage isn't clear cut…What if you get seven placements in some medium domain authority (DA) outlets. Is that better than 1-2 high DA sites? It might not be. PR placements in top-tier publications will likely raise public relations leads.
Another important metric is the degree of engagement. Mentions, shares, and comments can be used to ascertain how well your message is 'getting through' to people. There are media monitoring tools available for this.
The more your brand gets mentioned in respected media, the greater the chance that potential leads will find your company. Over time, you can monitor which PR strategies generate the most traction.
And last but not least are conversion rates. Not every visitor to your site will turn into a customer, but where you see high conversion rates following PR activities could indicate that they worked. This could be because of the trust you've built up.
Our PRO tips to generate leads with PR
As we've said, PR is about building long-term beneficial relationships over more immediate actions, such as purchases. Here is a rundown of the tips and techniques proven to help generate high-quality public relations leads.
Applying SEO to PR
The first step is integrating SEO into your PR content to drive organic traffic. Write an SEO press release or article with high-ranking keywords for your industry. This will reinforce your brand's online presence for customers searching through Google. Just make sure your website is optimized and ready to go. Is it detailed and helpful? Is it conducive to conversions?
Consider making the most out of Featured and Connectively (formerly HARO).
To boost your domain authority and brand authority, you should target publications that will link back to your website after you offer your insight into a particular area.
Learn more about PR backlinking
Produce useful content
Create educational, long-form pieces of content, such as whitepapers, eBooks, or even case studies. Long-form content proves that you're an authority and expert in your field. This can go a long way in the trust factor for potential public relation leads.
This type of content will attract qualified leads who have a genuine need for what you offer. Make this readily accessible to your visitors, and even consider requesting their contact details and email addresses in exchange for this valuable resource.
Influencers
Working with influential individuals within the industry will help establish trust and credibility in the eyes of many, while the leads will also be of higher quality since they come from genuine recommendations and provide social proof to your audience.
Influencers can help your brand get in front of new eyeballs and add a personal touch to lead generation.
Utilize press releases
A well-written and well-articulated report related to announcements of new products, achievements, or new partnerships will help draw the interest of public relations leads.
Ensure that your press release has a clear call to action that will lead interested readers to your website for any other further information and more engagement.
Learn more about writing a press release
Select the right platforms
You've got your brand's narrative nailed down, so now what? You need the right people to hear it, that's what. It's important to target the right channels when distributing content.
Be it industry-specific media outlets or social platforms, targeting the right audience through the right channels increases your chances of attracting leads interested in your offering. Of course, there are various distribution channels that do this for press releases.
But also think about social channels and who you’re aiming for there. Different platforms cater to different audience types.
Media relations
Building relationships with press contacts and media and finding out what, at any moment, it is they're looking for can be a sure-fire way of guaranteeing sustained coverage.
This continued coverage of your brand should, in turn, lead to more leads from earned media.
Learn more about media relations
Events
In person events, webinars, or online workshops could also form part of a comprehensive PR strategy. These activities are efficient for brand awareness and direct communication with targeted customers and, if done well, could help generate qualified leads.
You can showcase company products and generate new business leads, so that even if they don't convert right away, there's a strong chance they will further down the line.
Pursue thought leadership opportunities
Establish your brand as a thought leader by pursuing speaking opportunities at events or contributing to publications.
Being recognized as an expert in the industry is invaluable to spurring active leads who are in search of specialized knowledge. Produce and promote your own articles as part of a social media PR strategy. There are other avenues, too, such as podcasts. In short, lay out your expertise where prospects visit or where they can easily find you.
Learn about thought leadership
Partnerships
It's amazing how partnerships with other brands that complement yours can increase the reach of your PR efforts. Co-sponsoring webinars or events, and guest blogging on customers' or partners' sites can help you get in front of more prospects and drive leads from the increased exposure.
Consider, where relevant, jointly publishing news releases to garner the most views from both your audiences.
Use data analytics
Lastly, all of the above PR tactics are pointless to integrate if you have little to no idea what is working or not. Time is money, and so are resources and manpower! So be smart….
Use data to tell you where your PR is working. Monitor what type of PR activities yield the most leads, make the proper adjustments, and continually refine this process for better lead generation results. There, easy.
How will PR drive lead generation in the next few years?
As the digital landscape has continued to evolve, public relations for lead generation will continue to cross with exciting new developments in technology. AI-driven PR is gaining momentum, and it's not surprising to see why. AI in PR has many uses, such as using data analytics to drive campaigns, or inspire content.
Also, micro-influencers are another PR trend set to play a bigger role in more niche markets. This type of influencer can introduce your brand to an extremely targeted audience, thus generating more meaningful and conversion-ready leads. Stay tuned for that.
Elsewhere, more advanced tools in the field of social listening will allow companies to monitor audience sentiment in real time and refine PR strategies to be even more effective at generating leads.
The growth seen within certain markets means competing with more entities for attention. As such, content will need to be fully optimized for search. Digital PR has made PR more measurable, thus enabling performance to be tracked. The main benefit of this is to improve strategies and refine tactics for optimal lead generation.
Like any industry, PR strategies need to adjust to stay relevant and useful.
Conclusion
PR is a very powerful channel for generating leads. It can provide a stream of high-quality leads from media outreach, influencer partnerships, and data-driven techniques. As PR continues to evolve, the businesses that will be most successful in using PR for leads will be those that adapt to the changes described above.
But you don’t need to do it alone. PRLab is a results-driven agency with an array of experience in many verticals. We combine traditional PR with cutting-edge techniques to get our clients the results they seek in lead gen. If you're looking to rejuvenate your public relation leads or boost an existing pipeline, then let us see how we could help.
