With PR today going much beyond just print coverage to include digital as well as new age media such as podcasts, social media and more, it’s clear why a brand will need PR to be a part of their marketing and communications mix.

Every brand wants to be ‘in the media’ and reach their consumers and potential consumers. They want to build the right brand image, promote their products and ultimately boost sales and hence use of PR for B2C marketing has exponentially increased over the years. That’s why we, as direct consumers, see so many of our everyday brands across articles. However for B2B marketing, brands mainly rely on advertorials but having an understanding of what modern-day PR can offer can help a brand curate an effective PR strategy for their B2B marketing as well.

So let’s understand why do you need to look at PR for your B2B marketing.

Today we don’t have just 4-5 classic newspapers and magazines. We also have publications and platforms catering to one specific industry like tech, lifestyle, HR, marketing, etc. We even have industry specific events, podcasts, digital communities and more. Through the right media targeting, B2B marketing can significantly benefit from PR.

Just like B2C marketing, B2B marketing also involves building and conveying the right brand image, promoting offerings, creating brand recall and reaching out to potential customers. Over and above this, a brand also wants to position itself as a thought-leader. And modern-day PR makes all of this possible.

Despite the similarities, PR does work pretty differently for B2B as compared to B2C. That’s because purchase decisions for businesses are taken after thorough research, it’s not an impulsive purchase. Hence communicating the benefits, features and USP of your brand and its offerings along with case studies showcasing customer success stories through the right channels can not only help you reach your potential customers but can also help you gain trust of your existing customers.

A lot of PR activities also revolve around putting the brand spokespersons in the right light to ensure that the faces of the brand are able to create a personal brand for themselves. This is done through interviews, speaking and networking opportunities at events, podcasts and more

Being featured across various platforms also helps build SEO which is crucial in today’s digital world. For instance if one were to google for ‘Best digital marketing agency in India’ they are most likely to check out the ones that are shown in the first page on the google search results and ignore the rest. Here, an efficiently executed PR strategy will help you rank higher in the search results.

And lastly PR helps you in times of crisis. It helps you with damage control and ensures each group of stakeholders are handled tactfully.

The possibilities with modern-day PR are endless and provides short-term as well as long term benefits to brands.