There’s a reason that the first part of CRC’s strapline is “lead conversations”. PR is all about having your voice heard, being part of the conversation, and showcasing knowledge and expertise. By leading conversations on key topics, organisations can show themselves to be credible, insightful and trustworthy. It boosts brand recognition, and with that recognition comes understanding and trust.
In the B2B world in particular, trust is everything. B2B organisations might ostensibly only sell to other businesses, but that business decision is taken by people. Each person needs to be won over, persuaded that this organisation is the best provider of what they need. Put simply, their trust needs to be gained. This takes time and persistence as well as clarity of message and consistency of tone.
The vast majority of marketers understand this. But the trap that some can fall into when it comes to PR is to be reactive rather than proactive in building that relationship of trust. They wait for the next story they can share – the next senior team hire, the latest product, or the new office. This is often not the fault of the marketers; budget and time constraints are often to blame. But the trouble is that PR stories are so often like buses – they are never evenly spread. This leads to a stop-start approach to PR, and that inconsistency makes it that much harder to build trust.
At CRC, like any good PR agency, we advocate for a regular cadence of PR content. A constant presence in the media – as well as other channels – is essential. It’s up to us to come up with the creative topics and tactics to achieve that consistency when our clients don’t have too much to say. Taking that load off our clients means that marketers are free to focus on their wider strategy.
Quantitative research is a key tool in our arsenal here. And, in an AI-driven era, journalists – and their audiences - are valuing authentic voices and opinions more than ever. Verified, original, robust data that demonstrates the thoughts and views of real people is increasingly sought after to cut through the AI-generated content.
Our new guide explores why quantitative research is so useful for building a media presence and how marketers can use it to their full advantage to boost their reputation and credibility.
It covers why you should do quantitative research as well as how to do it well. For many organisations, conducting research represents a significant investment, so they can’t afford to get it wrong. Structuring surveys and phrasing questions to get the most out of the data is a bit of an art form, and we like to think it’s one we’re pretty good (having written and conducted hundreds of them, we really ought to be!).
If you think your organisation could benefit from a more regular cadence of press coverage and you’d like some help achieving it, get in touch.
