For B2B companies, informative content is the most effective way to move the needle and turn prospects into leads. But not all content is created equal. Generating feature articles in trade publications is the best marketing hack to reach your target audience on a budget.
Many companies spend a lot of time and money creating blogs, social media and other content that only reaches a very small percentage of potential prospects. Even the best attempts at this reach only a very limited number of people that follow you on social media or regularly read your blog posts.
Unless you’re an iconic brand like Coke or Nike, there are certainly potential customers out there that may not even know you exist. If they do know about you, they may only know very little and not enough to reach out. Expanding your exposure will unlock new customers and is key to growing your business.
To engage with a larger segment of your target audience try creating PR articles. These can describe one of your success stories and feature a customer doing the talking for you. Then get those published in numerous trade publications, delivering your message to a much wider audience. If done right, these articles will grab the attention of your prospects and drive them into action.
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Do people still read trade magazines?
Yes, people still read the trade publications. In fact, a report from MediaGrowth Research found that more than 92% of decision makers read trade publications to help stay in front of the curve and guide purchasing decisions. This held true across almost all B2B industries.
In fact, 97% of those surveyed said that trade publications have a direct impact on purchasing decisions.
The key to leveraging this, however, is generating the right content.
How to create content that converts?
To create content that converts a potential customer into a qualified lead, you need content that provides relevance. The content has to educate, benefit, and help them solve a problem. It also needs to guide them to reach an informed buying decision, and compel them take action.
This is where a few public relations agencies have found a niche. They are able to create content that not only gets published in numerous trade publications, but has the ability to address a target audience’s needs and desires.
Every single Fortune 500 company utilizes PR. However, it is even more beneficial and impactful for SMB-B2B companies. This is especially true for companies with more restrictive marketing budgets. That’s because PR can provide content in trade publications that would cost the equivalent of hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in advertising, for just a fraction of that per month.
5 reasons feature articles create demand for your solutions
1) They increase awareness with your target audience
2) They include word-of-mouth testimonials from your customers
3) They generate inbound leads
4) They are able to explain your value proposition and why you’re the best possible solution
5) They increase organic search results and overall SEO strategies
This type of public relations significantly increases brand credibility. It has also been proven to shorten sales cycles, generate qualified inbound leads and ultimately increase revenue. However, it doesn’t stop there.
The ongoing value of feature articles and PR
For B2B companies, the most effective way to build demand is by generating high-quality published articles in targeted trade publications in volume over time.
These published articles can be repurposed for social media posts, email campaigns, sales collateral and website content. They can also be broken up to supply content for brochures, blog posts, and even into advertisements. Their residual value is enormous and only limited by creativity.
Rankin PR is a global public relations agency focusing on promoting and growing B2B industrial and technology brands.