What Makes Press Coverage Worth the Investment?

Getting press coverage for your B2B business is, in the eyes of most businesspeople, an obvious plus. But at the same time, getting that press coverage can be very time-consuming and/or expensive. 

So what is it, exactly, that makes press coverage worth the investment? And how do you tip the equation to be more in your favor?

The Value of Positive Press Coverage

It’s difficult to oversell the power of positive press coverage, especially for B2B companies.

These are some of the most important benefits:

  • Visibility. The most immediate and most obvious benefit of positive press coverage is visibility. With a sufficiently developed PR strategy, your press releases can be syndicated across thousands of channels, ultimately reaching millions of people. All those people will see your brand, read at least part of your story, and become more familiar with your values and strengths.
  • Narrative control. Having a dedicated PR strategy means you’ll have at least some narrative control. When something good happens, you can showcase it and show off its most positive aspects. When something bad happens, you can explain it, dispel misconceptions, and make sure your company takes the least reputational damage possible.
  • Traffic. In most cases, press releases generate a ton of traffic. People will read your story, click links to learn more, and eventually wander around your website to see what it’s all about. Combined with reputational benefits, this can help you generate a lot more revenue.
  • Reputational benefits. Consistently promoting your brand and its efforts is a straightforward way to transform your brand into a veritable thought leader. People will come to respect your brand more highly (and be more likely to purchase from you).
  • New relationships/partnerships. Good PR requires you to work with major publishers and distribution outlets, giving you an excuse to form new relationships and partnerships. It’s a self-sustained system that can grow itself over time.
  • New leads and investors. As a combination of these effects and others, good press coverage is ideal for generating new leads and new investors. After reading about your latest breakthroughs or accomplishments, prospects who have considered your company in the past might decide to move forward – and people who have never heard of your brand will start researching it to learn more.
  • Talent acquisition. Building your reputation is also good for talent acquisition and retention. Most people want to work for a reputable, accomplished, savvy company, and they aren’t going to apply to any company they don’t even know exists. Press coverage makes your business more visible and appreciable, eventually attracting and retaining better talent.
  • Content assets. Developing content for your press strategy grants you permanent content assets, which you can reformat and reuse in other applications. This is one reason why PR and digital marketing have such a strong synergy.

How to Maximize Your Press Coverage Investment

So, how do you make sure you get the most value from your press coverage investment?

  • Work with experts. PR may seem straightforward, but there are thousands of little nuances that are easy to neglect. That’s why it’s so important to work with experts in the field. Ideally, you’ll work with a PR agency that can help you with everything from initial strategizing to final execution. But you can also build a team of PR experts within your own organization, assuming you have the budget for it.
  • Publicize truly newsworthy events. Press releases should cover truly newsworthy events. Too often, brands attempt to write and distribute press releases as often as possible, sacrificing quality and relevance in the process. While more press coverage can be a good thing, quality and relevance need to be your top priorities.
  • Integrate with digital marketing. Digital marketing and PR have an intricate synergy, with each making the other more powerful. Accordingly, you should integrate your press coverage with your digital marketing campaigns, maximizing the visibility and value generated by each.
  • Study the data and adapt. Don’t just assume that your press coverage strategy is working; it’s important to review the objective data and determine the results of your efforts. The better you understand your performance, your audience, and your competitive environment, the better you can optimize your PR campaigns.
  • Pay attention to feedback. Similarly, it’s important to pay attention to feedback coming from readers, prospects, and prospective investors. What do they have to say about your press releases? What is it, exactly, that drew them in or pushed them away?

Good PR isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s also not especially expensive, especially when compared to the benefits you receive from it. As long as you have a reasonable strategy in place and competent professionals to work with, you should have no trouble generating a massive return on investment (ROI).