Businesses invest in PR to increase awareness of their products and services. While the exposure is great, in the end, it all comes down to new business leads. That being said, the value of media coverage doesn’t always lie where one may think.
When you think of amplifying exposure for your company, which media outlets come to mind?
If you answered Forbes, The New York Times, Fortune, Inc., Entrepreneur, or any other national media outlet, you’re not wrong. However, while big name outlets can be exciting and valuable, they may be the wrong place to start if you’re looking to drive new leads to your business, especially if your focus is B2B.
The right PR partner will ask you first and foremost – who is your audience? They will then ask themselves – what are these decision makers reading?
The Endless World of Industry Trades
If you are a food and beverage company, you’re likely targeting grocers. And chances are those grocer CEOs are not taking a deep dive into The New York Times every day. Instead, they are browsing online at Grocery Dive. They subscribe to Winsight Grocery Business’s weekly newsletter. They are flipping through the latest issue of Progressive Grocer that’s sitting on their desk. Grocery trades are where they are getting their news, keeping up on the latest industry trends and reading about best practices for their business. These are the outlets this food and beverage company needs to get in front of to drive leads.
Trade media targets consumers and decision makers who work in a particular industry. There are trades for nearly every industry, and they can range from broad subjects to niche focus areas.
For example, there are construction trades that highlight the industry as a whole – like Construction Dive, Construction Business Owner and Construction Today – but there are also trade publications that cater to niche services within the construction industry. Let’s take a company that focuses on metal building products, for example. There are trades such as Metal Construction News and Design and Build with Metal that speak specifically to these audiences.
Proven Results
Uproar has years of experience targeting, pitching and building relationships with trade reporters.
When one of our B2B tech clients came to Uproar looking to increase new leads, one of the first things the team did was pull all relevant trade publications for that client. After pitching out a notable partnership, the team landed coverage Credit Union Times. This coverage led to six inbound leads from other credit unions wanting to replicate the success of the partnership they read about.
Additionally, Uproar also launched a packaging innovation company, targeting relevant food and beverage, grocery, packaging and manufacturing trade outlets to introduce them to the client. Over the years, Uproar has built relationships with these reporters, landing the client consistent trade coverage. When the client recently attended a food and beverage tradeshow, multiple potential customers came up to their booth after reading about the company and their packaging innovation. This led to additional inbound leads for new partnership opportunities.
While the thought of national media coverage is enticing, it is important to consider the value of coverage and which publications are going to generate the most leads for your business.
