Press Release Optimization for B2B
Monday, July 19th 2010
Many business-to-business (B2B) marketers see press release optimization as a business-to-consumer (B2C) tactic, but that's a mistake, according to Greg Jarboe, president of SEO-PR and an early pioneer in combining search engine optimization (SEO) and public relations (PR).
"There have been big changes in the last few years, with both B2C and B2B marketers dealing with the same new reality," Jarboe said. He described that new reality in "Three Essential Tips for News Search Optimization," on the PPC Strategies blog.
There, Jarboe explains that news search optimization hasn't stop working -- for B2C or B2B -- it's just gotten more competitive as more businesses, and especially online news sources themselves, have joined the news search results. He advises adoption of social media, improved keyword research, and specific goals for news search optimization that fit with the short-term gains that can be expected.
"Online PR is often the forgotten piece of B2B online strategy, and yet it can be so effective when done correctly," Jarboe said at the B2B Search Strategy Summit in Los Angeles last month.
Online PR can not only generate buzz for your brand and product, it can also improve your search engine rankings and drive more qualified visitors to your site, he said.
For B2B marketers, news search optimization can be a very effective way to launch a new product, or to announce a seasonal promotion. In one example from January 2010, Piper Aircraft used online news search -- combined with a YouTube channel, Twitter account and Facebook page -- to launch the PiperSport, a new kind of entry-level airplane targeted at both individual pilots and flight instructors.
Piper's YouTube channel currently has over 135,000 views and 472 subscribers. A PiperSport Twitter account has gathered more than 300 followers, including many trade journalists. The Facebook account has over 10,000 followers.
Most importantly, the campaign led to 12 online orders for the planes in the first 90 days, with three models ranging in price from $119,900 to $139,900. That's more than $1.4 million in revenue, for a plane that buyers could not even see in person before buying.
All told, Piper spent about $40,000 for the press release optimization and social media marketing on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, according to Jarboe. That includes strategy development, content development, video production, content implementation, social media channel management, and media placement and promotion. That's a return on marketing spend of more than 35.97.
The campaign illustrates some of the findings from Enquiro Research's BuyerSphere Project, which Enquiro CEO Gord Hotchkiss also shared at last month's B2B Search Strategy Summit.
For example, the idea of influencers is not new to B2B marketers. In the past, those influencers were most likely trade journalists for print publications. While social media tools like Twitter can help reach those journalists, they can also help reach industry bloggers and other thought leaders in their niche.
Also, by recognizing that business buyers are both emotional and rational, Piper was able to provide facts in a press release and on their Web site, while appealing to emotional impulses in YouTube videos.
"B2B marketers have always understood that they have a niche product, and need to work harder to find a target buyer," Jarboe said. "They may be surprised to find that they can reach a precise audience on YouTube. A search for 'light sport aircraft' is not a random search, and the person conducting that search just qualified themselves as a prospect."
If you missed the B2B Search Summit, check out the upcoming PPC Summit Presents…Search Marketing and Social Media Success, coming to Los Angeles in September 2010 -- learn more about this comprehensive search marketing training event at PPCSummit.com.
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