Comments from K2 Global Communications

The past decade has seen a clear trend toward attenuated press releases. Gone are the days of public relations people writing long screeds, with endless quotes and reams of data. This was partially an outgrowth of the use of email, social media, and chat as the preferred forms of communication between the public relations community and the press (which, for our purposes, includes bloggers and analysts). Furthermore, as fewer and fewer journalists are covering ever-increasing news volumes, their email boxes, texts chains, and chat messages are exploding. 

Press releases, though, are still important, perhaps even more important than ever; as AI is perpetually hungry, and your press releases can feed the beast. Tailoring press releases to make AI happy has added in some new requirements.  

Topics: Public relations, Journalist, DIY, Press release, Media coverage, Media

Whether your story is truly newsworthy and worthy of press coverage isn’t just your call.

Topics: Journalist, News story, News value, Timeliness, Press coverage, Local story

Know the pros and cons before you dive in

Like any endeavor, B2B collaborative marketing has its up and downsides. It’s up to the partner-brand companies to strike a good balance. Before we dive too deeply into B2B collaborative marketing pros and cons, definitions are in order because a few related terms, such as co-branding, co-marketing, and brand partnership are often bandied about and may cause confusion.

Topics: Content marketing, Marketing, Social media, Brand, Customer communications, Integrated marketing, Collaborative marketing

Collaborative marketing is a must-add to your overall B2B marketing strategy. It means building connections, networking, and establishing formal partnerships among related, non-competitive businesses to increase brand awareness, gain new customers, and boost sales.

Topics: Content marketing, Content, Brand, Customer communications, Integrated marketing, Collaborative marketing, Email marketing

 

Understanding the role of market research and up-to-date intelligence

Many companies are overlooking the critical importance of market research and fail to use it to get actionable insights about their customers. With unpredictable markets, up-to-date intelligence from effective research can help B2B marketers stay on top of customers’ evolving needs to clearly understand what they want or don’t want, knowledge that can inspire truly customer-centric messaging.

Topics: Market research, Customer communications, Message, Messaging, B2B, Marketing strategy

The rise of AI for content marketing has made it much more difficult to stand out.

Your platforms generate a wealth of data that can be leveraged to create powerful PR and social media campaigns. Data-driven content builds trust and engages your audience. The data not only helps to tell your company’s story but also provides valuable insights that resonate with your audience.

Data-driven content has a distinct advantage: it is grounded in facts and provides value to your audience, and the AI engines prefer it to hyperbole.

Topics: Public relations, Social media, Marketing qualified leads (MQL), Sales qualified leads (SQL), Marketing strategy, Sales enablement content

The best version of collaborative marketing drives success for everyone involved: sharing channels to present complementary solutions strengthens both brands while increasing leads.

1) Select the type of B2B partnership you need

• Strategic partnership: Align with non-competitive companies that offer products or services that complement yours, for example, a healthcare provider and a health data platform that offers remote access, can help both brands reach into each other’s markets to expand their customer base and grow revenue.

Topics: Content marketing, Content, Customer communications, Corporate communications, Account-based marketing, Collaborative marketing, SMART Goals

Your company sits on a treasure trove of data. Every click, login, support ticket, and feature usage tells a story that can help you understand customers, optimize operations, and accelerate growth. When analyzed collectively, this data reveals profound insights about industry trends, challenges, and business needs.

Topics: Public relations, Content marketing, Giveaways, Inbound marketing, Marketing strategy, Sales enablement content

Collaborative marketing can be productive and profitable in your B2B marketing arsenal – if…

To gain the benefits of positive brand association, new marketing and product ideas, expanded market reach, increased social media following, and more, you need the right partner. You need a B2B vendor whose brand message and solution offerings are compatible with yours, with whom you can have a smooth and productive relationship, and whose impeccable brand reputation will reflect positively on yours.

Topics: Content marketing, Sales, Marketing qualified leads (MQL), Sales qualified leads (SQL), Marketing strategy, Collaborative marketing

“Writer’s block happens to all writers, including content marketing writers.

 With 91% of companies today using content marketing to attract leads and engage customers, as content marketers you can’t afford to run out of ideas. True, ideas are literally all around us, but finding that truly exceptional concept that results in more traffic, more leads and conversions, and greater consumer love and loyalty for your brand can be quite challenging – challenging, but not impossible. If you want to come up with fresh, relevant topics all the time, but feel that your well of content ideas has dried up, read on.

(Besides using these as prompts to yourself, you can ask AI to check your content to ensure it addresses all these concerns.)

Topics: Content marketing, Content, DIY, Persona, Brand, Ideas