3 Keys for Effective PR Storytelling

Having great PR is paramount for a B2B brand to accelerate revenue. Throughout the years working with many PR firms and practitioners, I’ve discovered a consistent pattern. They are great storytellers.

And when you dig deeper on what makes them great storytellers is that they push themselves / clients to improve their efforts in three key ways:

Key #1 – Have a PerspectiveB2B brands need a point of view. B2B companies and their public facing leadership, need to be able to articulate this POV across a myriad of topics that impact customers, shareholders, partners, and employees. A point of view is important since it makes your brand distinct from other B2B companies that are in your industry.

Additionally, having a POV allows your B2B brand’s various stakeholders rally towards your brand. This is important as it allows your brand become a lighthouse for your industry or perspective. And your POV should highlight the elements of your brand that are aspirational. This alignment is key to ensure your PR efforts are helping your overall go to market.

Key #2 Write with AuthorityAll too often I see press releases that don’t have authority. The executive quotes are weak. The release itself is something of the mundane. Think about your own firm’s press releases over the last 6 months. I bet half would register with a snore and fall into the mundane bucket.

Writing with authority is hard work. You need to have researched the topic to support what you’re publicizing. Write quotes that are galvanizing. And create a tone that yells, “We know what we’re doing”. This requires experience and acumen. All too often there are folks with little or no experience in an industry writing press releases for a B2B brand. That lack of experience shows in the prose.

Key #3 Brevity is an AdvantageYour SEO team may hate this, but writing with brevity is super important in the b2B world. This is ever so true with PR. Editors and writers at industry publications are overwhelmed with the volume or work they have on their desk and have very little time. So brevity is an important tool to ensure that your material gets to the front of the coverage line. But brevity also shows thoughtfulness and subject matter expertise.

Too frequently, I see multi-page press releases that never get read. Get to the meat of the POV (key #1) in the first paragraph and tease it in the Headline / sub headline. Roughly, 85 percent of the readers will never get past the first full paragraph. So if you want coverage you need to be brief and get to it.

What commonalities have you seen that create great PR? Share your reactions in our community on Slack.

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