Can PR Directly Increase Sales Lead Generation?

One of the reasons that I love being involved in PR right now is that the industry is changing so rapidly. PR can be the most powerful generator of sales leads if executives use PR effectively.

At the core of effective PR is a good understanding of the exciting changes in how people are consuming media. The printing press is dying, some people say quickly. Other people like Marc Andreessen say not fast enough. The model of a publisher as an omnipotent organization as portrayed in Citizen Kane is no longer valid in today's world of zero-cost, instant distribution. Sales leads will only come if executives understand how customers are finding their products. Embrace the change and thrive.

People are moving to online search engines to find products. They are using aggregation tools like Google News, specialized blog sites like Technorati, or social networks like Facebook to get the latest news and information. True, people still read the New York Times and their local newspaper. However, they may not read it everyday. People skim through dozens of media sources when they have time. This change in reading habits is great for the consumer since it gives them a wide range of perspectives. It's also great for companies that have a good understanding of how readers now find and distribute information.

My colleague Nadja Blagojevic recently wrote a blog posting on Public Relations Optimized for SEO. She also helped to organize a meeting with a Silicon Valley search engine marketing (SEM) firm that we're partnering with on several accounts. Coming from an entrepreneurial background, I find the process of closed loop marketing, lead generation and lead nurturing fascinating.

Many companies feel the economy is about to slow down and are taking a hard look at their marketing budgets. It's an excellent opportunity to assess what will generate sales leads over the next two years. Hopefully, the economic downturn will work as a forcing function to help executives build leaner and more efficient businesses.

Over the last five years, I've continually tried to integrate PR into the business processes of the Silicon Valley companies I've worked with. In my heart, I'm an entrepreneur and enjoy talking to other entrepreneurs about making new products and making money. In the last year, we've really seen companies open up their business processes to us.

Here are just some of the changes I'm seeing:


Google Analytics - The majority of our clients use Google Analytics. Many of them give us login access to directly view reports. We can now assess the effectiveness of PR campaigns in driving traffic to their web site and also see if there is a trend to increase traffic to product information sections or the contact section.

Google AdWords - As part of our messaging and positioning work, we now ask clients what keywords they are buying for Google AdWords. Most clients buy AdWords and know which words are directing traffic to their site. Using other tools, they can also drill down and see which keywords result in high quality sales leads. As part of their integrated marketing plan, PR often helps to push these keywords out to the public.

Web Site Interaction - In many integrated marketing campaigns, our clients are trying to achieve a higher level of interaction. They're trying to get a registered download of a whitepaper or free version of a product, registration in a online technical community, anonymous voting, or online button clicks.

Intentional Information Leaks - Some companies are starting to release information to the online community first and then issue a press release. Although the technique is still new and being developed, some technology executives are putting incomplete information out on blogs or Twitter before official announcements. Due to the speed requirements of online blogging, there are usually no delays with fact-checking or interviews. I've often seen a buzz cycle develop online in blogs, Twitter, and even Wikipedia in advance of a product launch and then really start to gain momentum when the full product specifications appear in a press release. Part of the reason for this strategy might be that the bloggers and people in the online community are the most passionate about the product and might be the best candidates for early product buys.

As an entrepreneur, I find all these changes exciting. It warms my heart to see companies leveraging new PR techniques to generate sales leads. This is one of the reasons Lonn Johnston and I left the entrepreneurial world and started a PR firm. The PR firms we were hiring five years ago were not integrated into the process of helping companies reach business objectives. After seeing the carnage of the dot-com bust, we knew that there was a better way to do PR, going beyond hype machines and working toward supporting the achievements of business goals. It seems that other people see the same thing too.