Editorial
The Gist
- Embracing AI in B2B PR: Despite its limitations, the role of AI like ChatGPT in B2B PR is transforming industry practices, offering opportunities for increased efficiency and streamlined workflows.
- Predictive B2B PR strategy: Leveraging account-based marketing (ABM) strategies, B2B PR can gain predictive insights on journalists' interests and the trending public discourse, optimizing relationship-building and content strategy.
- Data-driven thought leadership: With intent data and listening tools, PR professionals can stay ahead of the curve, building relevant, timely thought leadership content that aligns with press needs and audience interests.
Full disclosure: I tried to use ChatGPT to write this.
In so many corners of the business to business (B2B) PR world, the promise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is astounding. The use cases are dizzying in their scope and scale. In the few short months since ChatGPT exploded, the industry has already been transformed.
But it has its limitations. Especially in the world of B2B tech public relations, where the ideas are heady and novel, the press ecosystems are complicated and target audience personas are multilayered, text-based generative AI still doesn’t hold a candle to old fashioned pen-to-paper (or really, finger-to-keyboard) writing.
Case in point? This article. The version I got ChatGPT to spit out — even after tweaking, fleshing out and reworking prompts — was transparently off-base to even the most casual reader. So B2B public relations professionals looking to land placements in top-tier pubs don’t have to worry about AI stealing their jobs anytime soon.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t huge opportunities to create shortcuts and efficiencies in PR workflows using new technology. In fact, some of the tools our friends on the digital marketing side have been using to optimize campaigns can give PR agencies a clear view into what our targets are writing about next, and what our target audiences want to read about.
Enter Predictive B2B PR
The success that B2B marketing has found with account-based marketing (ABM) has been, by many measures, extraordinary. B2B customer journeys are filled with gleaming, in-your-face intent signals like whitepaper downloads, email marketing sign-ups, video views, repeated web visits and social media engagement.
Identifying the prospects that are in market and understanding where they are in the funnel is a key function of ABM — one that allows sales teams to more effectively target and engage potential customers in the right context.
For B2B PR decision-makers, the challenge comes in understanding what target journalists are working on and what they’re looking to publish next. The most effective route here, of course, is the oldest: building relationships through trust, value and repetition. But it can be difficult to find a foothold, especially for start-ups. Put yourself in the shoes of an up-and-coming quantum computing hardware company, for example. If the New York Times is writing a piece on quantum, how can you beat out an incumbent like IBM for color commentary?
By taking a page out of the digital marketing ABM playbook, public relations pros can actually significantly optimize the relationship-building process for both parties — getting a better understanding of what journalists are looking for, and delivering to them exactly what they need, when they need it.
The Elements of Predictive B2B PR Strategy
What goes into a predictive B2B PR strategy?
Knowing What Reporters Are Covering — Before They Cover It
Let’s pick up the quantum computing hardware start-up example again. By leveraging any number of ABM platforms, a PR agency can pick up on the intent signals at target publications, treating them just as a digital marketing or sales team would treat a buying committee at a prospect organization.
By getting their hands on intent data, PR teams can monitor content consumption across channels. When they can see a target topic has shown up in intent signals from a target organization, they can narrow in on the publications that are “in market,” so to speak. Then it’s just a matter of finding the right reporter and making an introduction with resources you already know they are looking for.
Knowing What the Thought Leaders Are Thinking About
Knowing what reporters are looking for is half the battle. Knowing where public discourse is headed is equally as important in your marketing efforts. By using the same ABM stack, you can monitor for early signs of surging topics among your peers and competitors.
Take, for example, the conversation around Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), a trending enterprise network architecture. By leveraging listening tools (in this case, BrandWatch), we’re able to see the shifts in the conversation over time, showing a shift from discussions around network security and managed services last year to zero-trust security this year. Data-driven listening allows you to see what’s picking up steam and place yourself there.
Building Topical, Relevant Content Strategies
Once PR professionals know what reporters are looking for and where the conversation is headed, it becomes easier to place yourself at the center of the conversation. Proactive outreach to in-market journalists is a key element of the strategy here, but it also tees up huge opportunities for thought leadership.
Thought leadership strategy should be, of course, living and breathing. By understanding what press are looking for and what the audience is talking about, you can build thought leadership in short, always-current sprints, placing bylines in the right places with immediately relevant topics.
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B2B Predictive PR Provides Instant Value
As a PR pro, it can sometimes seem like target reporters are operating under a rock. With good reason, of course, they don’t often broadcast what they’re working on.
But with deep account listening and predictive B2B PR, you can better understand where and how they’re consuming content, allowing you to provide instant value with well-thought-out positioning and insights. In short, those rocks get a bit easier to turn over.
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