What journalists want Archives

Content marketing, Social media, What journalists want

New UK Government agenda: How to engage and build visibility with B2B content

Ayo Abbas, Stacey Meadwell and Shirin Iqbal

Four months into the new UK government and more detail on its agenda is emerging, but how can you use B2B content to engage with that agenda?

Speaking ahead of the budget, I went live on LinkedIn with co-host Ayo Abbas of Abbas Marketing and special guest Shirin Iqbal of Shirin Iqbal Consulting to talk about how to get involved, align your content strategy, boost visibility and position yourself as a sector expert.

We all work with built environment clients, so our examples come from that sector, but the overarching strategies apply to any industry.

Here are the edited highlights of our conversation and you can watch the replay which includes our budget predicitons here.

What channels are available for built environment firms who want to share their knowledge and expertise?

Ayo: You have to understand which areas you care about and where you can add to the conversation – which parts of the story you want to focus on.

Then, look at who is talking about these issues and championing causes. For example, in the past few years, Architects Journal has talked about retrofitting rather than knocking down buildings.

Then there are associations and campaigning groups like the London Society and non-government groups like Business First.

The government also puts together expert panels such as the New Homes Accelerator. Who’s on those panels, and how can you join that conversation? Plus, there are consultations where they ask what the industry thinks.

It’s all an opportunity for you to join the conversation.

Shirin: There are also thought leadership articles, trade press, panels, conferences and podcasts.

Add your voice, not just to add to the noise, but to add value to the conversation and really showcase your expertise.

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What journalists want

How to become a go-to person for B2B media interviews

*Image generated using WordPress inbuilt AI*

While B2B print publications may be shrinking in size or disappearing completely, many still have an online audience and a subscriber list to which they send daily or weekly content round-ups.

So there is still value in traditional earned media: Getting yourself or clients quoted in an article or news piece or having an opinion/comment piece published.

Earned media is third-party endorsement and an opportunity to reach a different/bigger audience than your ‘owned’ channels might reach. (It’s also content that can be repurposed for your owned channels.)

There can be a reluctance to engage with the press, which is understandable.

But thinking about B2B publications in particular, their readers are often the same people journalists interview to get stories and comments. There’s a relationship there and potential mutual benefit.

Back in my journalism days, we’d occasionally get complaints that some people seemed to get a lot of coverage/exposure in the magazine.

If a deadline is pressing, a journalist will pick up their contact book, which includes the go-to people for quick and reliable information on specific sectors and topics.

This might be direct contacts or PRs who can quickly source the right person.

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Press releases, What journalists want

Finding a strong story angle for B2B press releases

‘How can I come up with a good angle for my press releases and content?’

It’s something I know PRs wrestle with, particularly as non-comms people in the business don’t always understand what is newsworthy or how journalists work.

And it’s something I faced as a regional features editor, visiting the same cities several times a year. Some markets hadn’t changed since the last time they were covered, but I still had to find a fresh feature angle.

I’d love to present a formula for making something worthy of a press release or coming up with a strong story angle, but there isn’t an easy one.

What I learned is to look at a story from different perspectives. So here are some things to try or consider which could help shape a story… or article.

Research

What sort of stories do your target publications typically run? What detail do they generally include, and what is the hook they use for similar stories?

You need to be up to speed with these things anyway, but a quick scroll through some similar story might reveal the angle you need to go for.

It will also highlight if certain information is always included and where there might be a barrier to certain stories getting picked up.

For example, for property investment deals, some publications/websites may only publish stories with the price paid and the yield.

Target audience

This should also be part of your research. Who reads the publications or websites you want to target with this release? What sort of information is helpful and useful to them?

I regularly used to get press releases from a company which made window boxes which was never going to be something that would interest commercial property agents and developers.

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Press releases, What journalists want

B2B journalists’ top tips for press releases

You want your story to get as much coverage as possible, so you need to make sure your press release is delivering what your target journalists are looking for.

Journalists are inundated with press releases, and they are time-poor. They don’t read every press release they get sent (sorry) instead, they make snap decisions about which to read and which to cover.

Man sitting against of wall and floor covered in newspaper. His face is obscured as he's holding up a newspaper, reading it. He's wearing a bright yellow jumper and dark blue jeans and trainers. — *Getting your story in the press means ticking certain boxes with your press release. Photo by Egor Vikhrev on Unsplash*

I’ve written a few posts about press releases, what works best and what doesn’t based on 20 years of being on the receiving end (links at the bottom).

Among my top tips are to target your press release appropriately, get to the point quickly and stick to the facts – no unsubstantiated marketing speak like ‘leading’ and ‘unique’.

But for this post, I asked some of my B2B journalist friends and former colleagues for their press release dos and don’ts.

Here is what they had to say:

Sophia Furber, reporter, S&P Global Market Intelligence:

Us financial journalists need to back up our stories with numbers, so if you are pitching to the business media, then include useful data points in your press release.

How big was X’s investment/loan? How great do you think Y market opportunity is? How much capital was raised? Which company was bought, and for how much money?

You get the picture.

Including this information in the email header or the opening lines of the press release will get my attention and help me make a quick decision about how newsworthy the story is.

Go easy on the jargon and corporate speak. If you include a quote from the CEO in the press release that sounds like it was generated by a robot, then it’s more than likely that it’s not going to end up in any media coverage.

And lastly, if you are offering up comments on a topic that is in the news (say, a big government announcement or a high-profile bankruptcy) from your CEO or another expert source in your company… actually have an opinion!

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Content marketing, It's A B2B Comms Thing, Video, What journalists want

B2B comms: How to get value out of trade shows

Trade shows are on the agenda again after the lockdown hiatus. Attending can be hugely beneficial for businesses but also a drain on time and marketing resources, so how do you maximise the value?

In March’s It’s A B2B Comms Thing LinkedIn Live, I chatted with comms pros Ayo Abbas and Emma Drake about how to make sure you get the most out of these big trade events.

Here are some key points; scroll to the bottom for the full video recording.

Screenshot from the It’s A B2B Comms Thing LinkedIn Live on trade shows (March 4, 2022)

What actions should you take before your trade show?

Ayo: The key thing for me is building some energy and excitement that you’re going to be somewhere. Before a show, start talking about it and sharing what you’re going to be doing.

Social media plays a huge part in that, and you can start connecting with potential visitors and delegates. And use it as a way to build your relationship with the organisers – find out what hashtags they’re using.

If there are press interviews and previews, make sure that you’ve got your press releases out there and all your details and ready to go.

Me: If you’re launching something at the show, think about getting the press release to journalists under embargo because once the show’s on, they’re going to be extremely busy. They’re probably not going to have time to turn around press release stories.

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