Crafting a Product Public Relations Campaign
Public relations is often used to promote new products, and you can use public relations to support various sales and marketing objectives. Whatever your goals, there are many ways you can enhance product public relations using a variety of media.
Press conferences should be held only for product launches that are important for your company or the market as a whole. If you hold press conferences for minor product developments or simple range extensions, you may be perceived as wasting journalists' time.
Some manufacturing and technical companies handle product public relations internally, because an external consulting firm would not have the detailed product knowledge necessary for product promotion. Even in these cases, companies may hire a consultancy for distribution of press releases and managing press conferences. Consultants are also helpful for creating press material appropriate for audiences with limited technical knowledge.
It makes sense for technical specialists to be involved with writing press material that requires detailed product knowledge. They should be edited, though, to ensure material is suitable for customers who don't have a technical background.
There are many reasons for which you might decide to undertake a product public relations program. Before moving forward, be sure to be clear about your goals. These might include:
- to promote a new product launch
- to increase awareness of your product range
- to correct customer misunderstandings
- to increase knowledge about product applications
- to encourage wider product use
- to support market education goals
Here are some opportunities you can use to enhance product public relations:
- contribute product information to regular product surveys
- issue press releases on new products and new product developments
- contribute feature articles about innovative product applications
- write "how-to" articles with instructions on product usage
- submit articles from technical specialists about industry developments
Here is a case study for using public relations to support a new product launch. This company wants to increase awareness and understanding of a new design software tool that will improve engineering design quality and productivity. It is specifically interested in reaching the following decision makers:
- product users, specifically design engineers
- managers and senior executives who would benefit from increased productivity from design engineers
- marketing specialists who would benefit indirectly from improved product performance
The company ultimately decides on a public relations program including the following:
- submitting press releases to engineering trade publications
- conducting an interview with the company's engineering director, explaining how the product has improved productivity and performance internally
- contributing to product surveys that cover engineering design techniques
- preparing a feature article on engineering design developments
- submitting a feature article to magazines aimed at marketers demonstrating how good engineering design helps improve product and marketing performance
Here is a case study for using public relations to increase customer understanding of a product or service. In this case, a professional services company that conducts project management services thinks lack of customer understanding is limiting its market growth. The company's public relations program to remedy this situation includes the following strategies:
- preparing case histories about how companies have used similar project management services
- writing feature articles on using project services to improve staff efficiency or develop outsourcing programs
- submitting a press release to trade publications; the press release includes a self-assessment questionnaire, allowing prospects to find out if they have a need for project services
Here is a case study for using public relations to increase use of a product, or broaden its use to new markets. The company, a materials supplier, has a product that was originally developed for use in demanding aerospace applications. The product is generally considered to be too expensive and advanced for other uses. The company wishes to broaden the product's use to include more conventional applications. They develop a public relations campaign aimed at designers and application engineers that includes the following elements:
- submitting a press release describing multiple product applications
- writing a "how-to" article with detailed product information, and submitting it to design and engineering trade publications
- crafting an editorial competition that enables entrants to win a unique design software package
- preparing a series of application articles for vertical market trade publications
Press conferences offer an opportunity for company representatives to meet journalists and editors and provide a detailed briefing on launches or other new product developments. It is wise to limit press conferences to those instances when a product launch (or other development) is particularly newsworthy or important. Take care not to waste journalists' time with minor developments, or they will be reluctant to take you seriously in the future.
It is important to prepare carefully for a press conference. Here are some tips for ensuring success:
- Focus on inviting journalists and editors from those publications that reach your target customers.
- Provide sufficient advance notice, and time your event so that editors of monthly magazines have time to cover your product in their next issue.
- Prepare press packets with company and product information, photographs, and other relevant facts.
- Ensure that senior executives, technical specialists, or other important staff are available for interviews or comment as necessary.
- Send press packet or arrange a separate meeting with important press contacts who cannot attend.
Allowing journalists or editors to meet one-on-one with product specialists and interview them can provide mutual benefits. Companies appreciate the opportunity to provide detailed product briefings to important press contacts. And since individual interviews are more selective than press conferences, editors benefit from receiving exclusive information.
It is useful to create a press page on your Web site where journalists can read your latest news, obtain general company information, and download press releases, feature articles, or photos for publication. The page should also provide contact information for key staff members and link to your company's home page. It is a good idea to feature your latest news stories on your home page as well.
Though journalists may regularly visit your online press page if it provides useful information, it is also helpful to alert them to news by e-mail. Send a brief message with an overview of your news, and then provide a link to more detailed information such as a press release or feature article on your Web site.
If you get a story about one of your company's products in the press, make as much use of it as you can. Provide a link to the story (and the publication that wrote it) on your Web site, or send a copy to other press contacts to develop their interest. Always remember to ask the publisher for permission before you reproduce a complete article. Headlines or brief excerpts from an article can generally be used without permission.
Many journalists do not have much time to attend regular press conferences, but you can overcome this problem by conducting an online press briefing. Webcasting allows companies to stream audio and video briefings over the Internet, show multimedia content, and provide editors with opportunities to interact and ask questions using slides, polling, and messaging. It's just like a traditional press conference, but editors do not need to leave their desks.
If you produce a lot of press releases, an e-mail newsletter is a useful way to send short summaries of your latest news stories to press contacts and customers on a periodic basis. Include links from the newsletter summaries to a more detailed press release on each story. Time the frequency of your newsletter based on the amount of news you generally have, so that your news list in each issue isn't too short or long.
Some companies forget to consider their customers' point of view when writing press releases. Be sure to communicate information that is relevant to your customers, such as product applications or benefits, and not internal processes unlikely to be of interest to them.
It is important to understand the audience and writing style of publications on your distribution list, so that you can submit relevant information to them. Take time to study their editorial content and readership data, which is often available on publication Web sites. Do not submit information that is unsuitable for publication—it will merely get tossed in the trash.
Be aware that journalists may not know your company's full product line or strengths. This is why it is important to include background company information as well as product information when you send press releases.
Cooper, Robert G.
Cutlip, Scott M., Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Broom.
Public Relations Society of America: www.prsa.org