Enterprise Software Marketing/PR
Enterprise software marketing and PR is very different than consumer marketing and PR. While both markets are extremely competitive, enterprise software providers are providing complex solutions to a very different and much more informed customer base. For these reasons, it’s critical to work with a marketing and PR partner with a strong understanding of your product and the enterprise software market.
What to Expect From an Enterprise Software Marketing and PR Program
Before engaging a new enterprise software marketing and PR partner, it’s important to understand what you should expect from a successful program in both the long- and short-term. In most cases, our tech-savvy PR and marketing teams start gaining an understanding of your business and core offerings prior to kicking off a new project. Because we focus exclusively on supporting technology and B2B clients, we already have a strong understanding and knowledge base of your industry, so you can expect results right away.
When you first begin an enterprise software marketing and PR program, there are a few things you can expect a good partner to do to make your engagement as successful as possible.
- Identify Target Audiences: Whether you’re targeting CIOs, C-level decision makers, marketers or all of the above, a successful enterprise software marketing and PR strategy requires a clear picture of who your target audience is and how they consume information.
- Develop Key Messaging: Once you’ve identified the core audience you want to reach, the next step in an enterprise software marketing and PR program is to develop clear, concise messaging that communicates the value-add benefits of your products and drives the development of thought leadership topics.
- Gather or Create Customer Testimonials: Although it can be tough to line up client case studies, it’s definitely worth the extra effort. Reporters and prospects appreciate hearing real-life success stories and business results clients achieved by using your product. Client case studies go a long way in supporting a successful enterprise software marketing and PR program.
- Design a Thought Leadership Program: Your thought leadership program may incorporate your CEO and other C-level executives in your company. Identify the spokespeople in your organization who will be the faces of your enterprise software marketing and PR efforts. Find out which topics and trends they are most comfortable speaking about, and provide ongoing media training and feedback on interviews.
- Build Relationships with Reporters: Enterprise software marketing and PR typically falls short when you fail to target the appropriate reporters. The best way to build relationships with influential reporters is by understanding their area of coverage and serving as a valuable resource. Be sure to know who covers software reviews and who covers trends, and do not mix them up.
- Promote Current Products: As nice as it sounds, it’s unwise to promote any products that aren’t ready to be released in the market. Focus on promoting solutions that are complete and ready for release, and avoid speaking about any software that’s just in the works.
- Utilize Multiple Channels: It’s a reality that your key audiences are consuming content on an array of channels, both online and offline. A successful enterprise software marketing and PR strategy will raise your visibility on all of these channels.
- Incorporate Social and Search: Along the same lines, reporters, stakeholders and prospects are using non-traditional media to find and share information. Your enterprise software marketing and PR program should incorporate social media and search engine optimization best practices and strategies.
- Track, Measure and Report Results: Enterprise software marketing and PR is notoriously difficult to measure. But a savvy partner will be able to provide the hard metrics to show you what’s working and what’s not. At Walker Sands, we’ve developed tools and technologies that make measuring ROI on marketing and PR a reality.
Walker Sands specializes in taking complex software products to market and communicating the benefits clearly and accurately to prospects, customers, stakeholders and analysts. Our comprehensive, award-winning enterprise software marketing and PR programs generate leads, build credibility and raise awareness among key stakeholders.
Are you ready to learn more? Fill out the form on this page. We’d love to share our success stories and help you build a sustainable enterprise software marketing and PR plan that generates real business results.