There are many skills that are valuable in a B2B (business-to-business) PR agency. Whether it’s a keen nose for news or good research skills, it’s important that your B2B PR team has a wide variety of skills and can learn quickly. But for many professional agencies, some traits are more important than others. Let us introduce you to candidates on the qualities required for a PR specialist focused on the B2B sphere.
Stay up to date
What’s your top priority if your PR specialist can’t stay up to date? Without it, you can’t track or promote. Of course, this is true for almost everyone in public relations, but in B2B it’s more specialized. That’s why we’re always checking for updates, even outside of work hours.
Our B2B PR specialists follow major media and authors on Twitter, subscribe to numerous newsletters, buy analyst reports, and follow white papers on relevant topics. We also use monitoring services to keep track of the latest news in the areas that interest our client companies. Our team tracks trends and breaking news in ad tech, digital security, SaaS, and more. Plus, we have trends in our own PR and communications industry, so there’s a lot of information to process.
They’re geeks at heart.
PR for supply chain optimization? Converged media monetization tech? How about automated customer communications management for highly regulated industries? Especially in the B2B space, it can take a lot of effort to understand a particular industry. Not everyone is naturally an ad tech or cybersecurity expert, but with thorough training (and a few years of experience), it becomes easier. Above all, it’s important to understand a particular company’s revenue model, the division it competes in, and the problems and challenges it solves for its clients, because these can be very complex.
Many B2B PR agencies work in the technology space, and therefore are both fans of their clients’ technology and sometimes their strongest critics. You don’t need to be a programmer or a data engineer in this business, but it’s beneficial to have some knowledge of technology and an understanding of the rapidly accelerating cycles that drive the economy. They know how to leverage research findings.
Knowing how to create, interpret and communicate research is a key PR skill. Again, in-depth, specific to B2B work. Are you familiar with Gartner’s Magic Quadrant? Do you know how to summarize market data on a single slide? Want to build an enterprise customer survey to assess the value of key service differentiators? If you do, you’ll probably do well in B2B PR. Because data often drives the news, B2B PR requires expertise in both interpreting and creating data. We work with our survey and other market research partners to create relevant insights and timely data for our clients to create news, share with their customers, and establish leadership in their fields.
They’re Good Writers
B2B PR specialists must be good, fast, and productive writers. Even in the age of Tik Tok, creating clear, consistent content is one of the most important parts of the job, especially when it comes to technology products and services. There’s good reason for the cross-pollination between journalism and PR, because we produce a lot of content, from press releases and bylines to pithy email pitches.
However, there may still be a skills gap when it comes to quality writing. A Tech Marketing Council survey found that 62% of B2B technology companies struggle to find writers who can deliver thought leadership content, which brings us to the last feature on our list.
You Understand “Thought Leadership”
You often hear B2B PR agencies promise to turn key executives into “thought leaders.” It’s true that tapping into the expertise and perspectives of business leaders and entrepreneurs can be transformative for your business brand. But being a thought leader takes more than just writing great copy. It goes beyond getting your account managers in the news. True thought leadership is about harnessing the power of ideas, insights, innovation and influence. Read Richard’s post on PR techniques and tools for thought leaders, or Dorothy’s original thoughts on how to create a great thought leadership campaign.
