Continuing our series of blogs based on our Natural PR guide, this time we look at how to court your collaborators. Natural PR opportunities don’t just come from within your organisation – they’re about effective collaboration too. B2B PR campaigns often involve alliances with partners and customers from case studies to new partner announcements. However, sharing the stage with other people and organisations can go much further and achieve far more compelling results.
Collaboration enables an organisation to create a multi-dimensional story for the media and its own marketing too. Your own company’s views and position framed by the opinions of others can elevate your opportunities for coverage both in terms of quality and quantity. Beyond customers and partners you could seek to collaborate with literally anyone with relevance to your chosen PR topic – consultants, analysts, academics, professionals, trade associations, perhaps even your competitors.
When you come to sell your story to the media a collaborative approach turns what may be the spark of an idea into a ready-made story package. Ok, the journalist may want to add some of his own sources to the mix for credibility and independence, but if you’ve removed much of the hassle of developing angles and sourcing spokespeople your story package will definitely have appeal.
The main risk of collaboration is loss of control – especially if those you work with take ownership or are bigger names. But this can be managed; carefully plan your collaborative activity with clear guidelines to ensure that your own brand retains a unique and prominent position.
Next is this series of blogs, we look at the PR bounty that can be unearthed by observing your organisation.
