Create a product PR strategy

Create a product PR strategy

1.  Determine the objective of your product PR strategy.

This objective will inform the KPIs you use and the stakeholders you collaborate with. Objectives include: Product adoption. Site traffic. Brand, product, or problem awareness. Product differentiation. Lead generation.

2. Select KPIs that you'll use to evaluate performance in reaching your objective.

Product PR strategies utilize different success metrics including, backlinks to product sales pages, brand mentions, and share of voice. As you determine your KPIs, utilize the objective you identified in the beginning. If you are generating leads, you may focus on traffic to a pricing or product page. If you’d like to create brand, product, or problem awareness, KPIs like share of voice may be more worthwhile.

3. Identify the top 100 media outlets and or influencers using tools like Google search, Ahrefs, and Similarweb.

4. Obtain media outlet and influencer contact information.

For media outlets, start this process by using data enrichment services such as Zoominfo, Clearbit, and Pipecandy. For influencer research, use tools like Influence.co, Inbeat.co, and Colabstr. If you are having difficulty obtaining contact information, speak with your sales or marketing teams. These teams may already be using data enrichment services to generate target lists.

5. Finalize your PR personas by listing needs, motivations, voice, and behaviors.

This list of PR personas may also include media outlets and influencers. Inform these PR persona characteristics using interviews, internal data, and industry research.

6. Outline your product message explaining what it is, and why your PR personas should care.

This message often includes the company’s founding and how your new product aligns with that original vision. As part of the product message, you might also highlight how this product differentiates itself from the competition, touching on any PR persona priorities or motivations related to the product.

7. Consider incorporating pre-launch buzz into your strategy by sharing details with communities that would benefit from your products.

To determine which communities might be interested in this message, connect with your sales, support, and account management teams. Make sure you have an understanding of: Places that your customers network. Social media platforms your customers use. Needs and motivations related to your products or services. As you are creating buzz, consider circulating survey information, user experience insights, or any statistics you have obtained.

8. Send media kits to outlets and influencers using the contact information you have obtained.

For those that failed to make your top 100, dedicate a section of your site to those that may request product PR information. As you assemble your media kit, include:  Details about your business. Approved graphics and logos. Product launch copy snippets.

9. Using your list of KPIs, leverage internal and external reporting tools to evaluate success.

Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Ahrefs, and Funnel.io are external tools commonly used to measure traffic, share of voice, brand awareness, and social media impact.