Use These New Ideas To Turn PR Into Business
Last month I interviewed Scott Carter, a serial entrepreneur providing financial services for boomer consumers (45–65) who’s used innovative PR and marketing to take his newest company, PM Capital, to critical mass in the space of six months, since January 2017. We talked about what it takes to succeed in PR today compared to times past.
Time was, we mused, that the crux of a media launch would mean a press tour to New York for days of desk side interviews to negotiate stories. Press releases were intended for reporters only. And for a company like Carter’s, addressing mid-stage executives and investors who are striving to strengthen their financial future, radio was the medium of choice.
No more. Over the past 10–15 years, companies have been forced to entirely re-think the ways to communicate to customers. Storytelling ability is vital. Value-add content replaces promotion and hype. The new challenge is to amplify PR messages into the channels where prospective customers live and to bridge PR activities to effective lead generation.
In Carter’s case, his challenge is to connect with the vast audience of people concerned about financial security in an uncertain environment — how to balance active income, passive income and how to lean in for a better return.
“We need to get unfiltered information that isn’t available in the open market to the people who need it,” he maintains. “If you can give an investor the information that allows them to properly evaluate their decisions, they’ll make the right choice.”
“These days you don’t have to grab somebody in a 60-second spot. What used to be accomplished by getting someone on the phone and controlling the conversation with persuasive selling has been replaced by the ‘give’ strategy.”
A 40-minute presentation. Providing value-add information that isn’t available from elsewhere. Continuing to give with no strings attached over time. “That’s the combination that makes the steak sizzle,” he says.
For PM Capital, the marketing key has been live forums to 50,000 people per month. Persuasive selling is replaced by educative communication, one on one. This approach that has taken the company to $2M revenue per month that he anticipates will reach $3–4M per month by the end of 2017.