2020 SaaS PR Predictions

With the new year upon us, I can’t help but pontificate on the year ahead for SaaS public relations strategy. Forrester says the public cloud market will grow to $299.4 billion in 2020. This growth means more opportunity for those of us running PR programs for SaaS brands. Below are three of our predictions for the year ahead.

No. 1: Public relations will be a data-driven function in 2020.

PR has historically struggled to produce equivalent metrics to its marketing counterparts, but 2020 will be the year PR becomes data-driven. The best PR programs will produce competitive intelligence, media mix and website impact data that will help brands measure awareness and impact, not simply potential reach.

We’ll stop seeing share of voice as the only measure of SaaS public relations success versus competitors. Afterall, share of voice is only a volume metric and doesn’t speak to quality. Expect to see more quality metrics, like Domain Authority, backlinks and website sessions driven from articles.

No. 2: B2B marketers will do more with less content.

Since content marketing exploded, brands created mounds of content simply out of necessity. In 2020, brands will produce punchy copy with actionable, valuable takeaways that can be featured everywhere from the brand’s blog to national publications hungry for guest contributions. One forward-looking, original content idea will have more impact than five expected, keyword-stuffed blog posts from 2019.

Our PR teams often work with our clients’ internal content creators to make the most out of existing content resources. When our client has a top-performing blog or ebook, we get to work using those messages placed with media through interviews and contributed content.

No. 3: Marketers will be customer-obsessed in media, too.

Every software company said they were customer-obsessed in 2019. In 2020, this obsession will expand from customer experience and case studies to SaaS media relations strategies. The best media spokesperson for a software business is a customer discussing the impact the solution has had on their business.

Even our clients with the best NPS scores and G2 reviews can struggle to get customers to agree to act as media spokespeople. We suggest taking a stair-stepped approach — first offering a quote in a release, contributed content and other collateral that they can approve word-for-word — rather than starting with live media interviews. This way, customers can get comfortable with the messaging before they’re on the record.

Any insights you’d like to add? Tweet us at @BLASTmedia and let us know.

Kim Jefferson

About The Author

Kim Jefferson

As EVP at BLASTmedia, Kimberly Jefferson’s objective is to ensure BLASTmedia provides the best possible client and employee experience through optimization of day-to-day operations and communication. Whether she’s iterating on agency structure, jumping in on strategy for current or prospective clients or helping develop processes that move the agency forward, Kim’s passions for agency leadership and media relations drive her. She’s a mother to two small children, so her hobbies include sleeping, reading sci-fi and watching TV dramas with her husband whenever humanly possible.

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