Trade media is often overlooked: lower domain authority scores and fewer unique monthly visitors don’t excite brands as much as seeing their name in lights in top-tier publications. Trade publications tend to get a bad rap, but they can be beneficial in helping a brand establish its identity and reach its target audience by having corporate branded uniforms, custom branding, etc.
So, what are some reasons why brands need to take trade coverage?
Reach readers with messages they understand
While top-tier publications such as Forbes and Wall Street Journal reach millions of people and should be a part of your larger PR strategy, with trade publications, brands know exactly who they are speaking to and can use messaging readers understand. For example, say your target audience is in-house counsel; TechCrunch shouldn’t be your target publication since TechCrunch’s usual readers are unlikely to consume it. Publications like TechCrunch target executive leaders at SaaS companies, which casts a wider net and may not speak to a specific industry compared to a legal publication such as National Law Review. From a trade publication perspective, they are providing their readers with messaging and information that best pertains to them and in turn, creates loyal readers.
Build credibility before approaching top-tier publications
Trade media can help build a brand presence and lay a foundation before targeting top-tier publications. National publications are looking to cover large companies and industry-shattering news. Placing a story in a national publication can take weeks if not months — if ever achieved at all. Trade publications often respond to media requests faster and are more likely to accept contributed content, publish features and share company news. If your company is not well-known, coverage in trade publications helps build and amplify your brand presence. That way, when you begin targeting top-tier publications, a reporter searching for your company name will see an influx of trade coverage –– helping to increase your credibility.
Utilize thought leaders as a source
One of the main reasons a company invests in a PR agency is to help establish and build a company thought leader’s brand and presence. The SaaS market plays to a variety of industries and within those industries, there are multiple leaders with different expertise and experiences. Getting thought leaders into industry-specific trade publications can boost your company’s reputation and increase brand awareness. In addition, utilizing thought leaders in trade publications can show top-tier reporters they are a viable source for a potential story.
To learn more about building a brand presence and why trade media should be on the top of your PR agency’s priority list, check out our blog post 3 Reasons Trade Media Matters in B2B SaaS.
One of the most common questions we get from our clients, especially in the sales process, is “how can PR affect SEO?” Let’s get one thing straight: PR alone is not a comprehensive SEO or link-building strategy. That said, there are plenty of ways PR coverage can impact SEO in a positive way. And because we understand the importance of defining the ROI of PR (especially for you data-driven SaaS marketers out there), we now more than ever find our efforts tying into those of the SEO team on a regular basis.
From working to secure natural, editorial backlinks in publications with a high domain authority, to ensuring contributed content has at least one target keyword phrase, SEO is an important part of our PR strategy for any client.
A significant aspect of modern link-building strategies entails utilizing platforms such as Help a Reporter Out (HARO). This invaluable resource acts as a hub for connecting experts with journalists in search of reliable sources. The integration of HARO into our PR efforts focused on SEO has proven to be a transformative factor. Through active participation in HARO, our team not only reinforces the industry expertise of our clients but also fosters the acquisition of valuable backlinks from authoritative sources. This mutually beneficial relationship between PR and HARO illustrates the dynamic evolution of link building, emphasizing collaboration and strategic integration to enhance a brand’s SEO profile.
Now, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of how the two intersect, shall we?
Trends suggest that public relations will be a data-driven function in 2020; however, for years many PR agencies have skirted by with minimal metrics — securing media coverage and then simply handing a list of placement links or clips to a client before moving on. Today, marketers — especially marketers at SaaS brands — expect more.
Measuring PR Coverage and Outlet Quality
PR metrics, like share of voice, and digital marketing metrics, like referral traffic, help fill in the gaps but are far from the be-all and end-all. Any time we’re discussing media coverage with clients — be it competitor and brand coverage in a media landscape analysis or coverage secured for the brand ongoing — we also consider a variety of metrics that speak to the quality of coverage and the outlet where that coverage was secured. These metrics include:
Type of publication where the coverage was secured — national, trade or local
Type of coverage — contributed content, feature, mention, quote or press release posting
As a result, when prospects and clients ask us questions like, “What can I expect from a PR program?” we can provide data-based answers based on our roster of SaaS clients. While this dataset provides a great comparison point for SaaS brands working with our agency, it lacks a control group. That got us wondering: What does this kind of data look like when the SaaS brand hasn’t worked with BLASTmedia?
An Analysis of Fastest-Growing SaaS Brands
To further understand how SaaS companies are using media relations to generate press, our team decided to analyze media coverage from a set of fast-growing SaaS companies outside of our client base. For the purpose of our first exercise, we selected 25 of the top companies listed on the SaaS 1000. During the analysis, we classified all press coverage — excluding pay-to-play coverage, such as newswire postings, market research reports and sponsored content — by the same metrics we use to evaluate client coverage.
Some results were what we expected while others — like the fact that less than 3% of coverage reviewed in the analysis was made up of quotes — were a bit out of left field.
Curious what we uncovered? Download our analysis to learn more about coverage and outlet quality as a SaaS PR metric and how fast-growing SaaS brands stack up.
