By: Jacob Hanson
The anticipation of a home-run article being published can be palpable. But the publication of that article is just the tip of the iceberg. The full impact of earned media lies in what you and your team choose to do with it after its publication. What steps are you taking to ensure your article is being leveraged to its fullest potential? How are you giving that content legs to extend its shelf life beyond its moment in the publication sun?
One member of the PRP client family is really nailing this. Take a look below and see their team’s best practices.
Here's an exerpt from an email that their Marketing Director sent to their sales reps: They prepare the team before the article appears.
Not only does their Director of Marketing ensure their sales team is aware of an article being published, she provides context as to how it can be leveraged by their sales reps. Here’s an excerpt from an email she sent prior to article being published:
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“Team, I am especially excited about this article from [educator] in [her school district]. It is a great piece to send to elementary prospects as it focuses on so many great aspects of [our solution]. Plus I love the title, [of the article]. Can't get much more results-oriented than .” *Details of this email were anonymized to protect the confidential nature of these internal communications |
Their sales reps share timely information quickly.
Within an hour of this article being published, we received word from our client that they had already scheduled meetings with desirable prospects who had previously proven difficult to reach. Within an hour!
Here’s an excerpt from an email that one of their reps sent to a CAO:|
Subject line: Awesome article: [Title of article] Dear [Chief Academic Officer] I hope you’ve been well and are enjoying the summer. This article was published today and I wanted to share. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. [Link to published article]. This is also a video from the same school [link to video]” *Details of this email were anonymized to protect the confidential nature of these internal communications |
Response from CAO: (within an hour of the original email being sent)
Thank you—very timely information. I’m in the office Monday-Wednesday with a flexible schedule.
Can we talk next week about the nuts and bolts of [product name]? I need to prepare an information summary for my committee leaders and for the adoption committee next year.
Just like that. Not only did this rep secure the meeting, but he also learned crucial information about his prospect’s timing and the next steps (and potential obstacles) the prospect will be taking internally to move this potential sale along—all in response to his question in the initial email asking how he can help.
This is just one example. This member of the PRP client family is repeating this process over and over again with its reps across the country each and every time they see an article published.
They leverage past articles based on their buyers’ context.
Not only is this team repeating the process with this article; they are still leveraging articles that are months (even years) old, taking their buyers’ context into account before choosing which to send and when would be the best time to do so.
They ask themselves, “What article or other piece of content does this particular prospect or lead need to move to the next stage in their journey to purchase?” That approach continues to pay off.
Is it time to have an internal pow-wow with your sales reps to determine what questions, content, and stories they could be leveraging to make their emails more effective? Do they need more tools to help move their prospects down the funnel effectively? Maybe so—or maybe you are one of those companies that’s already nailing it!
Thanks for sharing!