B2B PR strategy: How to trade up

There’s a common perception that B2B PR and social strategy is a nice to have for food and drink businesses. However, as most successful business leaders will tell you, with a more scrutinous audience, word of mouth and recommendation play a vital role in growth. 

B2B communication budgets are typically smaller than those of  the ‘glamourous’ consumer brands but earned media can work hard as a cornerstone for any business targeting significant growth.

As a CEO, Marketing Director or founder you have your customer and ops teams in place, but nothing is more powerful than a potential client saying they’ve read about you in a respected source. Trade news coverage opens doors and starts conversations.

It’s essential to reinforce your messaging and drive awareness through B2B PR but most importantly to do it consistently and in an original way.  PR differs from advertising, it is about building a relationship with the media not a transactional campaign.

At Nexus we’ve been building relationships with key media for over 40 years and work with the key opinion formers in food and drink. We deliver B2B media strategy, original research, profiling opportunities, podcasts, influencer activations and press engagement targeting publications such as The Grocer, Caterer and just-drinks.com.  These are some of the food and drink sector’s leading authorities when talking to retailers, investors and future talent. Critically they are also a key research source for national media.

Perhaps most often, we get asked but how do you measure growth ? Coverage and reach play a role alongside messages landing but branded search is the biggest trackable opportunity to measure success. This means that when a customer reads about you, most often their next step is to search your product. Some of our campaigns have seen branded search increase by 600% off the back of coverage.

Here are some helpful thoughts if your business is considering B2B PR.

Consistency is key.  Build out your plan and activate it relentlessly.  Work with your client across marketing, category management and insights.  And always think creatively to stand out from the competition.  Nexus knows what makes a good story and how to catch the eye of consumer news editors through trade comms as we’ve done on numerous occasions for our clients.

Relationships rock. A good agency should be relied on to open the doors to coverage and content opportunities. Trade and B2B journalists are experts in their field and agencies need to be too.  At Nexus our far reaching contacts help to build connections between the media and our clients through formal and informal interactions in person and through regular comms.

Embrace individuality.  Be brave.  We think differently and challenge our clients to embrace their differences and their quirks or help them to find them.  Character and personality is far more motivating than wallpaper commentary.

Building your brand.  Trade and B2B PR pushes open doors to greater commercial opportunity through increased brand awareness and by demonstrating your expertise and knowledge.  It supports your sales and enhances your presence to grow your listings.

Take a stance. We’ll work with you to create a strong platform for your comms through creative positioning, thought leadership and opinion. You’ll be well prepared to share your views whether you’re an established brand or a startup.

Amanda Baiden is a director at Nexus leading comprehensive programmes for some of the UK’s leading generics and brands.  She has in-depth experience in understanding how trade and B2B comms can take businesses to the next level.

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