Is it possible to build credibility, visibility, and influence without sponsored content? Is earned media dead?

In an era where sponsored content seems to be everywhere, and influencers demand payment even for podcast appearances, it’s easy to assume that earned media is dead and has little-to-no place in your company’s marketing and public relations strategies. 

But when deployed strategically, earned media strategies can garner organic attention, trust, and credibility, which all help build a solid brand reputation that lasts. 

With the rise of influencers whose online persona is their business, shrinking newsrooms, and more “content” arms of reputable publications working directly with brands, it often feels like every incoming opportunity is one that requires you to pay cash up front. But earned media – specifically media interviews as part of a story and earned speaking opportunities – is still one of the best strategies a brand can use to build something enduring.

Why Earned Media Can Still Work

Earned media is about creating a reputation that withstands the test of time. It’s about becoming a trusted resource for the media, so they turn to you when your expertise is needed. It’s a slow-burning, long-term strategy that builds upon itself over time.

The Benefits of Earned Media Strategies

Let’s delve into why earned media remains a powerful tool for B2B businesses, especially those in the cleantech and sustainability sector, like us here at Blue Practice:

  1. Credibility and Trust: Earned media, such as positive reviews, mentions in reputable publications, and stories that position your brand as the leader in a trend, can enhance your brand’s credibility and trustworthiness. Third-party validation from trusted sources is often more persuasive than self-promotion.
  2. Increased Brand Visibility: Earned media can significantly increase your brand’s visibility among your target audience. When your brand is featured in industry publications, social media shares, or news outlets, it can reach a broader audience than your owned media efforts alone.
  3. Thought Leadership: Earned media opportunities allow your brand to establish itself as a thought leader in your industry. By providing expert insights, participating in interviews, or contributing guest articles, you can showcase your industry expertise.
  4. Reach Target Audiences: Earned media can help you reach specific target audiences that may be more receptive to your message. Media outlets and influencers often have well-defined niche audiences that align with your B2B brand’s objectives.
  5. SEO Benefits: Earned media coverage can improve your search engine optimization (SEO). High-quality backlinks from reputable sources can boost your website’s search rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you online.
  6. Lead Generation: Positive earned media can drive leads and inquiries from interested prospects. When your brand is featured in the media, it can prompt potential customers to seek more information about your products or services.
  7. Competitive Advantage: Earning media coverage can give you a competitive advantage by differentiating your brand from competitors. It can also help you stay top-of-mind in a crowded B2B market.
  8. Long-Term Impact: Earned media has the potential to have a lasting impact. Unlike paid advertising that stops when the budget runs out, earned media mentions and content can continue to drive results over time.
  9. Amplification of Owned Media: Earned media can complement your owned media efforts, such as your blog or social media channels. When you share earned media coverage on your owned platforms, it can amplify the reach and impact of the content.
  10. Crisis Management: In times of crisis or reputation management challenges, earned media can be a valuable tool for addressing concerns, clarifying facts, and mitigating damage.
  11. Relationship Building: Engaging with journalists, industry influencers, and stakeholders to earn media coverage can also help you build valuable relationships that can lead to future opportunities and partnerships.

Earned media strategies have a lot to offer B2B brands, especially those focused on cleantech and sustainability, like Blue Practice. It’s a path to credibility, visibility, cost-effective marketing, and enduring influence. So, the next time you’re considering your PR and marketing strategy, don’t underestimate the power of earned media. It’s not dead; it’s thriving, and it’s ready to work for you.

Ready to unlock the potential of earned media for your B2B business? Reach out to Blue Practice today and discover what a cohesive, comprehensive earned media strategy can do for your company. Your journey towards building a lasting platform for your positive solution starts here.

AI +  PR: How Chatbots are Changing Communications

close up shot of a human hand and a holograph

The bots are finally taking over, as ChatGPT, Jasper, Bard and other AI tools are revolutionizing the way we communicate and connect. And the PR industry is no exception. In fact, still in the early days of the technology, we’re finding that the pairing of AI + PR presents an exciting opportunity for us to amplify messages, engage with stakeholders, and drive positive impact in entirely new ways. 

Especially as a boutique firm, AI-powered tools and technologies are enhancing Blue Practice’s capabilities, giving us an expanded ability to service our clients, and empowering us to make data-driven decisions, identify relevant trends, and create more personalized and impactful campaigns. 

Audience Targeting

One of the key advantages of AI in PR is precision targeting and personalization. We’re now finding ways to leverage AI algorithms to identify and engage with the most relevant and receptive audiences for the stories we’re pitching. Through AI-driven audience segmentation, we can analyze hundreds of channels at once, optimize our outreach, and craft targeted messages that resonate with specific outlets and groups, leading to higher conversion rates. Combined with our personalized content and tailored outreach, the support of AI allows us inroads into a deeper connection with stakeholders, driving our clients’ expertise and advocacy.

Optimizing Media Outreach

A spate of AI-powered PR tools now embedded into PR media databases like Muckrack and Meltwater have also streamlined media outreach. AI algorithms can identify journalists, influencers, and media outlets most likely to cover the green initiatives, clean energy solutions, and sustainability projects we need to promote. With its ability to search through and analyze vast catalogs of past media coverage and journalist preferences, AI optimizes media pitch strategies, increasing the likelihood of positive press coverage and brand visibility.

Data-Driven Decision Making

We’re also finding AI-driven data analytics to be a game-changer in our work. Real-time data insights allow us to track the performance of campaigns, monitor sentiment around environmental initiatives, and measure the impact of sustainability communications efforts. Data-driven decision making empowers companies to continuously refine their communication strategies, ensuring maximum reach and engagement. For example, we can use real-time AI web tools to analyze social media posts, news articles, and blog posts to understand how our campaigns are being received, identify concerns, and adjust our strategies accordingly. 

Enhanced Issues Management

In times of crisis or in capitalizing on trending issues, AI-powered sentiment analysis can quickly gauge public attitudes on topics of interest, helping us respond promptly and insert ourselves appropriately. By understanding public perception and the existing narrative around given issues, we can better implement effective communication strategies, maintain trust, and mitigate reputational risks.

Content Creation

It would be an oversight not to acknowledge what most everyone’s using AI for: content creation. However, at the agency we approach this with caution. Delegating content creation entirely to AI chat engines can be a shortcut resulting in language that feels stilted and impersonal. Instead, we’re using AI as a springboard for our own content generation – to help overcome writer’s block and rapidly generate multiple iterations of a concept. We meticulously edit our AI-generated content, using it as a preliminary guide to shape our own uniquely human narratives.

As these AI tools become more ubiquitous, we’re finding a huge opportunity to leverage them for more effective and impactful communication. By harnessing the power of AI-driven insights, precision targeting, and data-driven decision making, we can amplify clients’ messages, build stronger connections with stakeholders, and drive positive change for a more sustainable world. Contact us to learn more.

The Power of Threads for B2B Cleantech Companies

threads by meta logo, string in the vague shape of an "at" sign, next to the word Threads

Threads, Meta’s innovative social media platform, has taken the digital world by storm, attracting 30 million users within seven hours of its launch. Dubbed as a potential “Twitter killer,” Threads offers real-time conversations and community-building features similar to Twitter. Cleantech companies operating in the B2B space are presented with both opportunities and challenges in leveraging this platform to enhance their communication and marketing strategies.

The opportunity

The biggest opportunity came with Threads’ integration with Instagram. The connection between the two gave Threads an international platform at launch, with presence in over 100 countries. This global reach made it attractive to any company looking to expand and connect with a diverse audience interested in compelling content about sustainability and clean energy solutions.

The Challenge

However, one potential challenge for B2B cleantech companies is the deviation from Twitter’s chronological feed, which may impact user retention for those accustomed to real-time updates. If a company heavily relies on Twitter for time-sensitive industry discussions and news updates, shifting to Threads with a non-chronological feed may disrupt their communication preferences and lead to a less favorable user experience. Additionally, Threads experienced a significant drop in engagement shortly after its launch. Although Meta plans to improve retention with additional features, the platform’s long-term viability remains uncertain. B2B cleantech companies looking for stable and consistent engagement with their audience may find Threads less appealing as a reliable communication channel.

Threads undoubtedly offers unique opportunities for companies to engage with a diverse global audience and build meaningful connections. However, the content that gains the most traction on Threads tends to be shorter and simpler than true thought leadership often requires.  Additionally, any company on the platform must carefully weigh the benefits against potential challenges, such as platform uncertainties and deviations from familiar communication formats. While Threads holds promise, it is crucial for cleantech companies to balance a platform’s offerings with their overall comms strategies, goals, and needs. For now, we find Threads best for connecting on an individual basis, listening to trending conversations among a diverse global audience, and until the platform matures, we encourage a diversified approach to B2B social media comms – specifically leveraging proven, established platforms like LinkedIn. 

Nimble Communications Strategies in the Wake of Unexpected Policy Changes

Family with little daughter standing in front of their house with solar panels on the roof, having electric car.

I received an email alert from a nonprofit last week about a seemingly flagrant play to kill – or at least maim –  the solar+storage industry in California. 

The Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB) here has proposed prohibiting licensed solar contractors from adding a battery to a solar system they already installed, or making repairs or modifications to an existing solar and storage system that they previously installed. The board has also proposed limiting the size of the battery that solar contractors can install. 

Why? Because they want licensed electricians to be able to do that work. This is a major disconnect and bad news for homeowners.

Most solar and battery systems are installed by licensed solar contractors rather than electricians. The solar contractor’s license is a specialty trade that has been around for over forty years in California. Licensed solar contractors train more extensively on battery installations than licensed electricians because it is such a core part of what they do.

Usually if a homeowner wants to add a battery to their existing solar system or make repairs or modifications to their existing battery, they have the original solar installer do the work — or they risk voiding their warranty.

Thus, these proposals put the consumer in an impossible situation, where state regulations would force them to hire someone else to do the work and void their warranty in the process.

In addition, these rules would eliminate thousands of existing local solar companies and workers from their own market, including very experienced battery installers. This would limit choices for consumers and drive up the cost of getting solar and/or a battery.

All signs point to the utilities being behind this move. For years, utilities like PGE have been lobbying CSLB to outright revoke the ability for licensed solar contractors to install batteries, and to have batteries be in the exclusive jurisdiction of licensed electricians only. Their likely objective is to use highly technical changes through a little-known government process to further hamper the rooftop solar and battery market.

We forwarded this to our client, a major solar panel manufacturer and battery provider, who then sent it on to their public affairs team for action. Political moves such as this force clients to deal with sudden changes, and communications strategies must be flexible in order to deal with impending positive or negative policy decisions. 

Here at Blue Practice we keep tabs on climate tech industry policy so that our clients can be informed. We then quickly discuss the best way to adjust our communications to respond to the policy, perhaps with prepared statements that we may send to the press about a particular issue, or perhaps with the development of an executive viewpoint piece that we will place in the trade or business press. 

Having an agency that keeps its ear to the ground to anticipate industry-changing policy can allow you to work together to craft an optimized strategy that addresses critical questions from your diverse audiences. Even if the policy change is unsuccessful you still will have been prepared. To find out more about how we can help you stay nimble, give us a shout.