Inbound PR

The digital eras new consumer demands a new approach to PR

Inbound PR is the handbook that can transform your agencys business. Todays customer is fundamentally different, and traditional PR strategies are falling by the wayside. Nobody wants to feel marketed to; we want to make our own choices based on our own research and experiences online. When problems arise, we demand answers on social media, directly engaging the company in front of a global audience. We are the most empowered, sophisticated customer base in the history of PR, and PR professionals must draw upon an enormous breadth of skills and techniques to serve their clients interests. Unfortunately, those efforts are becoming increasingly ephemeral and difficult to track using traditional metrics. This book merges content and measurement to give todays PR agencies a new way to build brands, evaluate performance and track ROI.

The ability to reach the new consumer, build the relationship, and quantify the ROI of PR services allows you to develop an inbound business and the internal capabilities to meet and exceed the needs of the most demanding client. In this digital age of constant contact and worldwide platforms, its the only way to sustainably grow your business and expand your reach while bolstering your effectiveness on any platform. This book shows you what you need to know, and gives you a clear framework for putting numbers to reputation.

• Build brand awareness without marketing to the audience
• Generate more, higher-quality customer or media leads
• Close the deal and nurture the customer or media relationship
• Track the ROI of each stage in the process

Content is the name of the game now, and PR agencies must be able to prove their worth or risk being swept under with obsolete methods.Inbound PR provides critical guidance for PR growth in the digital era, complete with a practical framework for stimulating that growth.

ILIYANA STAREVA is global partner program manager at HubSpot, where she ensures a partner-first approach and enables company teams to collaborate, communicate, and make change happen better across global offices. A fluent speaker and writer in Bulgarian, English, and German, she is the author ofSocial Media and the Rebirth of PR and Social Media: Key for Sustainability Communications.

The New World of Inbound PR: A Foreword vii

Modernizing Public Relations and Marketing: A Foreword ix

Introduction xi

About the Author xvii

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Getting the Basics: PR and Inbound 1

What Is Public Relations? 3

What Is Inbound? 5

Content: The Glue between Inbound and PR 8

Chapter 2 PR and Measurement 13

The History of Measurement in Public Relations and Communications 15

Inbound Marketing and Measurement 22

The Future of PR Measurement 24

Chapter 3 Inbound PR 33

Why You Need Inbound PR 35

The Inbound PR Concept 39

Benefits of the New Inbound PR Model 41

Why PR Agencies Need to Adopt Inbound PR 45

Chapter 4 How to Do Inbound PR 51

The Inbound PR Methodology 53

How to Run an Inbound PR Campaign 55

Inbound Media Relations 66

The Inbound PR Newsroom 72

How to Create Fascinating Content 77

The Art of Inbound Storytelling 83

Chapter 5 Generating New Business with Inbound PR 89

Practicing What You Preach 91

The Importance of Positioning 94

How to Create Your Agencys Positioning Strategy 102

How to Do Lead Nurturing and Fill Your Sales Funnel 109

Chapter 6 Delivering Inbound PR to Clients 115

Defining Inbound PR Services 117

Packaging Inbound PR Services 123

Developing Inbound PR Capabilities 126

Delivering Inbound PR Services 129

Conclusions and Key Success Factors 135

Appendix 141

Notes 151

References 155

Index 157