By Richard Fouts
All communications professionals have been tapping technology for years, especially the Web and e-mail, to reduce costs, expand reach and give customers more personal
experiences.
But how can PR pros take advantage of the trend to put technology to work, particularly with cost-conscious SMB clients? Whether you reside internally, or are on the agency
side, there are three things you can do to make technology your friend:
Drive better media decisions with reports from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems:
The gold mine in CRM lies in its reporting and analytical tools. You can slice and dice the data to view customer trends by geography, previous campaign responses,
demographics, professional profiles or any combination you want.
Armed with data, you'll show editors, analysts and journalists how your story tightly aligns with their readers (with hard evidence to back you up). CRM data also helps you
focus on the right media partners.
Take advantage of the e-mail newsletter trend:
Small business marketers are spending more on email newsletters, which they often farm out to PR professionals with news writing skills. The best newsletters leverage the
interactive features of online communications. Learn how to migrate print-based e-newsletters to those that are more interactive, easy to digest, share, and navigate. Think
about creating an online newsletter if don't already have one.
Personalize the pressroom:
The beauty of the Web, unlike its print counterparts, is the ability to serve up custom content based on the interests of the reader. You can give visiting press people more
control over their online pressroom experience by letting them set their preferences, or filter on releases by their type (for example, earnings, announcements or new products
launches). Richard Fouts is a New York City based-marketing communications consultant specializing in technology. He can be reached at 212.593.2291,
[email protected].