11 things smart CEOs know about PR and marketing

1. THE CEO’S GUIDE TO
PR AND MARKETING
11 Things Smart CEOs Know

2. Do you need PR?
Whether you sit in a corner office and lead a team
of hundreds, or your desk is crammed into a co-
working space with your startup team of three
employees, if the letters C-E-O come after your
name, you probably have questions about what PR
can do for your company.
Maybe your background is in product development,
engineering, finance or some other specialty. Maybe
marketing isn’t your first concern (or your second or
third), and you haven’t had time to evaluate PR.

3. And maybe (we won’t judge), you’re a skeptic.
Have you ever said something like:
“PR doesn’t have sufficient ROI”?
”PR is only there for cheerleading”?
“PR is a luxury we can’t afford”?
Do you need PR?

4. If so, it’s time for a reboot on this topic. PR is an
important business tool for modern marketing.
Here are 11 reasons why it deserves
your attention:

5. Lead generation
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1 An effective marketing and public
relations team generates highly
targeted leads through media
relations, inbound and content
marketing, social media engagement
and more.

6. Third-party validation
Articles, product reviews, analyst
reports and other publications from
your PR efforts provide objective
views that can be powerful assets for
converting prospects.
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7. Executive visibility
Your target audiences are human.
They are far more likely to connect
to another human – you – than to a
faceless organization – especially if
you have something compelling to
say and the authority to back it up.
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8. S-E-O
Most things hosted on the Internet are
permanent fixtures. Mentions of your
company in news publications or other
outlets means more eyeballs on info
about you than you get from short-
lived advertising – and greater visibility
through search engine results.
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9. Employee morale
Good publicity can empower the
most important asset of your
business – your employees. Give
them something to point to that
makes them feel proud about their
company.
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10. Funding
Finding investors is important for new
ventures and early-stage startups.
Putting your company in front of the
right media and analyst influencers
can be essential to securing funding.
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11. Crisis communications
No one wants to be at the center of a
negative public event, but it happens.
When it does, you’ll be glad to know
your experienced PR team will be at
your side to provide guidance.
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12. Thought leadership
Whether you opt into the industry
conversation or not, it’s happening.
Are your competitors getting quoted
in respected business publications?
Are they engaging with influencers
on Twitter and Facebook? Are they
publishing thought-leadership articles
on their company blogs, Medium
channels or LinkedIn pages? You need
to know where the competition is
shaping the industry conversation –
and where your company is absent.
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13. Customer relations
PR opens communications and lets
you respond to your customers,
competitors, partners and investors
effectively. Happy customers are
more likely to become advocates,
creating another powerful voice for
your business.
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14. Sales enablement
From case studies, to awards, to
articles by respected journalists,
content secured by your PR team
will be the first thing a smart
salesperson provides to a prospect.
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15. Quantifiable results
PR is not a leap of faith. An ongoing
program tied to strategic business
goals can deliver a lot of data
about outputs (such as coverage,
social media activity and speaking
engagements) and outcomes (such
as change in sentiment or behavior).
You’ll know exactly which PR and
marketing activities are driving value.
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16. CEOs sound off on PR with
Metis Communications
Working with Metis is like printing money.
Jeff Zwelling, COO, ZipRecruiter and former CEO, Convertro
A reporter recently asked me when it becomes
important for a startup to hire a chief marketing
officer. I told her to just hire Metis.
Steve Pogorzelski, former President of Monster.com and
current CEO of Avention

17. CEOs sound off on PR with
Metis Communications
We definitely saw an uptick
in sales discussions from the
momentum Metis drove.
Kshitij Jain, founder and CEO, MoBolt
We needed an agency that could drive our
entry into a new market and help build
credibility and visibility at a rapid pace –
with Metis we got just that.
Jay Litkey, president and CEO, Embotics

18. Want to learn more?
Ask us how PR and marketing
programs can help your business
generate leads and increase sales.
Contact us today.