Late last night I received an email from an Indianapolis public relations client. I happen to download email into my iPhone (I know a no-no) and was thrilled to read these words from one of the sales reps at a client company:
Thought u (sic) guys and Rae would like to know how (this prospect) found us, and his opinion of our web site.
We are a small company located in Indiana and are looking for a reliable and trusted (company like yours) to (partner with). I came across your company name on the a website and after visiting your website was quite intrigued by the message there.
The key word here is “message.” The client message did not just happen. We worked a process that derived the company story to ensure its authentic and compelling. Compelling enough for a prospect to reach out to a sales rep on a Thursday evening to set a meeting time generating ROI. Here’s how we did it.
The client called me a few years ago (then prospect) saying we’ve met a few times and now we need you. There are three owners at the company, an independently owned and operated mid-sized, growing company in Indianapolis. The owners thought they knew their company “story,” but didn’t know how to translate it to their marketing. We met as a group and talked through their company story “hypothesis.” I recommended this process to determine if they were right:
1) Immersion: Tell me all about your company, your staff, your long term goals and how you got to where you are today. Tell me what you think your story is.
2) Interviews: Let’s talk to people who work for you, with you and around you asking a similar series of questions to discover their experiences and interactions with your business. Will they say the same thing?
3) Download: After all interviews are completed, we drafted a topline report that revealed what people think. In this case, clients loved the company for its customer service, community relations and expertise of the staff.
4) Story telling: Draft the company message around the feedback people provided.
5) Marketing plan: Now that the company knew what to say, we created a marketing plan. It’s ongoing to this day.
It’s because of this process and plan that the prospect found the client company online. You see, that prospect didn’t just “happen” upon the website link. He’d been receiving personal email marketing with our messaging from the sales rep (our marketing), clicked to the link we provided in the email and returned to the website. It’s due to the website development with strategic messaging that this guy was intrigued. And its the ROI we love to hear about to know our clients are getting what they need from communications planning coupled with ongoing public relations work!