Staying Ahead of the Curve, PR Best Practices for B2B Automotive Brands

Microsoft showcases their latest technology at Inspire, including this tech-forward SUVIn the competitive automotive industry, how can your B2B automotive brand continue to thrive? Truthfully, it comes down to the application of various practices. Considering this, we have given some of the best Public Relations practices you can apply to your brand.

Identify your niche and differentiate with unique story ideation:

In a market full of competing B2B automotive brands, it is important to stand out; convincing others your brand is the best choice. One way to do this through PR is by identifying your niche and differentiating yourself with unique story ideation. A niche is a specialized area that caters to a particular, usually small set of the market or population. Unlike a generalized audience, those that are a part of a niche are knowledgeable, selective, and critical. While this may seem like an unnecessary challenge for your brand, these niche members and market bring unique benefits: brand loyalty, fewer competitors, and distinction.

When you have a brand involved in a niche market, it is essential to present your audience with unique storylines. As previously stated, niche audiences are demanding, and the old, run-of-the-mill article that tries to please a wide range of consumers will not suffice. Besides your niche market, in general, captivating articles bring awareness, interest, and prominence into the mind of your consumers.

Use editorial calendars and trade shows:

If your brand wants widespread media coverage, it is essential to understand and use editorial calendars to your advantage. An editorial calendar is a media outlet’s outline; guiding brands as to what they plan to write about over a certain period. By closely monitoring these editorial calendars, your brand can plan relevant articles that will likely get published by the desired media outlet.

Trade shows are so much more than social events for B2B automotive brands and are one of the best PR best practices. At trade shows, your brand can not only promote itself but learn about all the new trends of the industry. It is crucial to stay on top of trends; allowing your brand to have a competitive edge over other brands and an appealing factor to consumers.

Go on roadshows/media tours:

It can be frustrating to face endless rejection or ignorance of your brand from the media. However, there is a solution: Roadshows or media tours. With roadshows or media tours, your brand simply takes whatever it’s trying to convey directly to the media. This means as a brand you are picking a spokesperson, setting up multiple face-to-face media interviews, and traveling to relay your message. While this PR best practice may be one of the more demanding ones, the impact it brings makes the hard work worth it.

Integrate with demand-gen activities:

What are demand generation activities? Demand gen activities are personable activities geared toward your brand’s consumers; including projects like weekly blog newsletters and meet-up events. These activities deviate from the common promotional tactics and result in long-term consumer relationships, which is why it is so important to integrate this PR best practice into your brand strategy.

Learn more about other B2B practices/strategies at https://www.meritmile.com/news/b2b-content-marketing-expert-strategies. And reach out to our PR experts at Merit Mile to get started today!