I saw a blog the other day hyping a whitepaper talking about how marketers can drive revenue – and not just brand awareness. That someone is hosting a webinar to talk about how at least some companies aren’t yet forcing marketing to make the next connection – it’s just not the leads, it’s the revenue.
It reminds me of how we used to do PR – calling to 10, or 25, or even 50 reporters, to persuade our ‘top’ reporters to re-skim their inbox, read our news, and run it. These adrenaline-fueled sprints had the oddly disconnected name of ‘call-downs’ – the pressure was on to get to all of ’em, and sell a story, and get the coverage. These call-downs are team plays. Inevitably, it’s easy to see who hustles, and who just sweats, or not. We’ve also shared these pitches with other firms.
When it comes time to report, some people like to talk about how many reporters they dialed, and messages they left. Others know enough to focus on getting the coverage, and that three good stories are better than 20 calls to nowhere. Because at the end of the day, it really isn’t about the effort. It’s the results. And that’s what I love about the new PR. It’s easy to count sales.
