The Future of B2B PR: How Today’s Leaders Win with AI and Story-Driven Strategies

Speaker A: Foreign m.

Speaker B: Think PR is just press releases. In B2B, that mistake is costing companies deals, credibility and pipeline. Too many leaders keep PR siloed, reactive and disconnected from sales and marketing. The result, Weak brand trust, missed coverage and slower growth. I'm Carrie Curran, host of Revenue Boost, a, um, marketing podcast. And in this episode, the future of uh, B2B PR. How today's leaders win with AI and story driven strategies. I'm joined by Kristen Haggie. She's the CEO and founder of Convay uh, Communications and she's proving that when PR is integrated into the go to market engine and it drives real revenue fast, imagine PR that fuels sales conversations, wins analyst coverage and makes your brand the one buyers trust. Stay tuned until the end where Kristin reveals why growth leaders are twice as likely to succeed when PR is fully embedded. And if you get value out of this, follow rate and share this episode with the CMO or CM who needs it. Let's go. So welcome Kristin. Please introduce yourself and share your background and expertise.

Speaker A: Yeah, thanks for having me. My name is Kristen Haggie and I am the founder and CEO of Convey Communic. Uh, we are a boutique, um, PR agency that focuses on tech and I'd say software and software services companies. So we're in B2B tech all day, uh, and love it.

Speaker B: Excellent. And so I know you've been doing this a long time and you're quite the expert. So tell us a bit more about how you've built convai to be a bit more, um, different than a traditional PR firm.

Speaker A: Sure. Um, I'd say that we were blessed enough to get a lot of clients in the Martech space early. It's just something we fell into and then B2B is a very small world as we all know. And so we spent a lot of time with clients that were building engines for the funnel. And as we went about that and just really truly understanding that hyper personalization and how people buy made me think we need to be doing the same. Uh, so we approach it in a way that we want to make sure that we've fit into the go to market engine of our clients. Whenever possible there are always those one off partnerships that, you know, they need a quick announce, a quick round of funding or something like that. There's always those. Um, but for the long term clients that we have, when it really works is when we, we have a place from the top all the way down to customer success and PR can impact that. So we really try to show the value of that with our clients because there's a lot of moving pieces and everybody needs the help. And uh, the more integrated we are, the better. So that's how we approach it.

Speaker B: Shop the Sherwin Williams 4th of July sale and get 30% off paints and stains June 26th through July 6th. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life. And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever. Shop online to have it delivered or visit your neighborhood Sherwin Williams store. Click the banner to learn more. Retail sales, only some exclusions apply. See store for details. Delivery available on qualifying orders. Yeah, excellent. I think that is such a smart strategy and uh, both for you and your business, but also for your clients to be able to kind of tap into that full end to end process, um, and integration. And uh, you mentioned a lot of moving pieces and I don't think there's any, uh, landscape that's moving around more rapidly than the B2B, um, market and for both buyers and sellers. So, um, to kind of navigate this, you recently launched an original research paper which first of all, original research is one of my favorite strategies in of itself to just kind of tap into what your target market is, is really thinking and what they need. So, um, I loved the paper. Um, talk about kind of what motivated you to um, dive in and get this paper, um, published.

Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Um, we decided to kind of drink our own, uh, Kool Aid, I guess here because we do suggest original research all the time with clients. Reporters love it, influencers love it, all the things in that. But also so do buyers, they start to trust you and understand that you're putting the work out there to really understand who they are. And so for us, um, we get a lot of questions when we have, say, a new prospect call and they'll say, well, I don't know about here or how to do it. And we have recommendations where things that may seem a little different for them. We like to have regular calls with sales and they're like, what, how does that work? Um, and so instead of saying, I just talked to this one and that's how they do it, I wanted to show that it's not super unique. Uh, I mean, I guess it is unique, but not. There are other people doing it and it's working right. And so CMOs and you know, people that we report up to, they know the value of it. And so we wanted to prove that industry wide. So we. It came back better. Sorry, it came back. Um, it came Back better than I expected. I actually expect a little bit lower numbers. But it was really cool to see how many other marketing leaders out there really do understand that things should be aligned. Um, and then the ones that want it to be aligned but don't know where to start. So kind of proved our hypothesis that this is where, you know, as an industry, um, meaning PR, um, and B2B, how we should be approaching supporting from a PR role.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I love that. And it. And to your point, it's so smart because it's so often that B2B marketers or leaders don't want to be the first ones or the only ones to do something which in of itself could be its own episode. But, um, to your point, being able to prove that this is actually what successful companies and brands are doing, you need to be doing it as well. I think to your point, it, it creates that FOMO and that desire to really lean in. And so in the report you highlighted, um, that the, the growth leaders who, um, are twice as likely to have PR fully integrated with sales and marketing. Um, the what? The companies that are leading the pack. So talk about why this is so important for brands, um, especially in the B2B tech space.

Speaker A: Sure. Um, a lot of times, I mean, we get it. We are a vendor by definition. Right. We don't like to think of ourselves as that. We like to think of ourselves as part of the team. But when decisioning and you know, uh, some level of strategy is happening internally and then given to us, that is not a strategy. That we are just becoming order takers and removal of all of the experience you hired us for. To go in and be able to say, I understand why you think that's a great idea. Let me, let me give you a couple other options. And so that doesn't always happen until after the decisions are made. Right. And then the CMOs, like, yeah, I understand this is where they want to go to where, uh, there's times where you're like, I, uh, wish I could have just been part of that conversation so I could explain it. In the CMOs, sometimes they have bigger hills to die on. Like, it's, it's not going that way. And so the more that we have a conversation with, you know, partner, uh, product marketing and how is this going to be positioned and who is the buyer for this and how are you going to do that? It can start our strategy so much earlier because it's not. PR doesn't happen overnight. When it's good, usually, you know, it can happen Overnight when it's bad, um, especially B2B. Um, but when it's good it takes a while. It's like that snowball effect. So the earlier we know, the sooner, you know, the, the closing of that gap is from you know, ah, strategy to results. And so if we can start working early enough and be part of it. And I mean we work ah, I think what some people forget is yes, you are an amazing B2B SaaS company. We also have 12 others and have worked with 150 others that are doing other things and we can bring that experience. Um, but we don't always, we not always looked as strategists, um, as some other roles are.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I definitely. And I, and I get that too. And I think to your point that especially when it comes to product marketing, um, or just the, the product development, it's when you're involved early and integrated early, I think you're, you provide that objective voice of do we really have product market fit? Is there really a demand for this? And in you know, giving that feedback like you said, you have this expertise that can help them guide, guide that if, if it's not as tight as it should be. So I, I love that aspect of it. So I imagine with a lot of the, with your clients that it was a bit of a challenge to, to get involved early to kind of work them, um, get their trust and buy in to include you earlier on. So talk a bit about how you were able to um, kind of build that trust and relationship so that you could be in those earlier conversations.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think for us I like to start by asking, and this may be part of a, you know, a different avenue we go down later. But asking those immediate business goals and what winning looks like at first because we can write, everybody can write a 12 month plan which by the way is kind of silly because it always changes. Um, but we understand the ultimate goal, but what are the immediate goals? And actually going in and saying okay, this is your immediate goal. You want to do X, Y, Z, here's how we, we can do it, we can do it quickly so you can see how we work. And so if there's anything that we can tackle, you know, smaller at first or just to kind of show our work process, um, and show that, hey, yeah, so you have a, you have a case study issue. Who doesn't? Right. They're hard to get through the door. All the things, let us help you, let us take it off your plate and then let us take these case studies. We can Write them. We can get these customers on podcasts with you. We can quote them in your thought leadership. Let us show you how what integrated looks like, uh, with just one strategy or one tactic if you will. Um, instead of saying yes here, unleash us to everyone and you can talk to everybody. And here's the keys to the kingdom. I get it. Because some people have really bad experiences, um, with PR or any vendor for that reason. So we like to start, we can do all the normal, like they want status quo things, all the things that feel normal to them, but give us a little bit of something to show you what we can do from an integration standpoint. And it usually always works.

Speaker B: What's holding back your growth isn't effort, it's misalignment. I'm Kathleen Booth, SVP of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion, and this is why we created GTM 2025 to help B2B revenue leaders stop spinning their wheels and start working as One GTM Motion. We're bringing together 1000 plus operators across marketing, sales, CS and RevOps to build real alignment and real momentum. No panels packed with buzzwords, just tactical sessions with people actually doing the work. Join us in Washington D.C. head to attend GTM.com to register. Yeah, no, that's, that's great. And I love again, going back to kind of getting them to reflect on their business goals and what they're trying to achieve. And I know one of the, um, points that, that you've made, um, when we were talking earlier is that there's still a misperception and misunderstanding of what PR really can do. And you've already talked a bit about, um, kind of the opportunities and strengths that you have getting into it, but talk a bit about what it is not and what they need to kind of wrap their head around.

Speaker A: So it's like these two sides. PR is press releases only and then PR is legion and this middle in between. Um, very few people come in. I. That's not true. A lot of people come in at it, but we get more of these two, uh, than we do of that middle understanding. Um, and I think it's because they need both really bad quickly. Right, so legion problem. Let me call pr. Um, PR should. And absolutely, um, it absolutely should reflect and help revenue. It should reflect in revenue. You should be able to tie it to revenue. It's a little bit longer than normal lead gen strategies. Um, so I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but it shouldn't be your only lever. Um, and press releases are just part of it. Um, most press releases don't need to be press releases. Um, and so you don't. If you need, if you just want press releases, you can find a contractor for that. Um, anybody can write one. It's what you do with it and how you amplify it and how you get it out to the media. Um, so it's more than just that. And you can tell and you get in a status meeting and it's like, okay, let's focus on press releases. No, let's focus on stories. And so really understanding the difference between the two. Um, and honestly, that's just because that's probably the experience that's been in the past or it's worked in the past, um, not so much anymore. And when you were talking about going to product marketing or having these conversations, what people forget is PR people are constantly thinking about the questions journalists are going to ask. So when they're trying to say something and put a press release out, a journalist is like, why are you sending this to me? I don't understand. Right. So we are always trying to think of that objection to getting that coverage that you want, um, so that we don't even have to go there, that we get the best story possible.

Speaker B: I love that approach. And, uh, that makes so much sense to your point of kind of making sure they can answer the questions, uh, the tough questions before you move forward. So talk a bit about, um, both from your experience and the report. What are some of the strategies and initiatives or your own case studies that are really moving the revenue needle these days?

Speaker A: Um, well, everybody's talking AI search and all the things, and all of us probably know enough to be dangerous, but where are the experts?

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: One, um, thing that's really becoming louder in our industry from a PR perspective is that AI search is really pulling from a lot of third party sites and validating in other places. And I was doing some research the other day about how much customer, uh, reviews on review sites like TrustRadius and all of that are now even going higher than the third party thing. So it's, you know, a good founder is going, uh, what does this mean for, you know, our business strategy? Um, so those are some of the things that we're working on now as far as that goes. But historically you can't lose with thought leadership when it's done appropriately. And so for us, we don't believe that one article or blog or however you're serving up, podcast, interview, whatever should have one purpose. Right. It should be turned into other things and so if we want a, if we have a client and they are focusing on retention or even recruitment, then we do a series of thought leadership on culture and why it's important to build it so that they look like an attractive place to work. Um, that's just like an example there. But then those can get turned into other things and articles in HR and in shorts on TikTok because that's where all the people are today. Um, I guess I'm not there but most, a lot of people are there, um, for hiring. I read a stat the other day that they're hiring like recruiters are the most uh, conversions on TikTok or something. Like they're. It's, it's crazy. Um, um, that's what made me think of that. Yeah, yeah, I mean I get it. Um, but so thought leadership chopped up into lots of different pieces with a purpose behind it. So when a, say a C level is like I want to talk about this, I kind of want to know why you can. Sure, of course. But yeah, but why does it just have one purpose? If it does, then put it on your own LinkedIn and put it out there. Like if you're just pissed. But, but if it's, you know, to align with the business goal, let's figure out how we can get more out of it because your time is valuable. So let's do that. So I think thought leadership is always something you can track back to revenue. A lot of times um, you can track impressions and all of the things that you want back to the website. And really I have very few clients that haven't said someone came in because I read an article that you guys wrote for me. So it's validating.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I love that. And especially the integration of the brand narrative, the case studies into thought leadership and your point of stretching it across different um, media is incredibly important. And I think to your point it helps not only a consistent story across multiple platforms, but also just creates more um, with uh, out of just one topic. Right. Like you're creating, you're able to generate so much more content. Especially in these days when we're all expected to do more with less. It gives you that great kind of avenue to do so for sure. And so you talked a bit about um, the AI and the um, trust radius. And I know G2 gets kind of picked up in the um, the prompt results. So like how are you um, seeing that or kind of directing like what's your advice for brands with those um, third party sites?

Speaker A: Yeah, um, I think that you know, like I said, this is all early for a lot of us. Um, Randy Fishkin did a really cool LinkedIn um, series on just even changing your, your boilerplate and your um, biographies to show up on, on AI so he, he's got results there which everybody should check out. That's pretty cool. Um, but what we're doing is it's a lot of the strategies aren't changing, the content's not changing, it's how we're phrasing it. I mean if it is actually searching question based content, you know, phrased as questions, then in our thought leadership our sub pads are becoming questions. I mean we're just right now in the midst of that uh, trial trying and you know, iterating as it goes. And so we've had some conversations with the clients and saying okay, I understand that no one wants to run a review campaign. No one, no one likes it, no one. It doesn't feel good. We're not, I mean going out and asking for reviews who really truly likes that. Um, but we know why we need to do it more now than ever before. It's like, oh, ah, we want to show higher than our competition energy too. That's important too. But now it's impacting other things. And so when it comes to reviews or case studies, a lot of that stuff, stuff, um, it just bogs down teams and there's no reason why we can't help with it. And so we're now working with clients to say how can we help impact your customer review campaigns? How can we drive it? How can we outreach? Just yesterday I was talking to someone that I said let's start a video series that's a Q and A or a quick five minutes with and get the customers on. And then while you're building these relationships and we can do that, we go on Riverside, we do this exact same thing. Five minutes with them, we ask the questions, turn it into blogs and content. All the, the things now we have a door open and oh by the way, would you mind, um, so it's a give and take and I can't imagine being a marketer right now with everything everybody is has to be doing and testing and figuring out that those things from a content perspective or customer facing anything that's reputation management type stuff we can handle. It's just not always thought to. Let's talk about pr. Let's, let's talk to PR about it.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, I love that and those are great examples and definitely top um of mind for so many brands and Going back to kind of what makes your agency and your team so much stronger, um, of a partner to your clients is you really do embed into their teams and their client business. So talk a bit about kind of what that looks like in practice and how you, um, some examples of how you're really kind of getting deep so that you can flag things before they ask you, um, for them.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think it comes down to not to sound weird. Um, it comes down to empathy, of understanding how buried everybody is and so getting actual access. Um, it's like someone asking for data. Right? We're actually so they can make informed decisions. We're asking for access to what's happening so we can make informed strategies. So a very, very simple example is, uh, we have, we're on a Slack channel of closed one deals, uh, for one client. And so we know when a new logo is happening and it's important and it's big and I'll see it and I'll be like, oh dude, by the way, hey, if there's any way you can agree to them, you know, get them to agree to let us announce this in our mid year release, that would be great. Or hey, we just had four or five. I just noticed you closed four or five deals. What is the process right now for case studies after 90 days so that we can go. And so we love to see that type of thing. I also like to see lost deals because that's when the real conversations are happening internally. What happened when they said this? And so when we can see where the competitor won and why they won, then we should be thinking with content, uh, how can we address this, how can we show this? How can we show that we actually are stronger at XYZ than the competition? And we did a poor job of it because from whatever they're reading, they're thinking that's where it is. So those are all things that historically you'd have to say to the CMO or whoever we're reporting to. So why are you losing deals? I mean, it's such an annoying question, right? Sometimes they don't even know, uh, but they don't have time to go hunt it down because they're reporting on something totally different. And so the more access we have to things, the more we can turn them into ideas. So it's like anybody else asking for more customer data. We're just asking for more company data, you know, but in different, in a different delivery method.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. And I think, um, so many good points and you're right. They're, everyone's so busy and so to kind of carve out time to dive in and get those insights. And I love what you're saying. Find out why did you lose and build that into your content strategy to better position yourself next time I think is such a smart, smart, smart approach. So as brands are thinking about, you know, we're close to, um, the time of year when we're already planning for next year, um, which feel like time's going by so fast. Like what, what should the B2B tech brands be thinking about as they're planning for year end and a stronger investment in 2026?

Speaker A: I think they should be thinking. You mean investment in priority npr? Yes. Yeah. Um, I don't know how widely covered it is from a C level, like we're meaning like outside of pr, but we see it all the time. Newsrooms are shrinking like crazy. It's bananas. Um, unfortunately what's happening and the pressure that they're under and they're, you know, these reporters, what, they already got hundreds of emails a day for pitches, now they have double that. Right. And so it's just, it's so noisy and AI is making it way worse. Um, so I think that really understanding the story that you want to take out, that's a differentiator, not the story and by the way, the story that you can back up. Because a lot of people want to say this is who we're going to be. Sure. But a reporter is going to uncover that that's not who you are now. So what is the best story now? What's the best story next quarter, what's the best story after that? And how can we go all in and make sure that that's what it is? Um, and also understanding you can throw as much money as you want at it, but it's a two way street. So you have to be able to think with the client or think with the PR firm. I mean, I'm surprised at how many people come to us, you know, in prospecting and they're like, oh, you know, our PR firm, they have us come up with all the ideas. Well, that's a PR person's job, is to come to the story ideas. You may, I may present 10, you might only like two, but two win. You know, that's how we do it. And so we can't do that without access. And I think some people are just so used to being held in a silo that that's what people are used to. I'm going to bring the ideas that I want to take out, well, they might not be great. Sorry to burst your bubble. They kind of suck. So let's work together and what we're going to take out, um, so I think focusing and knowing what that story is or going, even knowing you don't have one, you don't know what it's supposed to be. And that's what I want my firm to be focused on right now. Because, you know, they'll all come in and I want TechCrunch, I want Wall Street Journal. You don't even know what you take to them. Like, let's, let's talk about that. So I think the beginning, you know, Q4 and Q1 are a great place to uncover some of those stories, dust off some ideas, test them out, see what works. Um, but that would be my recommendation because the media is less and less and only the good will get through. Meaning the good stories, you know, the ideas, the things that their readers care about is what they're going to cover.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. And even going back to what you were saying earlier, that your team is in the weeds with your clients, so you're able to better recommend those. And then going back to what you said about knowing what the reporters are going to ask for to pressure check or pressure test the ideas and is it real? And I think too to your point is we're not. They don't want to hear a new product feature. They want to hear how you're changing the industry, how you're helping your clients. And I think that's, um, such a big part of it that they, that not all the executives are getting these days.

Speaker A: And I think too, a lot of times if, if cmo, uh, or director, whoever we're reporting to, is getting the, the task from the top down that says, go get pr, we need better pr, the question should be why? Because. Are you trying to raise up another round? Do you want to be acquired? Does the board think it? Is there a board directive? Because my strategy is going to be totally different. If it's a board directive and really understand the core of why you want pr, I hope it's for all the right reasons, but sometimes it's for a very specific one. And if you don't tell me that, I may think it's for someone else and it's not winning for what you wanted it to be. So really understanding that, yeah, we want PR for all the reasons PR is good. But also our IPO plan is in three years. Well, we need to know that. So that we can appropriately plan. And a lot of times that's what's kept inside. And then we're just over here doing what we think we're supposed to be doing, but don't have the intel to why we're doing it in the first place. And I know that for us specifically, we don't do cookie cutter campaigns. So it would be a totally different strategy if we knew.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, that, that's so such a valid point. And I. There's probably a lot of internal people that don't even know that at a lot of companies as well. Yeah.

Speaker A: So yeah, we definitely become the ones that know where the bodies are buried before everybody else.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think I remember in the end when we were prepping, you were saying that um, you're often in the all hands meetings or listening in on those to, to be able to, you know, kind of use your instinct to flag the right follow up questions.

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. What you're presenting to the company wide for your SKO or your strategies, I'm not saying we have to be there, but give us the recording so we understand uh, where you're headed. Because sometimes it's like a game of telephone. It gets lost in translation and then suddenly we're not even on the same page of that target because it's been delivered three different ways.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, no, I, um. Tying everything back to the business goals is so critical and I think that's um, a great point to reiterate. Um, and so Kristin, you've given so many um, sl. Smart examples of success and what not to do. So for someone listening now thinking I need to kind of amp up my PR strategy, like what, where do you recommend? Like where do they get started or how should they start thinking about it?

Speaker A: I think that before you even talk to your first PR firm, you have to know what success looks like. Um, it's actually okay if you don't, but you be honest with them. I don't actually know where this can go. I know that as a company we want xyz. I don't understand how you may be able to deliver that and then have a real conversation about what that looks like and be willing to risk three months.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: I mean I always say for our engagements we do a minimum of three months because between onboarding and understanding and getting really in, um, that doesn't mean you don't have results in the middle, but three months to now is this working kind, um, of thing. So understanding what success looks like specifically, not just, you know, in all the great world peace world, um, so that we know where we're headed. So if we all have the same vision and the same goal, we can, we can get there together. Um, so I think that's a great place to start. And I like to make money as much as the next person. But realistically, you don't have to have these huge retainers at first, right? Because sometimes it's more than you bargained for and you got to edge into it. Or the CEO is like, oh, yeah, I'm going home. And then we can't get on the phone for two months. So it didn't turn out to what you wanted it to be. So it's okay to start. Start smaller and grow. In fact, that's, you know, it's, it's a great way. Unless, again, you're amping up for something huge and it's all hands on deck. Um, there's no. Don't let someone say, well, it's best if you have all the items on the menu. Steroids. Awesome. That's when it's really fun. But it doesn't have to start that way.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that and I think that's really good, really good advice and it gives the opportunity to kind of, um, ease into it and build that out. So thank you so much. So, Kristin, how can people, um, get in touch with you and find your research paper?

Speaker A: Sure. Um, you can go to conveypr.com um, and that's our website. Or hit me up on LinkedIn. Um, it's just Kristen Heggie and be happy to send it to you if you don't want to fill out a form. Fill. I get it. I hate it, too. But, you know, got to play the game. Happy to send you an ungated link if you'd like, but just, just send me a message on LinkedIn or go to the website and check us out. Um, and I do believe in being part of a community, so if you want to set up a call, we can just chat. It doesn't mean it's going to turn into me selling you all day, because this is a big. Working with PR is a big decision, um, and it's foreign to lot people or it's healing because the last scenario you had didn't work out so well. So I'm happy to take the conversation and just chat with. With y'.

Speaker B: All. Excellent. Well, Kristen, thank you so much. I'll put all the contact info in the website, in the show notes, but I really, really, um, appreciate you sharing your expertise with us today again. So many really smart examples. Um, so I know this is going to be valuable to everyone, so thank you so much.

Speaker A: Well, thanks for having us on. Or us, just me. Thanks for. Thanks for having me on.

Speaker B: You're smart enough for multiple people.

Speaker A: Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you.

Speaker B: Yep. Kristin, thanks again for joining me and sharing such smart insights on the future of B2B PR. If you've been listening, I hope you're walking away with a new perspective that PR isn't just press releases, it's a growth lever. And when it's integrated with sales and marketing, the potential is limitless. If you got value from today, today's conversation, do me a favor, hit follow, drop a quick rating and share this episode with the cmo, CRO or marketing leader who needs to hear it. And don't forget, you can always find more resources on revenue based growth@revenuebasedmarketing.com thanks for tuning in to Revenue Boost, uh, a marketing podcast. I'm Carrie Curran. Let's keep scaling smart and I'll see you at the next episode.

Speaker A: Sam.