PR Pulse | Marketing Edition - Essential Tips for Marketing Leaders

In today’s edition:

• Happy Birthday Escalate! 🎉Join us in celebrating 5-years

• The Marketing and PR Connection. This marketing edition focuses on key insights for CMOs and heads of marketing alike who are elevating their brand.

  🎯 What KPIs do you track?

  🚀 How does PR fuel lead generation?

  📈 How PR can support B2B tech growth strategies

  🔮 Why a long-term vision for your PR program is the best strategy 

• Client Spotlights 🌟 Here’s a peek at client work that we love!

First, A Quick Word From Joel

That saying about never working a day when you love what you do? It’s true!

Escalate is celebrating our 5th-year anniversary 🎉 this month (where did that time go?!), and I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you who has supported our brand.

What began as a challenge to the traditional agency model has blossomed into a thriving, strategically driven communications agency.

Every marketing leader we work with has told us how refreshing and rewarding it is to have real peers as partners contributing to their day-to-day, month-over-month, and year-to-year success.

I welcome anyone reading this for the first time to reach out to learn more about what we do, how we do it, and how we might contribute to your success.

We want to thank everyone who is a part of the Escalate community, to those who have referred new partner clients to us, and our incredible team of SVPs and contributors.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
LUCIDWORKS’ GEN-AI STATS HITS IT BIG!

What makes this campaign special?

As a pioneer in using AI to assist customers, service representatives, and knowledge workers, Lucidworks created a benchmark survey in 2023 to gauge the adoption of generative AI projects within enterprises. This year, we launched the 2nd annual Generative AI Global Benchmark Study, the most extensive ongoing global study of its kind. The study surveyed business leaders across North America, EMEA, and the APAC region who were actively pursuing generative AI initiatives.  

The Benchmark Study follows a consistent strategy of generating insights for the market and media. This has elevated Lucidworks' brand as a market data authority, and its executives as subject matter experts sought out by reporters for their expertise. Lucidworks has achieved remarkable success in using market data to establish itself as a credible resource to the press. This is not about self-promotion but about providing non-self-promotional data that breaks down complex tech topics into stories that resonate with the media and their audiences. Lucidworks's data is engaging, accurate, and, most importantly, relevant.

We've consistently replicated this success across different vertical industries and with broader topics. This year, we tapped into the media's current AI zeitgeist with the ROI survey. One of the reasons it performed so well was that we showcased a contrarian view of how AI projects are perceived inside the enterprise. Thus far, AI has enjoyed a hyperbolic rocket up the hype cycle, so we believe the media was eager to hear someone say, 'It's not all it's cracked up to be.' Lucidworks' voice on the topic is particularly relevant and authoritative because of its history--and consistency--of developing these data stories. 

The Results 🚀

The Benchmark Study, released in the second week of June 2024, thus far has secured more than 490 articles, with 102,000k points of engagement, and a total of more than 1.36Billion unique views monthly. Publications include Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Register, Women's Wear Daily, the Future of Ecommerce, KMWorld, RetailTouchpoints, and many, many more. 

As a follow on, Lucidworks will verticalize the results for campaigns to focus specifically on Retail, and Manufacturing, giving the survey results an extended shelf life, and scores more media hits.  

NEW BLOG SERIES
KPIs for Modern Marketing

This blog series demystifies the world of PR measurement, guiding you through essential KPIs that prove the value of PR in today's digital landscape. From understanding the power of your PR investment to navigating the unique challenges of B2B marketing, this series equips marketing leaders and executives with the knowledge and tools to quantify your PR success and drive meaningful business results.

NEWS
Clients in the News

• Sarah Kozik, Director of Reverse Engineering at Skysafe was recently featured in the Associated Press commenting in their story, “How to fly a drone and land it in one piece like a professional”. Kozik dives deep into the regulations and best practices that are crucial for a safe flying experience including the Federal Aviation Administration’s part 107, registration and compliance, drone controls, a pre-flight checklist, and advanced flying techniques.

• Rob McDougall, CEO of Upstream Works appeared in Fortune discussing the importance of utilizing customer intelligence to drive business decisions in “What is customer intelligence? Understand your customers to drive revenue” 

• Valimail’s industry research and community engagement lead, Al Iverson, is featured In this Network World article, "NSA, FBI Warn of Email Spoofing Threat," underscoring the urgent need for robust DMARC implementation to safeguard against North Korean cyber actors exploiting weak email security policies and to prevent phishing and spoofing attacks.

• Sustainable Skylines CEO, Jacob Stonecipher, is featured in this Axios piece “Banner-towing drones hit the beach” discussing how the company is set to revolutionize beach advertising with drones towing banners over Miami’s beaches starting this summer. 

• Bill Major, CEO of FiberLight discusses the fiber industry at large in this Telecom Ramblings “Industry Spotlight: FiberLight CEO Bill Major Sees Fiber M&A Ahead”.

• Lucidworks’ 2024 Generative AI Global Benchmark study hits it big! Insightful survey findings from their 2024 Generative AI Global Benchmark study reveals that “The honeymoon phase of generative AI is over”. Coverage appeared in The Register, The Wall Street Journal, Media Post, Yahoo Finance, Cautious Optimism, and WWD. 

• François Baldassari, Co-Founder & CEO of Memfault talks to IoT Insider’s Unplugged Podcast “S2:E10 – IoT device quality management: what to look out for about IoT device quality management”.

• Mike Greene, Co-Founder and CEO of HiMarley was featured in Repairer Driven News announcing their “first-of-its-kind product to accelerate the total loss claims process for insurance carriers and policyholders in “Hi Marley, Copart partner to enable insurer-consumer communication during total loss”.

• Aaron Shaha, CISO of CyberMaxx, published an article in Healthcare Business Today entitled “Why Mergers And Acquisitions Create Vulnerabilities”. In it he emphasizes the increased security risks healthcare organizations face during mergers and acquisitions, highlighting the need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive patient data and maintain system integrity.

• DroneUp and its CEO Tom Walker were featured in the Wall Street Journal recently discussing how the company is going about making drone delivery more cost-effective as the consumer and brand interest heats up in “Drone Delivery’s Next Challenge Is How to Clear Cost Hurdles”.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Can PR Fuel Lead-Generation for Marketers?

For marketers, it all comes down to lead generation. But how does PR drive top of funnel awareness? The answer is somewhat complicated, but in one of our latest blog posts, Jason Ouellette, Escalate PR Partner, explores what you need to think about as you look to tie your PR program to lead-gen activities. 

NEWS
Unlocking Growth: 5 Ways Public Relations Supercharges B2B Tech Success

Beyond just media coverage and press releases, a strategic PR approach is a game-changer, directly contributing to a company’s bottom line. In a recent deep dive, we take a look at the ways PR can strategically help to enhance a B2B tech company’s growth.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
A successful PR program is a marathon, not a sprint

All technology organizations are on their own journey. From ideation, development, launch, go-to-market and customer success, it is a worthy investment in time and patience. We recently took a look at how an organization’s PR efforts grow during each stage of this process. Additionally, we examine how it is important to focus on the little things during the process as that is what sets you up to have an opportunity at the big ones.

Let’s
Connect