The SaaS industry is comparative, challenging, and saturated. Therefore, you need to use every weapon in your arsenal to stand out from your competitors. Your best bet is a PR (public relations) pitch. It helps you connect and communicate with the public. A PR pitch is an affordable option and an effective one. A PR pitch helps you build your product/company profile and reach prospects. You can increase conversions by reaching a wider audience through media coverage. It also gives your product credibility since independent journalists review you unbiasedly and on the merit of your product. Read More: 3 Sample PR Pitch Templates For Saas Product Launches
How can you elevate your PR pitch?
1. Drop the jargon
Not all of your audiences will have a Ph.D. in your product and its terminology. For example, your product is an analytics tool for marketing. Your clients can range from CMOs of multinational companies to startup founders who are looking into expanding. They also include mid-level employees from mid-level companies. While they have the same goals (boost sales through marketing) they do not have the same level of literacy on the same subject. By using a high-level language, you are missing out on a big part of your demographic. Hence, use easy-to-understand language so you reach the entirety of your audience. Therefore, drop the jargon and stick to grade school English. Read More: What are the 7Ps of SaaS Marketing?
2. Use data and facts
SaaS businesses generate a lot of consumer data over a very short period. Hence, they make for incredible data goldmines. You can use this goldmine to your advantage. Using statistics and charts helps spice up your pitch and support your claims. Plus, numbers and statistics are easier to scan than blocks of data, and they are easier to understand.
Additionally, numbers are an undemanding way to digest large amounts of information since it is a better visual format than paragraphs. Which makes them sharable over social media channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Moreover, PR reporters and journalists do not have a lot of time to read 15 pages worth of data. Therefore, by condensing your content into easy-to-read numbers, you increase your chances of having your pitch read. To solidify your PR pitch, use the data to predict industry trends and how your products fit into them.
Read More: 5 Tips to Create Stellar SaaS Landing Pages
3. Use storytelling in your pitching
Storytelling is the most human experience in the world. It has many forms: stories, songs, and poems. Storytelling is also one of the oldest forms of art we have. Over hundreds of years, storytelling has evolved with human progress. We went from oral storytelling to written works to storytelling integration to data. People find it easier to retain information if it is a story. By creating a story around your pitch, you increase your chances of people remembering the content. You are 20 times more likely to remember a piece of information if it is part of a story. Therefore, by employing storytelling in your pitch and data, you are creating a memorable piece of content.
4. Take time to answer all questions
SaaS products are difficult to understand and use. There are many technical terms and processes. Without some explanation, it is impossible to understand your product. So, no one will use your product if they can not understand it. Therefore, take time out to answer queries and clear doubts when you are PR pitching. That can include information, comments, or quotes from your brand. Additionally, responding to journalists is the best and quickest way to get coverage. Essentially, you are helping PR journalists help you by answering their questions. Therefore, diligently respond to every query to improve your coverage. Read More: How to Decide The Next Feature to Add To Your Software (SaaS) Product?
How to ace your SaaS PR Pitch?
1. Use the rule of three
The rule of three is a communication tool. The rule states that the human brain processes information through pattern recognition. Since we need a set to create a pattern, we use three to develop memorable phrases. You can use the rule of three to structure your PR pitch. Your pitch needs to be short and direct, yet informative. By structuring your pitch, you ensure consistency. So many plays are based on the rule of three. The start, the setup, and then the punchline. Here, pick three benefits of your product and spin them through your entire pitch. Readers will pick up on the pattern and subconsciously retain it.
2. Create urgency with power words
FOMO can be a strong motivator. Developing sales/discounts for a short duration can promote your target audiences to purchase in fear of missing out on saving money. Deadlines can boost sales if there is a discount/freebie tied to it. While you are reducing the markup price, you ultimately make a product due to the boost in sales. Plus, you can instill a sense of urgency using power words. Power words help you invoke an emotional or physiological response to your content. Words such as deadline, exclusive, hurry, limited, now, running out, etc. Read More: How to Use a BCG Matrix for SaaS Decision Making?
3. Add a TL;DR
A TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) is a condensation of the content, losing none of its impacts. People popularly use it on social media sites such as Reddit. It highlights the key points of the content when the post is too long. With PR pitches, you can translate them into elevator pitches. An elevator pitch is a 30 to 60-second introduction to a person, product, or company. Think of it like this: you are in the elevator with Bill Gates. You have the duration of the elevator ride to convince him to invest in the company. Hence, the term elevator pitch. Read More: A Founder's Guide to SaaS Affiliate Marketing
Factors that can ruin your PR pitch:
1. Not having a realistic strategy
A strategy is easy to make. A realistic strategy is much harder, but it works the best. Your PR strategy ties into your marketing efforts. So, be cautious about what element you are incorporating and how. If your PR pitching strategy is not realistic–achievable–then it is a complete waste of time. Plus, you will burn out your employees because of high stress and demand. An unrealistic strategy spells out defeat before the battle has even begun.
2. Limiting pitching to traditional media channels
Usually, PR pitching is limited to traditional media channels such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, etc. Your customers have moved to modern platforms in modern times and you need to move with them. By expanding your PR pitching to modern platforms, you are more likely to reach a wider base of your intended audience. So, include blog writers, influencers, etc. in your PR marketing channels.