This past week in my PR tactics 2 class we had the pleasure of being introduced to yet another PR and B2B (business to business) pro, Steve Staedler. Senior account executive and PR pro, Steve, came to us from Milwaukee to teach us a little bit about what he does and what B2B PR is all about. I had learned a little bit about business to business public relations in some of my previous classes before, but I never really knew what it was all about. This left me feeling anxious and excited to learn more from Steve and his presentation.
Steve works at a B2B company called LePoidevin Marketing. His duties as senior account executive include writing fact sheets, news releases, speeches, guest columns, social media, and more. Steve discussed how much he writes during his days at LePoidevin and how important it is in today's world to be a good writer and to have good writing skills. To many, a job filled with writing all day may sound exhausting and uneventful, but for those with a love for writing like Steve and I, it sounds nothing short of exciting! Some of Steve's clients that he writes for include those from the animal health industry and industrial industry such as Snap On Tools.
Despite telling us a lot about his background and how he got to where he is today, Steve also shared with us some very valuable information about a website called Cision Point. Cision Point is a useful tool, one that Steve uses frequently, that allows you to do quick searches fast saving you and your client time and money. Cision, as Steve explained, is essentially an "online newsroom" for clients where companies can put out press releases, photos, and more. According to Steve, LePoidevin has 120 media outlets on Cision that can view press releases and more right from the website. Learning about Cision was both interesting and helpful as I am about to go into the working world and will take all the information about what PR pros are using that I can get! Another tool Steve uses is google alerts. Google alerts allows Steve to keep tabs on his clients and alerts him anytime his client comes up in the news or on google.
Steve closed out his presentation with a case study in which we all got to participate and learn more about real life situations that PR pros, like Steve, deal with everyday. I found the exercise to be a great learning experience along with Steve's entire presentation. I learned a lot from Steve and his presentation and am now more knowledgeable about the PR world and how a B2B company works.
