93% of Sales Reps Leverage Earned Media, New ARPR Research on Impact of Press in Lead Gen Concludes

Industry’s first report connecting PR to sales reveals that website referrals from media coverage outperforms overall web traffic by 56% and even beats the quality of paid search traffic

ARPR, an award-winning tech PR agency at the epicenter of the future of PR, released the industry’s first set of data that reveals the impact of press activities on the lead generation process. The research, entitled 2019 Technology Marketing Report: The Role of Media Relations in the Sales Cycle, surveyed over 100 IT sales leaders and analyzed 13 months of data from 15 technology companies across five industries.

“In early 2019, ARPR embarked on our next step in de-mystifying media’s role in the sales cycle by surveying IT sales leaders and by analyzing over a years worth of data from 15 technology companies. We poured over hundreds of survey responses, 5.6 million website visits, 63 wire press release distributions and nearly 1,000 media hits,” said Renee Spurlin, senior vice president of analytics and digital marketing at ARPR. “The result is this report.”

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The 11-page report uncovers why:

• the most qualified website traffic often comes from news outlets.
• press releases used to be the standard bearer for making news, but are now a key tactic in reaching and persuading buyers.
• online newsrooms might be the most popular page on your website.
• media coverage is an indispensable sales enablement tool for sales teams.

While media relations is often never considered as a conduit for lead gen, ARPR found that website traffic from media coverage outperforms overall web traffic – most notably with 56.26% more goal completions. It even vastly outperforms paid search in terms of site engagement. Not only is press key in driving prospects to technology brands’ websites, it is also craved by IT sales teams. An astounding 93% of sales reps say they leverage their company’s media coverage in communications with prospects.

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As one SaaS sales leader responded in the survey, “Press coverage is a consistent part of all sales processes – from getting in the door to intro conversations to tech validation, business validation and enterprise readiness.”

Added Anna Ruth Willams, ARPR’s founder and CEO: “Our research proves that press releases, online newsrooms and earned media are impactful at all stages of a buyer’s journey – from top-of-funnel brand awareness to helping close a customer. We’re confident this report will help technology marketing and sales teams make smarter investments in media relations activities in order to win in today’s increasingly competitive B2B buying environment.”