Business-To-Business PR in Small-To-Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Despite business-to-business (B2B) marketing being used and

researched for many years, B2B Public Relations (PR) studies are rare.

The opportunity for research is based on the need for PR and

communications activity that support business goals. Therefore, this

paper aims to add to B2B PR studies by exploring how small-to-medium

enterprises (SMEs) in the creative industry can benefit from implementing

PR activities. Benefits, in this case, are considered to be new business

leads, talent retention, and a good reputation. The PR services, as

conceptualised in this study, include B2B media relations, thought

leadership, and social media management. The paper takes an inductive

phenomenological approach operationalised through qualitative research

methods including open-ended semi-structured interviews. The 12

participants are identified as information rich and are founders or

managing directors of creative agencies in the UK. To gain comparative

information, half of them implement PR activities and the other half do not.

The main findings indicate that social media, media relations and thought

leadership practice add value to creative SMEs in regard to brand

positioning and awareness. In addition, this study reveals that all

participants focus on establishing mutually-beneficial relationships with

key stakeholders. Finally, results show that SMEs in the creative sector

prefer to implement promotional activities and manage their reputation

internally.