The power of customer PR: Where the magic happens

Often considered a challenging aspect of marketing, customer PR has the potential to truly elevate your brand and drive meaningful growth. 

Yet, many brands stumble at the initial stage – whether it’s securing internal buy-in from sales teams to engage customers for marketing purposes or inspiring customers themselves to participate. However, with the support of a skilled communications team, these hurdles can be overcome, and the rewards can have company-wide benefits.

Turning customers into advocates

When done well, customer PR can flip this dynamic. Instead of marketers chasing sales for leads, sales teams might even actively seek out marketers for the latest customer success stories to share with prospects. This is how it should be.

This shift doesn’t happen overnight. The process is often intricate and requires patience. But with the right advocates and a collaborative spirit, customer PR can deliver spectacular results for everyone involved:

• The customer: Gains recognition for visionary leadership and innovative achievements.
• The client: Earns credibility for partnering with, and supporting successful brands.
• The sales team: Benefits from compelling stories that drive lead generation and conversions.

Spotlight on Peak: A customer PR success story

Take, for instance, Peak, an AI company that collaborates with a roster of brilliant fashion, manufacturing, and household-name brands. By helping these companies make smarter, data-driven decisions, Peak transforms their business performance.

Catherine Frame, Peak’s superb Marketing Director, has been instrumental in fostering these relationships. In a matter of months, she’s secured participation from several high-profile customers, including Boden and other notable brands (watch this space). These brands have shared their successful AI journeys, creating powerful stories that resonate across industries. Explore one of these stories here.

As a result of these efforts, Peak’s sales team has started proactively suggesting new customers for similar collaborations. The buzz around their success stories has grown so much that customers themselves are requesting to be featured. As Catherine Frame puts it, “These stories are the nuggets of demand creation, for both us and our customers. It’s win-win.”

The cycle of success

When customer PR takes off, it creates a self-sustaining cycle of success. Prospective customers see the value in your offerings through the lens of peer experiences, making them more likely to engage. Sales teams, armed with these compelling stories, can convert leads faster. And the brand builds a reputation for excellence and innovation.

With the right approach, customer PR can work wonders for your brand – sparking demand, and driving long-term growth. But it starts with the spark of a can-do approach, and for that, a huge hats-off to Catherine.