Conventional marketing wisdom preaches tailoring your message. Spoiler: It’s still right.
GenAI hasn’t changed the fundamentals of good SaaS PR. At the risk of sounding like AI, it’s actually made persona-specific storytelling more impactful. Half of today’s B2B decision-makers turn to LLMs like ChatGPT before Google, and according to PAN’s C-Suite Signals report, each persona sees different sources in their AI-generated answers.
How do you get your brand to show up in these results? LLMs reward specificity and authority. Generic thought leadership blends into the “average” response. Unique ideas get amplified.
When you understand your audience, their pain points, and where they get their information, you can craft PR messaging that gets LLMs’ attention.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started.
Know Who You’re Talking To — and What They Want to Know
You can’t reach an audience if you don’t know who they are. Identifying the target persona and understanding their problems requires getting as close to them as possible. Who knows the customer better than anyone? The sales team. Not only can they tell you their ICP, they can discuss specific pain points they’re hearing from prospects. Once you identify these challenges, you can begin crafting persona-specific messaging.
Meet Decision Makers Where They Are
Each C-suite role has its preferred information sources. While all of them read tier 1 outlets like Forbes, trade publications, industry newsletters, Reddit threads, and niche podcasts are what drive prospect engagement. These outlets cater to a highly specialized audience seeking solutions to specific industry challenges. Articles cover in-depth, tactical thought leadership. Appearing in trade media reaches your intended audience while also establishing authority with LLMs.
There are many ways to build a trade media list. Consider these strategies:
- Ask the sales team about any articles or publications mentioned by prospects or clients.
- Look at the website referral traffic for existing high-value, persona-specific content.
- Search the brand’s keywords or subject to see where it’s been covered in the past.
- Figure out who is covering your competitors.
- Search your preferred LLM to see what it suggests as influential industry sources.
- Use PAN’s C-Suite Signals report.
Say Something Only Your Brand Can Say
The world doesn’t need another “businesses must embrace AI” pitch. Skip the blah and get to the good stuff: “10 ways AI can prevent data breaches.” SaaS PR professionals must speak directly to the persona’s pain points and KPIs in pitches, interviews, contributed content and any other channel.
Use the persona’s vocabulary. Chief Technology Officers aren’t searching for “cybersecurity;” they’re using terms like “robotic testing tools” and “best endpoint security for businesses.” Meanwhile, Chief Data Officers are searching for “semantic layer architecture.”
Leveraging the specific terminology establishes authority, catches an executive’s attention and increases LLM and search visibility. It’s the difference between “GenAI improves marketing” and “How GenAI governance increases pipeline velocity and attribution accuracy.” Which one are you more likely to read?
You can also differentiate your message with:
- Proprietary data
- Unique perspectives
- Executive anecdotes
- Case studies
These elements will resonate with the humans you’re trying to reach, with the bonus of standing out to LLMs.
In the GenAI era, earned media has double the impact by reaching thought leaders and shaping how AI represents your brand. But generalized narratives won’t get the results you need.
Explore how PANBlast’s persona-driven PR programs help emerging B2B SaaS brands reach their ideal customers.