K: How does the Overstock PR team fit into the organization?
M: As far as our organizational structure we are part of the marketing department. We have our own channel within the marketing department and we operate independently on campaigns while also supporting all marketing efforts. From an overall company perspective, we also coordinate PR activities between our various global locations and subsidiary companies. We also work on PR for both the retail side of the company as well as the non-retail portions of Overstock services.
K: How do Overstock PR and content efforts drive growth for the business?
M: We focus a lot of our efforts toward new customer acquisition while increasing brand recognition and affinity to let people know what Overstock really is and the unique value we provide to our customers. Generally, if people are hearing about a new Overstock product, feature, category, partner, or technical innovation, at least a portion of the messaging is driven by PR. We also work cohesively with other marketing channels to ensure that all channels are highlighting key announcements using consistent messaging. Finally, because we’re a publicly-traded company, any public-facing message from the PR team (or any other team) can have an impact.
K: How does the data you receive from Onclusive help you drive that business growth and impact?
M: Data from Onclusive gives us a good understanding of what conversations are being had about our brand and what the tone and reach of those conversations are. More than that, it helps us understand what information is driving conversations about specific areas of our business so that we can target our efforts to increase or minimize that discussion to best benefit the overall brand message and positioning.
Simply put, Onclusive helps us work smarter!
K: How does Onclusive data influence Overstock PR and content strategy?
M: Onclusive has helped us understand an increasingly cluttered media landscape, and prioritize our efforts within that landscape. From a message creation standpoint, Onclusive data shows us what messages and information have the most resonance with our target audiences. Before we even reach out with messaging, we can have a good idea of what our target customers want to hear about our business, and what their responses will likely be when they hear those things.
This is especially helpful because Overstock has so many different business units, each with a slightly different customer base and media environment. People generally know Overstock.com as one of the leading online home retailers, but are often surprised to know that we also offer:
- Financial Services (lending, investments, credit cards, and insurance)
- Pet Adoptions
- Cars (new and used car research, negotiations, financing, and protection plans)
- Worldstock, our Fairtrade Handmade store supporting artisans across the world
With each area of our business comes unique target markets that we need to reach, and a new group of media members with whom we need to cultivate relationships. We use Onclusive data to understand what topics and which audiences to focus on with our messaging, as well as to identify the most efficient media outlets and individuals for us to reach out to with our pitching.
In short, the data we receive from Onclusive allows us to speak to the right people about the right topics at the right times.
K: Any stories to share about how Onclusive data has provided solutions for Overstock?
M: Overstock is a data-driven company at our core and data is king around here, but for the longest time, the PR department did not have data that was comparable to what other marketing channels were reporting on. So we’re continually working with Onclusive to find the best ways to increasingly measure the impact of our efforts!
This data helps us to keep track of how our brand is perceived, who we’re reaching with our messaging, and how impactful that messaging is. Our use of Onclusive also helps us be efficient with our message targeting and spend for any paid follow up and social amplification, and confirms whether we’re spending our time wisely for maximum return.
Rather than a pitch list of hundreds of reporters, we make sure that we’re talking directly to the reporters that cover the specific niche stories we’re telling for each specific part of our business. The data helps us view media lists through a lens that lets us see where the overlap is between reach and accuracy to target markets.
We’re using this data along with the unlimited target media lists, campaigns, messaging, searches and reports.to guide our efforts, including developing and measuring KPIs and clearly communicating both goals and results with leadership. We know there is potential for even further integration of data from Onclusive into our efforts.
I also want to note that, one of the biggest stories I tell regarding our work with Onclusive is how great it is to work with members of the Onclusive team! From the first outreach, to discussions about capabilities and functionality, to the minutest reporting need that may pop up over the course of developing a new campaign, the Onclusive team has been receptive, transparent, and attentive. Regular calls with our PR Engineer gives us access to the depths of the tool that we may not have uncovered on our own, and she even created a new reporting tool for us that is customized to our needs for reporting to the C-Suite. It’s rare to find the intersection of top tech and top people that Onclusive has.
K: Why thank you, Mark! So glad to have you and Overstock as an Onclusive customer.
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