By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The pressures of a growing client base and expanding geographic boundaries prompted Alexander Marketing to recently hire two experienced public relations professionals and two graphics designers.
As the company eyes the institutional market—healthcare, education, and government—as a viable addition to its business-to-business market base, even more jobs could be on the horizon.
“The vast majority of clients these days are frustrated in trying to put together a program, to select a market and go after it, and the number and quality of business to business publications have diminished,” says Bob Milroy, president of the firm, which maintains offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. “A lot of money is going to search advertising, and our clients may not have a lot of money to spend on it but they need to expand their exposure.”
Much of the company’s PR work involves highly specialized engineering and scientific journals — Chemical Engineering, Modern Machine Shop, Auto Electronics, for example — that market their clients’ products within specific industries. In the U.S., there are some 2,600 of those publications that need feature stories on trends and new technology. Alexander Marketing helps clients decide which journals to contribute articles to and advertise in, and then develops and places the stories and ads.
“We had one full-time PR practitioner who was being overwhelmed by our addition of new clients and more work,” Milroy says. “Our business base has expanded and the need for public relations activity has expanded. We see plenty of opportunities to add clients, but must remain true to our positioning in the business to business community.”
Source: Bob Milroy, Alexander Marketing
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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