Business-to-business PR (B2B PR) is different in some ways from business-to-consumer PR (B2C PR), and in some ways it can be quite similar.

If you are looking to implement some of the PR techniques that you use for other companies in your consumer strategy, then you must take the following things into account.

1 - Make sure your B2B PR works in the first place. Companies are usually much more knowledgeable about the intricacies of your industry than the average consumer.

This means that if your PR campaign passes muster with them, then it will have a much better chance of success with your potential customers.

If you have a B2B strategy that does not work, you should refuse the temptation to simply port it over to your customer based strategy just to try to get some usefulness out of the assets. If you have a strategy that does not work on one side of the coin, trash it and come up with something new for both sides.

2 - Note the differences between your potential business partners and your potential customers. Your business partners have dedicated their working lives to your industry in the same way that you have.

Your customers are simply looking for solutions that the leaders of your industry are supposed to provide. Are your marketing materials geared towards selling yourself to a person who is well versed in your industry or a person who is only looking for the results of your hard labor? You need to take a hard look at the content that you are putting out in front of your brand so that you can really see who is connecting with it.

3 - Do you need to bring certain content into the realm of your customers? Are there certain things that your customer base needs to know about your industry? Are you revealing certain aspects of your industry in your B2B correspondence that your customers do not need to know? Do you have the kind customers who would care about the process of manufacturing and distributing your product? All of these are questions that you must answer before you bring any of the material that you are using to sell yourself to potential business partners into the realm of your customers.

For the most part, you should leave any content that you are providing for your potential business partners out of the marketing that you do for your customers.

In situations that are few and far between, you may be able to recycle some assets and some marketing campaigns from your B2B content. This can provide a huge relief on the expense side of your balance sheet; however, you should not ever forgo your branding or your marketing schedule just to save a few dollars in the short term.

Depending on the type of customer base that you have, you may never be able to use this technique; however, this should not be considered a shortcoming on your part.

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Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, a NY based PR Firm and author of PR Book 'For Immediate Release'.