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O'Dwyer's, the industry bible of the public relations business, has ranked Idea Grove among the top 25 tech PR firms in the nation in its rankings released this week.
Idea Grove climbed to the 24th spot in the 2020 listings after ranking 31st among tech PR firms—agencies serving the technology and industrial sectors—in 2019. The agency also ranked second among Texas-based tech PR firms.
Overall, Idea Grove ranked 87th among all agencies included in the rankings. Global giant Edelman topped the rankings with $892 million in revenues last year. O'Dwyer's rankings are verified by income tax and W-3 forms to support fee and employee totals.
Since 2005, Idea Grove has distinguished itself as that rare agency that truly understands growth-oriented B2B tech companies and their buyers.
The agency has received awards including:
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a top 100 Position in O'Dwyer's ranking of PR Agencies for each of the past five years;
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A Top 100 Ranking Among More than 100,000 B2B Service Providers Worldwide by Clutch, the market research firm and review site;
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A Ranking as one of the top five agencies in Texas by Clutch;
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three consecutive Inc. 5000 awards, ranking the Tech PR agency among the fastest-growing private companies in the United States;
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the 2020 Agency of the Year Award from the Public Relations Society of America's Dallas chapter;
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a 2021 Inc. Best Workplaces Award, given to only 429 companies nationwide among thousands of submissions;
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a 2021 Best Places to Work Award from the Dallas Business Journal, ranking in the top 20 among more than 330 nominated companies;
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a ranking as a top 10 PR firm in North Texas based on revenues by the Dallas Business Journal.
The Tech PR Firm for B2B Tech Heroes
Technology is the fastest-growing segment of the B2B market in the U.S. and worldwide, and also a much faster-growing segment of the technology market than consumer technology. B2B technology includes everything from SaaS to cybersecurity, additive manufacturing to hyper-converged infrastructure, data centers to distributed antenna systems.
Idea Grove’s unified PR and marketing service offering has been built from the ground up with the specific challenges of B2B tech in mind, including grasping complex technologies, maintaining momentum through long sales cycles, and influencing the decision-making of both business and IT buyers.
Idea Grove CEO Scott Baradell said the following of the O'Dwyer's recognition:
"We don't have a learning curve like the other guys. We've been a B2B tech-focused agency for 15 years. We know the players. We understand the industries. We work with the media that covers them. We create content that shows a depth of knowledge and perspective that others lack. We create campaigns that differentiate between the motivations and needs of business and technical buyers. These are the benefits of doing one thing, and one thing well, for many years.
"Why do we do it? Because we have an unceasing passion for B2B tech, SaaS, and e-commerce businesses, and for our clients' heroic stories. That's right: heroic.
"We work with companies in burgeoning spaces like cybersecurity, martech, e-commerce, retail tech, transportation and logistics, and AI and machine learning that have compelling visions to share and want to make a positive impact on the world. Our clients move our economy and society forward. We are proud to be their partner."
Added John Lacy, Idea Grove president and COO:
The B2B tech world can be difficult to traverse. Competitors come and go. Disruptors flash into a market, turn expectations upside down, then disappear as quickly as they came. A tech giant buys one of your competitors, and suddenly you’re facing an 800-pound gorilla.How do you stay on the path to success when there are always new obstacles to overcome? We recommend selecting an agency partner that's seen it all before — and that will put your success first."
A Tech PR Agency That Builds Trust from the Inside Out
For every tech PR firm, it's important to retain clients and seek out new ones to grow revenues. But it’s also important to bring your team along for the ride. That's why we work to build trust from the inside out, by opening the financials to all employees through open-book management and integrating Idea Grove's values in all phases of the agency's operations.
The relationships of trust within our agency empower us to help our clients build trust with their customers, employees and other constituencies. Brand trust has become the primary driver for business growth today, as documented by studies from Edelman, RepTrak, the Pew Research Center and others.
Idea Grove's "Grow With Trust" Agency Framework
Idea Grove helps its clients to "Grow With TRUST" through our unique service framework that focuses on the following objectives:
- Third-party validation - People want to hear what other people say about you, not what you say about yourself. This includes the news media, influencers, analysts, experts and— most importantly — your customers. Idea Grove can help you acquire third-party validation from each of these sources, and then feature it prominently across all your marketing touchpoints.
- Reputation management - It's critical to listen and respond to what customers, employees and others are saying about you on social media, including sites such as Glassdoor and product review sites. You must identify issues and correct errors quickly or your reputation will precede you with prospects — and not in a good way. Idea Grove can help.
- User experience - From your design, navigation and site speed to your website copy and trust badges, how visitors view your website has a lot to do with whether or not they will want to do business with you. Don't skimp on their experience. Idea Grove conceives the websites we create as comfortable, inviting homes that will make buyers want to explore and stick around a while.
- Search presence - When people search for your brand on Google, think of the first page of results they see as your second homepage. Are your Google listings up to snuff? What other websites come up when visitors search for you? On average, only 30 percent of your branded search queries end up in a visitor landing on your website. We’ll help you with the other 70 percent— as well as your overall search presence.
- Thought leadership - Sharing interesting and helpful information with those who come across your brand online is one of the best ways to build trust. It shows you have more to offer the world than a widget to sell. For top-of-the-funnel audiences, the key is to talk about your ideas more and your product less — and Idea Grove loves to make our clients look smart.
A PR Firm That Has Grown Organically Since 2005
Idea Grove understands the power of trust-centered marketing because we owe our very existence to it. The agency started in 2005 with a popular blog by founder Scott Baradell, who riffed on his experiences in PR and marketing with vulnerability and self-deprecating humor. This instilled trust in readers, many of whom ultimately became Idea Grove clients.
To this day, our agency has earned nearly all its business organically, through PR, referrals, social media and search.
Awards like those from O'Dwyer's have come organically as well. We encourage you to reach out to us if you'd like to learn how to better build and leverage buyer trust to help your company grow.
Update: Idea Grove went up in O'Dwyer's tech PR firm rankings in 2021.
