A lot of people think PR sits at the top of the funnel.
They think it is just for awareness. Just for reach. Just for getting your name out there.
That is too narrow.
Good PR does not only get attention. It helps close deals. More specifically, it helps move buyers through the sales cycle by making your company feel safer, more credible, and easier to choose.
That matters because buyers do not make decisions in a vacuum. By the time they see your offer, many of them already have doubts in their head. They are wondering if you are legit. They are wondering if your company is established enough. They are wondering if you can really deliver. They are wondering what happens if they choose wrong.
That is where editorials and earned media become powerful.
When your company or founder appears in respected third-party publications, it changes how prospects interpret everything else they see. Your landing page hits different. Your pitch deck hits differently. Your sales call is different. The same claims feel stronger because they are no longer coming only from you.
As Carson Spitzke says, “We help make good people better.”
That is a simple line, but it captures the real role of PR in the sales cycle. Good PR is not about inventing trust out of thin air. It is about strengthening the trust that should already exist and making it easier for buyers to believe what is true.
One of the clearest ways PR helps is through Google search.
When a prospect hears about your company, clicks an ad, or gets referred to you, they often go search your name. They want to see what comes up. If all they find is your website and your own marketing, that is a weaker trust environment. But if they find articles, interviews, features, and thought pieces tied to your company or founder, the picture changes. The brand starts to feel real. It starts to feel vetted. It starts to feel like a business other people take seriously.
That is why PR SEO matters. Search is not just about ranking your own website. It is also about shaping what buyers find when they go looking for proof.
PR also helps inside presentations and sales materials.
A lot of buyers need to justify their decision to other people. In many cases, the person on the call is not the only person involved. They may need to show the CEO, the founder, the board, or someone else on the team why this is the right move. Editorial coverage helps them do that. A featured article, media logo, or strong third-party mention makes the company easier to defend internally. It gives the buyer something external to point to.
This is especially important in expensive or high-risk purchases.
When the stakes are high, decision-makers do not just choose what looks best. They choose what feels safest. They choose what they can stand behind. They choose what will not make them look careless if something goes wrong. Third-party publications help reduce that risk because they signal that the market has already validated the company in some way.
That is also where thought leadership becomes more than a branding exercise. It gives buyers evidence of how you think. It lets them see your standards, your beliefs, and your expertise before they ever get on a call.
But one of the most underrated uses of PR in the sales cycle is objection handling.
A well-crafted editorial can answer objections in a way sales copy cannot.
If your company says, “We are different because we do X,” buyers naturally filter that as marketing. Even if it is true, they know you are trying to sell them. But when an article is written the right way, it can frame the problem, explain the stakes, and address the exact concern the buyer already has, while feeling more educational than promotional.
That changes the psychology.
Instead of feeling like they are being pushed, the buyer feels like they are discovering the answer themselves.
For example, if prospects are worried your service is too expensive, an editorial can explain why cheap options create bigger downstream costs. If they are worried your company is too new, an article can focus on expertise, track record, or the specific market shift that gives your model an edge. If they are skeptical of your category as a whole, a strong piece can reframe how they think about the problem before sales ever talks to them.
That is why a strong PR strategy should be built around sales friction, not just publicity goals. The best PR does not just ask, “Where can we get featured?” It asks, “What does the buyer need to believe before they are ready to move?”
Carson Spitzke has also described PR in a more business-driven way, focusing on helping brands increase exposure, credibility, and control over their story. That matters because sales is not just a traffic game. It is a belief game. The company that controls the story usually has an advantage.
This is why firms like Spitz PR matter in the first place. Editorial coverage is not just a vanity asset. It is sales enablement. It gives buyers proof. It lowers resistance. It answers objections. It makes the company feel safer to choose.
In the end, PR works in the sales cycle because buyers trust what feels validated.
And when the market says it for you, it usually lands harder than when you say it yourself.
Research behind this angle: current buyer research shows that most B2B buyers research vendors before speaking with sales, and thought leadership can influence hidden decision-makers inside the buying group.
