What an HR Tech PR Campaign Looks Like When the Story Is Bigger Than a Press Release

A press release can announce a story. It can’t do all the work of helping a market understand, remember, and talk about it.

One example from my work with ERIN began with a big number: more than 1.1 million employee referrals processed through the platform in 2024. That’s a lot of people telling friends, former colleagues, and others in their networks about jobs.

ERIN already knew the platform was handling referrals at scale. The opportunity was to turn that activity into a story with depth and credibility, then give people more than one way to encounter it.

Start with the question behind the number

The headline number was striking, but the more useful question was: What could this data help HR and talent acquisition leaders understand about how employee referrals actually work?

The ERIN report shares findings from 1,125,294 referrals and 146,689 hires, including how employees used email, social sharing, mobile devices, and desktop tools. The data gave ERIN a way to talk about employee referrals as an active part of enterprise hiring—not just a program companies say they value.

I recognized that the scale was worth taking beyond ERIN’s own channels. I persuaded the leadership team to invest in developing the story, found Lighthouse Research & Advisory, negotiated the project, and introduced the research team to customers. I helped shape the format and the way the findings would be told.

The outside research perspective mattered. ERIN had the platform data; working with a research partner helped put that data into a broader industry conversation. The goal was to give the market more context than ERIN could provide by talking about its own product alone.

Build a campaign around the research

Once the story was taking shape, the work extended beyond publishing a report.

We developed ways for people to hear the findings, ask questions, and discuss what they meant for hiring teams. I hosted a livestream with Mike Stafiej to walk through the report’s insights. The ERIN Effect livestream recap includes the recording and key takeaways.

The research also became a media and content opportunity. HR Tech Feed announced the livestream and report, and SHRM covered what the data showed about when employees make referrals.

Mike also discussed the findings on the RecTech podcast. Each format let the audience approach the same larger subject from a different angle: a report for the people who wanted the detail, a livestream for a direct explanation, media coverage for a broader HR audience, and a podcast conversation for listeners who wanted to hear the story discussed.

The research also became an email and social media motion for ERIN. The numbers, key findings, report, livestream, and media coverage gave the company useful material to share repeatedly.

Give the story a place to be discussed

Research becomes more useful when people can talk about what it means.

I helped connect the ERIN research story with industry conversations and events, including arranging for Mike to participate in an executive discussion at UNLEASH America with Ben Eubanks of Lighthouse. That gave the findings another setting: a room where HR and talent acquisition leaders could hear the ideas and discuss them together.

A stage appearance, livestream, podcast, and media story each do different work. Together, they let a company repeat its core idea in formats suited to different audiences and moments.

Repeat the idea with purpose

The campaign had “legs” because the research wasn’t treated as a one-time announcement. The number opened the door; the analysis gave it depth; the livestream and conversations made it accessible; media coverage helped it travel; and ERIN’s own email and social channels kept the findings in circulation.

That’s what I mean by market memory. A company builds recognition when it tells a useful, consistent story in the places its audience already pays attention. Repetition works best when each appearance adds something: a new finding, a practitioner’s perspective, an analyst’s context, or a conversation about what to do next.

For another HR tech company, the specific story might be customer results, original research, a product launch, or a shift in the market. The campaign should start with evidence the audience can care about, then create a plan for how that evidence will be explained and shared.

The campaign is bigger than the release

A press release can help establish what’s new. A full campaign gives the story room to be understood, discussed, and remembered.

For ERIN, the work connected platform data, an outside research perspective, media, a livestream, podcast conversations, an event discussion, and owned marketing. The value came from carrying one meaningful idea through those channels while adapting it to each audience.

The press release may be one receipt. The report, interviews, event conversations, articles, recordings, emails, and social posts are others. Together, they show how an HR tech story can keep moving after launch day.

What does an integrated HR tech PR campaign include? It can connect original research, customer evidence, media coverage, podcasts, events, and company channels around one useful story. The right mix depends on the evidence you have and the audience you need to reach. Book a call to discuss a campaign for your story.