In today’s digital era where technological advancements outpace consumer expectations, building a credible brand image has become the cornerstone of sustained market success.
As the digital landscape grows increasingly complex, consumers seek not only cutting-edge products and services but also brands they believe in.
For tech companies, this means that innovation alone is no longer enough — the ability to foster genuine, transparent relationships with stakeholders is paramount.
Through strategic engagement and the art of storytelling, tech PR can play a pivotal role in cultivating trust, creating lasting partnerships, and positioning a brand as an industry leader.
Tech PR: One Solution to Many Problems
As a company executive, what would your answer be if prompted to name the most significant challenges your business faces nowadays?
The tiring search for funding? Are you struggling to develop effective strategies for successful lead generation? Perhaps attracting top-tier talent is a challenge? Or are you having difficulties with creating valuable content to drive targeted exposure?
The good news is that tech PR is here to help you find the most effective and time-saving solutions to all these challenges.
Tech PR can help companies in three key areas:
- to raise awareness when they want to fundraise or attract new clients;
- to help them develop their go-to-market strategy when entering new markets;
- to support them in building a strong employer brand appealing to top-tier talent.
In all this, the focus is on creating a trustworthy reputation and recognition. This is best achieved when a PR team brings proven expertise in storytelling for tech audiences and a track record of cultivating valuable relationships with key stakeholders.
The Mastery of Brand Discovery and Positioning
Defining a consistent brand story is the first step to undertake before pouring lots of money into marketing and advertising.
The creation of a cohesive brand image starts with exploring what makes the company unique and authentic: (a) what the company stands for and what the key values are; (b) who the target audience and customers are and what needs they have; (c) how to communicate with them in a meaningful way; (d) what communication channels would serve best the company’s objectives.
The outcome of this process is three-fold:
- developing a brand identity that resonates with the company’s target audiences and client personas;
- boosting a positive team alignment to allow the company’s executive team to make conscious business decisions and act as brand ambassadors;
- building a reputation as an industry expert and association with thought leadership within the given sector of operation.
In turn, strengthening a company’s brand identity would help elaborate a content strategy, including key messages and brand guidelines to maintain consistency. Implementing this strategy would support the company’s positioning in front of target audiences and help it reach its business objectives more successfully.
Brand Awareness and Media Outreach: Key Tips
Very often, the first association that readers make of “public relations” is press releases. Yes, the press release is a significant component of the overall PR strategy. It adds real value when it is a product of the wholesome process of brand identification.
“A press release becomes more relevant and true to the company values only if there’s a consistently developed brand image underneath. This is very easy to be discerned by seasoned journalists and content creators.”
However, a good press release remains just a piece of well-written content if it’s not pitched in the right way to the right audience. Then it’s all about forging strategic partnerships with target media or content-related outlets.
It’s about giving the outlets the priority of publishing the news first – and they will publish it only if the news is well-written and if it is pitched by a trustworthy partner.
Do’s & Don’ts of Media Outreach
Lesson 1: When pitching a story, it’s not about you.
It’s about what the story has to offer to the audience of the target outlet.
But what does “interesting” mean? A story has high quality and impact if it’s telling something unique, valuable and/or insightful through its 5 Ws: WHAT has happened, WHERE did it happen, WHEN did it happen, WHO made it happen, WHY it is important.
Lesson 2: Generic press releases work only for big news.
Examples of breaking news include: a closed funding round, a recent exit, a newly founded R&D center, M&A, etc. In such cases, you need to be able to offer exclusivity to priority outlets or the so-called “media embargo”.
If the objective is to portray the uniqueness of the news being pitched (e.g., showcasing the exquisiteness of a given tech solution), then a custom press release needs to be crafted.
In both cases, the trick to tell the news is very old and easy to implement. Imagine explaining an idea or product to a 12-year-old, or an elderly person. That is storytelling. Find an angle, a key to the pitch and create the story. Be short and spark the interest.
Lesson 3. Get to the point and skip unnecessary details.
Journalists cherish their time and get contacted a lot. Studies show that they are annoyed by receiving irrelevant pitches, containing inaccurate info, or pitches sounding like marketing brochures.
The easiest way is to consider it from one’s own perspective. For example, a person only opens newsletters that provide information in the most catchy way.
Lesson 4. Pitching is still important.
A recent survey by Cision shows that almost 70% of journalists find press releases useful for gaining ideas about writing stories, compared to direct pitches, industry expert reports, or social media.
The second best way to earn coverage is through social media campaigns, mainly on LinkedIn and Instagram.
So, get creative and start telling the grand story of your company!
