Mastering B2B Tech Public Relations: A Modern PR Toolkit for Marketers

Key takeaways:

• The right PR partner is invaluable to help build brand credibility, thought leadership, and refine brand messaging
• Know your audience, their careabouts, and speak to them in their language
• Create foundational storytelling with a robust owned content strategy

How to Implement

The Top Six Tactics for Tech Marketers

1. Establish thought leadership and navigate media relations

When it comes to securing media coverage and being viewed as a trusted thought leader, companies need to have a keen understanding of their audience. A tech marketer can talk about product features until they are blue in the face, but an intimate understanding of who you are in business to serve is the foundation.

Thought leadership ensures that your brand is leading conversations, and not simply partaking in them.

In written content, knowing who exactly you are writing for is key. Every industry has their own jargon, so knowing how to “speak the speak” of an industry is crucial so that those groups see their problems being talked about.

As important as it is to know your place in the market, it is equally as important to know that your product does not solve everything. This extends to how your leadership team weighs in on public issues. Keeping your public perspectives to technical expertise, sector-specific insights, or even relevant ethical views shows the media that you can provide focused perspectives on trending topics.

Here are some ways to garner coverage that increases the likelihood of the media viewing you as a trusted voice:

• Partner with experienced B2B tech PR agencies who can streamline these efforts by connecting your brand with the right outlets and platforms
• Provide unique perspectives on broader industry trends that bring a new approach to their audience
• Establish an online presence for your executives or spokespeople to showcase continuing engagement with the public
• Build real relationships with journalists, and not just when you want to be quoted in an article

A client of ours built their B2B technology business by providing Wi-Fi solutions to hospitality services, senior housing, and student living. Rather than compete on a “speeds and feeds” narrative with the bigger ISPs, we crafted a thought leadership narrative around how those entering senior living facilities grew up in the dot com era and understand technology, meaning that senior living facility owners and property managers needed to service the ‘Tenants of Tomorrow’. We were able to steer our client to the discussion around what properties should be thinking about from a tech stack perspective as they go through a new build, positioning themselves as trusted voices on long-term innovation in the senior living marketplace.

In summary:

• Have a true understanding of who your audience is and what they are trying to accomplish
• Demonstrate a track record of success and knowledge before going to publications
• Provide a unique but informed perspective on what is happening in the industry

Journalists are bombarded with noise every day, and our team at Escalate can help you build a robust media relations strategy so that your story is compelling and ends up in front of the right audience.

2. Build a crisis communications PR plan

At some point, every company will be faced with a crisis. No industry is immune, and in today’s world where cyber breaches and leaks happen every day, it is a matter of when and not if a company will find itself in the public eye. Businesses no longer have 24-72 hours to provide a statement after an incident; the media is too fast, social media is too opinionated, and people are all too willing to jump to their own conclusions in the absence of facts.

While a crisis communications PR handbook will not solve everything, “It allows a communications team to have a jumping off point and really focus on what matters in that moment and not put your head in the sand,” says Ouellette.

Having the framework of a plan provides:

• Precious time saving in the gathering of initial materials
• Assigns dedicated roles and responsibilities
• Scenario planning for a variety of incidents
• A tiered list of how to classify, identify, and address situations

All too often, we’ve seen blindspots from companies who either think “It could never happen to us,” or are unwilling to provide statements to the media. In the absence of perspective, people will jump to their own conclusions.

As an example, we helped a drone delivery company navigate a situation by working with key stakeholders in the company and local officials in the town to ensure a transparent and rapid response. Having a crisis communications plan in place didn’t eliminate the risk, but it allowed for a swift response to community and media members.

This is where B2B tech PR strategy proves critical, helping safeguard reputation while maintaining transparency. Our crisis communications service works to deliver a tailor-made playbook that will help protect your brand’s reputation and address any situations that may arise.

Summary:

• Having a crisis communications handbook gives you a headstart to confront issues head-on
  • As Jason Ouellette puts it, “You are starting from second base instead of first”.
• Blindspots from previous clients include not having any plan in place or providing no comment to media requests
• Laying out defined roles and responsibilities reduces ambiguity and aligns key stakeholders

3. Why it is important to integrate AEO/SEO into your Content Syndication

For brands to maximize visibility online, B2B technology marketers must take control of their owned content. Each article, blog post, or resource should intentionally support the broader business and marketing objectives. It must entertain, educate, and explain who you are and why you exist.

With the rise of generative AI like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini being used as search engines, visibility in these search results will help amplify your brand as a thought leader and trusted source. This starts by creating focused and intentional owned content. In your owned content you have the control. Earned content is in the hands of journalists and news outlets and the stronger your content is, the more you can maximize your visibility opportunities.

That doesn’t mean you are creating content only so that it gains visibility for AEO purposes (it is still a human who is purchasing your product), but rather structuring content in a way that AI search engines favor. Here are core best practices that marketers can use to maximize their content and improve visibility for AEO.

• Provide an executive summary: Provide a summary of key points at the top of the article.
• Write in a Q&A format: Provide questions as if they were prompts to a search engine and treat the subsections as direct answers.
• Structure content intentionally with headings: Use H1/H2/H3 headings to provide content previews. Use natural phrasing so readers can easily skim and understand main takeaways.
• Create an FAQ section: Write conversationally about the most important questions and topics, and write short and concise answers (1-3 sentences).
• Write like a human speaks: Write conversationally but authoritatively. It will resonate with your audience more and makes it more likely your content will be cited.
• List citations and sources: This builds authority, especially when referencing stats and data.
  Go deep versus wide: Get technical and have multiple points of view. Provide a summary and key takeaways.

From a distribution standpoint, knowing where your audience lives, whether it is on Reddit, Slack, LinkedIn, or other forums will extend the reach of your owned content and get embedded into those communities.

Our Content Strategy & Development service can help your brand maximize the value of your story while securing placement in front of your customers.

4. Establish presence at key industry events and secure speaking opportunities

Businesses are using speaking engagements and podcast appearances not just as opportunities to promote their brand, but as multi-faceted ways to talk about their products, reach new audiences, and showcase expertise and thought leadership.

As professionals working in B2B technology PR, there is tremendous opportunity in these engagements. Instead of pitching a single executive, offering a pre-packaged panel of experts to conference organizers brings diverse perspectives which ensures a richer dialogue, new viewpoints on trending topics, and gives you multiple ways to continue the conversation after the fact.

At SXSW 2024, we secured a speaking engagement for one of our clients on the topic of drone delivery for retail and medical industries. The panel included executives from retail, transportation, and medical industries which allowed for a wide-ranging but focused conversation that highlighted how interconnected so many services are these days. From there, our client was able to take this appearance and repurpose into media content for promotion across social media, web, and more.

While brands are more selective about where they invest their in-person presence, securing the right speaking engagements is crucial to establishing yourself as a leading B2B tech marketer. Our Speakers Bureau and Event Promotion can help identify the best opportunities for you, and build a robust plan to prepare, execute on-site, and ensure post-event coverage delivers tangible results.

Summary:

• Present packaged panel of speakers to conference organizers to provide diverse perspectives and increase attractability
• Use video clips and soundbites from the speaking engagement as marketing materials to drive traffic back to your site
• Events are a great opportunity to promote your brand, talk about new products, reach new audiences, and showcase thought leadership

5. Use your customer’s voice in case studies and stories

It is one thing for a business to talk about how great their product is. It is another to be able to show how it was accomplished and what the results were.

The more you can show that a solution or product helped solve a problem, the better for lead generation, media coverage, and citation by AI engines. Beyond that, customer stories are attractive to tech buyers who want to see how you are tackling trending issues in their industry.

By leveraging customer stories in marketing materials, you allow others to evangelize your product and let them explain in their own words how you helped them succeed.

This ties back to taking control of your owned content. When someone is doing their own research on your business, they want to see how you can solve their problems. By leveraging case studies and customers stories, you are providing proof as to the merits of your product, building credibility amongst your audience, and establishing yourself as a reputable authority. This is a core element of effective B2B tech public relations, where customer proof points drive credibility.

Summary:

• The more you can show that a solution helped solve a problem, the better for lead generation
• Tech buyers want to see how others are tackling key issues and similar problems

6. Leverage data-driven reports and surveys

Customers don’t just want to know that you can solve their problems, they want proof of how you have done it before and what is actually happening in the broader industry. When woven into storytelling and messaging, data and numbers provide clarity to the complex.

• Using trusted and verified third-party data can give validation to claims you are making. Look at trustworthy data sources from organizations like IDC to see what is being said about current trends.

However, it’s not enough just to reference some numbers; the data should support a compelling story. You can’t just throw numbers at your audiences and expect them to know what it means, and you don’t want to turn your content into an Excel spreadsheet.

Conducting surveys around industry trends with reputable subjects builds further credibility. Listing the job titles of those who were surveyed for the report shows prospects the point of view that the survey is from. This data should then be analyzed and woven together to create newsworthy angles and support your organization’s overall narrative. When a major survey is published by a reputable outlet, other companies, the media, and customers all take notice.

By combining data points with customer stories, you provide validated results alongside customer anecdotes and experiences.

However, not all companies are set up to conduct their own in-depth research. Our work in creating surveys and studies, from one-time reports to annual studies, is designed to position our clients as highly sought-after resources who drive industry-leading conversations. In addition, our B2B tech PR agency taps into company data and intellectual property to extract storylines, highlight industry trends, and develop narrative direction rooted in the results.

Summary:

• Follow what reputable data research firms are saying about current trends
• Combine data with customer stories for impactful stories
• Conduct surveys with focused points of view from industry professionals