High-growth tech companies move fast.
They’re changing how we talk to each other and watch TV shows. They’re making it easier for companies to transport products, find employees and modernize their IT infrastructures and business processes. And they’re inventing entirely new ways of doing things, creating Software-as-a-Service offerings that automate and simplify everything from email, e-commerce and cyber security to marketing and data storage.
But high-growth tech companies will struggle to communicate to the world who they are and why they matter unless they partner with a high-powered tech PR team.
There are three primary reasons for why tech companies need a high-powered PR team:
The need for speed
Today’s 24-7 news cycle and the lightning speed of digital technology have rapidly increased the pace of all forms of PR. But that pace in tech PR is even faster because many tech companies are relatively young businesses that are experiencing rapid growth and highly entrepreneurial in both their style and speed of business.
Driven by the once-unfathomable speed of innovation itself and the amount of private equity funding in tech, there’s a constant stream of new startups, breakthroughs in technology innovation, new products and services and venture funding rounds. Add to all that the sheer volume of tech companies – according to CompTIA, there are more than 525,000 software and IT services companies in the U.S.; an estimated 40,500 tech startups launched in 2018 alone – and the media landscape is an extremely crowded one where competition for attention is extremely fierce.
This is why tech companies, more than others, need a tech PR team that is agile, adaptable and flexible. To stand out, they need to be both highly proactive in developing creative and compelling story ideas that get reporters’ attentions and able to react quickly to changing circumstances, breaking news and emerging issues and trends.
High tech is, in fact, highly technical
To live in the world of tech is to navigate a sea of acronyms and buzzwords, and tech companies traffic in highly technical language that can leave most people bewildered and confused. But, a tech company’s mission – and its products and services – should be easily understood by the average person, whether that be an investor, customer, partner or employee. It’s the job of a tech PR team to translate and simplify the language of technology, applications, products and services into benefits that are both tangible and relevant. Implementing a successful tech PR program means not only mastering what these technical terms actually mean but knowing how to translate industry jargon into “plain English” and provide the context that explains why the technology matters.
Skip the press release, tell your story
For most people, technology is a mere tool, the details of which are not relevant to their everyday lives. Further, press releases written with breathless language about the latest 2.1 iteration of a software doesn’t impress them either. To make it meaningful, communication about technology has to resonate at a deeper level. It requires good storytelling.
Research studies prove that humans are naturally wired for thinking in narratives. A well-told story is much more interesting and memorable than any pie chart or list of tech specs and features. A good story creates a connection and builds trust. This is why tech companies need to humanize their story – about their entrepreneurial journey, their vision for how the world is changing, the problem their technology is solving and their novel approach to innovation.
Most high-growth tech companies are filled with truly brilliant people who are confident that the work they do reverberates around the world and holds the potential for creating change. Talk to them and ask them to pinpoint the “why” behind their technology to craft a clear, concise and consistent message that resonates with people’s experiences. Tech companies that are entering new markets are defining a space and disrupting the world in a way no other company has done before. It’s essential for any tech PR team to be able to tell their stories in a compelling way.
Finding a tech PR firm that can do these three things well is the key to building credibility and legitimacy and increasing media coverage.
But PR is just one part of an integrated solution. Digital marketing complements strategic PR by focusing on generating customer leads and boosting sales through brand visibility. An integrated PR/marketing campaign delivers a sum far greater than its parts.
To assess the health of your marketing and PR strategies, request a consultation today!