The term PR is often bandied about to describe celebrity stunts and brand launches that capture the public’s attention. Snoop Dogg’s decision to ‘give up the smoke’ was the latest such instance, with the news plastered across major news outlets and sending shockwaves across his fanbase (it turned out it was to promote a smokeless fire pit).
But despite the term’s prevalence, it can be common for people not to know exactly what PR is or how it can help companies meet their objectives, especially in the B2B technology PR space.
So, here we answer a few FAQs.
What is PR?
PR, aka public relations, is about building relationships and generating positive awareness for a company or person by strategically communicating with the public, media and other businesses. This is your public image.
While it mainly produces positive content to build and maintain this image, PR can also be used to manage crises and enact damage control.
As business and technology evolves, the scope of PR is growing ever wider and becoming increasingly digital. Services can also include social media, SEO optimisation (see later), lead generation, events and podcasts.
What is B2B tech PR?
B2B tech PR generates awareness of one tech business to other businesses or potential partners/customers in that company’s sector and wider/related sectors.
What is a PR agency?
A PR agency, like ourselves, is an outsourced resource used to carry out a company’s PR needs and services. Rather than an in-house PR function, which usually comprises one or two people, a PR agency allows you to work with a whole team of experts and creatives.
This team is overseen by agency directors, with smaller teams formed by account managers and executives and further support provided by roles such as copywriters, content creators and consultants (inhouse or freelance).
What is ‘Challenger PR’?
Our clients are often rapidly growing technology brands and scaleups looking to break into a market and progress quickly. These are what we call challenger brands. Through our own mode of ‘Challenger PR’, we help our clients differentiate from competitors and stand out in crowded markets, or even create a category for themselves.
If you want to learn more about various ‘what is a PR…?’ questions, read our blog here.
How do PR teams work with B2B technology brands?
A PR team is set up to act as an extension to your internal team(s) and will work with you to promote business news, develop a campaign in line with business objectives, and create content on the news agenda.
Your PR strategy could just be used to place news with the media, write articles and secure comment and interview opportunities. Or a PR campaign can be built up using an array of further channels like podcasts, social media, events, stunts, blogs and website content.
How does marketing differ from PR?
There is of course much overlap between the two – both are working towards promoting campaigns as part of business goals. But in a nutshell, marketing looks to generate direct sales, often through paid opportunities; PR carries out a wider role of enhancing brand awareness and reputation. (See blog below for more info/examples).
How do I decide if I need PR?
You could have a really great idea, product and business culture but are stuck on how to tell your story and get yourself out there. PR supports growth, but it is also about creating a consistent identity and public profile that assists all areas of the business and its leadership. This helps to instil trust in the company and elevate its position in its sector.
If you’re looking to scale, then PR is definitely worth exploring as a viable option. It can be one of the most cost-effective and impactful ways of building growth and relationships and enhancing reputation – and an agency can give you a team of PR experts for the same price as one employee (or less).
How does PR help me?
As awareness happens through so many channels, measuring PR’s impact can come down to observing overall business growth, brand reputation and relationships with various publications. Despite this, an eye-grabbing news story, article or stunt could spark an immediate upturn in inbound leads, media requests, social media followers and website traction.
The more your image grows and the better oiled your PR machine is, the more traction you are likely to receive and the easier you can manage any press enquiries.
If you want to learn more about various ‘how does PR…?’ questions, check out our blog here.
What sectors do you work with?
We work with a whole range of sectors in the B2B technology space. These include AI, cyber, healthtech, telecoms, transport, travel, finance, accounting, agriculture, climate, retail, ecommerce, HR, recruitment, marketing…
Basically, anything and everything in tech.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is the process of increasing organic website traffic and visibility on search engines like Google. Good SEO can come from engaging website content, keyword optimisation, and social media posts. There’s an art to SEO.
Does PR include producing industry events and entering awards?
For us, absolutely. Depending on what you are looking to achieve, events can be agreed as part of your package and award submissions written up on your behalf.
If you have any more questions you would like to ask or are looking to kickstart your tech PR strategy, feel free to get in touch and we’d be happy to help.
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