After 2024’s reality check, here’s to 2025, the year of efficiency

There is no doubt this year in tech has been bleak. Continual cuts and redundancies are a mile away from the heady investment of 2022. And we all know the story, the first thing to go (ahead or alongside headcount) is marketing and PR.

We recently attended the ScaleUp Group event on scaling tech businesses in this environment, where there were fascinating insights to the challenges faced at the investor level. Founder John O’Connell shared how “some funds see 500-1,000 pitches per year and may only invest in 2-3”, with investors learning the lessons of 2021/22 and only interested in capital-efficient companies.

As the effects of these financial difficulties trickle down, like most, I am sure you have the challenge of growing your revenue and promoting your brand, but with a smaller marketing budget and team? It may feel like you’ve been set an impossible task, but actually, perhaps you haven’t. You need to be out there with, if not above, the competition – and the answer lies in a creative approach to getting more for less from your team and resources.

To crack this contradictory challenge in 2025, here are six myths that need busting first.

1/ I need budget to meet a minimum retainer

We often have prospects coming to us citing minimal retainers stated by other agencies. Don’t assume you need a minimal budget to look for support – you just need to know what your budget is so external resources can be factored against it. We don’t have a minimum retainer, but we do have transparent deliverables, often doing more to support our clients than expected. 

When it comes to your invoices, expenses should not come with a markup – I never really understood why some companies charge an additional 10-20% to book a train journey. You should only be billed for the goods and services you receive.

2/ If I pay less I won’t get senior time

The old problem of not getting the senior hitters who pitch apparently still exists. It definitely shouldn’t be the case if you’re working with a smaller agency. In our case, we only have a team with a minimum of four years’ experience. The senior team should also actively care about your business and how successful it is – customer success should simply be part of their company ethos. 

3/ B2B PR doesn’t generate leads

If your PR engine is running smoothly, with all channels amplifying your story and why you exist, you should absolutely expect to pick up interest from customers and prospects. It’s the lead objective of the majority of our clients, especially in the current economically challenging times. 

Whilst we would say that, here’s what eflow Global’s head of global marketing, Sam Roberts, said this month: “We’ve seen several spikes in MQLs in line with CommsCo’s news stories going live. For one campaign, we achieved 6 MQLs within a week of the news being published.”

4/ AI isn’t a part of my PR strategy

Of course the developments in AI should feed through to marketing and PR efficiencies. It’s a fact that, since 2022, we can now research faster – albeit with the caveats of human experience, accuracy, creativity and insight. But the tools that now exist are accelerators for what we do. We deliver ‘more for less PR’ as a result of our efficient process, a mix of senior human experience with back-office support provided by AI. 

5/ I need a content/SEO agency and a B2B tech PR agency

Many of our clients come to us with existing content/SEO agencies that produce blog copy and articles monthly with the aim of driving traffic. If you’re considering PR, why not merge the two? The agency should be able to have a good understanding of your SEO strategy and drive organic traffic through external article placement, plus create website blogs. Considering joining up your budget also helps with message consistency and seeing if you might get more for less with one external agency.

6/ I need a minimum 6-month contract 

While PR is part of a momentum-building exercise, you also have an option to test-drive if it works for you. You might consider a 3-month project first, leading to an ongoing commitment when you see it delivers. It’s by far the most efficient and successful way for the relationship to flourish too. If you have a very fixed idea of what you need – perhaps an investment or a customer story – you might even be able to agree on a 6-week framework to deliver results against this. It’s all very doable with a flexible approach where there is a clear methodology for success.

If this sounds like a fresh and needed new approach at a time your ambition is accelerating beyond your budget,  do reach out – our clients all testify to the above too.