Technology PR: The essential skills required
The technology PR sector is an exciting place to be as COVID-19 accelerates the pace of digital transformation. A McKinsey article recently expressed:
“The COVID-19 crisis seemingly provides a sudden glimpse into a future world, one in which digital has become central to every interaction, forcing both organizations and individuals further up the adoption curve almost overnight.”
At GingerMay – a specialist B2B technology PR agency – our skills are being put to the test as demand for tech tools increases and we execute imaginative PR campaigns to ensure our clients’ platforms and solutions are the ones businesses intuitively turn to. Our team has a wide range of PR experience, and backgrounds spanning multiple industries, but there are three essential skills needed to succeed in technology PR specifically: creativity, diligence, and agility.
Creativity in storytelling
People coming from other areas of the industry such as B2C may not know what to expect with technology PR, but it provides plenty of scope for creativity. Technology is designed to have a real-world impact and underpins every aspect of life, so there is always an original and engaging story to tell with PR campaigns. We need to consider how platforms and solutions fit into a variety of sectors, and the real-world challenges they can solve, and then come up with inventive and engaging ways to bring that story to different audiences.
As one of our Senior Account Managers, Naomi, explains:
“I was surprised at how creative you could be in B2B tech, when I first started in the sector. Coming from a luxury travel agency I was used to being very descriptive in anything I wrote, but the opportunities for placements were set, with the same targets contacted in the same ways every time there was news to share. In the tech sector however, there is a lot more scope to suggest alternative ideas and formats, and create new strategies to suit a variety of targets.
Sometimes sell in can be challenging in B2B tech. There is greater need to outline the relevance and value of a topic for a journalist’s audience, as well as how it fits into the wider context of what they are writing – not a problem you have when selling in a new hotel deal. This is part of what drives creativity in the tech space though, and makes it more interesting.”
Diligence in research
One thing anyone working in technology PR needs to be prepared for is a great deal of research. It’s not enough simply to have a general idea of what a client’s solution or platform can do, we need to understand the specifics to identify what sets them apart from other tools in the market. At GingerMay we dedicate plenty of time to in-depth research to ensure we are fully immersed in each client’s technology, and we relish the opportunity to continually expand our industry knowledge in the process.
As well as gaining a deep and precise understanding of clients’ technologies, we need to be aware of their different use cases, how they fit into wider tech ecosystems, and which other solutions they could potentially be integrated with. Gaining the right level of understanding often involves getting to grips with industry jargon and acronyms, which are continually evolving. In technology PR we never stop expanding our knowledge of different sectors, and we must be able to pick up new concepts quickly.
Once we fully understand a client’s products or services, we need to be able to talk about them to a variety of target audiences, pitching our communications at the right levels of knowledge and experience for the publication or media outlet. With an adtech solution, for instance, we may be talking to marketers or publishers who have a great deal of industry knowledge but potentially less technical expertise and just want to know how the platform will improve their businesses. On the other hand we may be talking to technology companies who already have in-depth understanding and are happy to delve into the technicalities of systems integration.
Agility to adapt quickly
Technology is a fast-paced environment, and a technology PR agency needs to stay one step ahead at all times. A single development can alter the course of the industry narrative overnight, and PR strategies need to be adapted quickly to respond to these changes and drive the conversation in a positive direction, positioning clients as strong thought leaders.
Sometimes changes, such as the introduction of data privacy laws, impact the entire sector, while other developments only affect small pockets of the industry. In some cases events can be anticipated and planned for, while in others they are totally unexpected, but either way we need to be agile to ensure technology PR strategies are timely and relevant in a rapidly evolving sector.
To find out more about how the GingerMay team can use their skills to meet your technology PR needs, please contact us at hello@teamgingermay.wpstagecoach.com