Tech PR and a new frontier

In our modern world, a vast extent of new and innovative technologies is emerging every single day and is revolutionising the way that society functions.

Consider what life during the pandemic would have been like without the means of technology — no online shopping, no working remotely, and no Zoom calls with family and friends. However, hopefully differing to Covid-19, technology will continue to mutate and thrive and so it should come as no great surprise that the value of modern technology PR is soaring.

Tech PR agencies are entrusted with the responsibility of promoting and protecting their clients’ reputations now more than ever. But how does tech PR differ from traditional PR?

The battle of the brands

Because of the widespread development of unprecedented technologies, standing out from the crowd is becoming an increasingly challenging feat.

Whether it be a tiny start-up struggling to gain brand awareness or a tech giant like Apple aiming to boost sales of their latest awaited product, tech companies are evermore relying on PR firms to pave the way for their success.

The tech marketplace is incredibly diverse encompassing numerous sectors such as fintech, medtech and high-tech, to name a few, necessitating specialist knowledge. Simply speaking, tech PR professionals are required to be far more agile as one of their key accountabilities is staying ahead of the ever-changing market trends to help brands differentiate themselves via effective communication.

Bridging the gap between the tech-savvy and the not

The rapid acceleration of complex technology is accompanied by a growing vocabulary of technical jargon and proliferation of acronyms, most of which is completely alien to the average consumer.

Therefore, an equally important aspect of tech PR is the ability to act as a translator between the tech company and their target audience.

In other words, they must be able to streamline and transform the “tech lingo” into accessible and tangible consumer concepts. Failing to do so would result in the brand’s message being lost in translation.

Being on guard

Today, the tech sector is full of potential threats — technologies malfunction, people make mistakes and cybercrime is on the rise. In this unsteady environment, tech companies are often awaiting an ambush of some sort.

For instance, Facebook suffered a pretty major global hiccup just a few weeks ago in which users were subjected to a six-hour blackout amongst the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. If huge corporations can experience reputational disasters, what is stopping the same thing happening to the smaller companies?

It’s safe to say that no tech company should think themselves exempt from needing crisis comms as missteps are inevitable and when they do happen you need to be prepared.

PR professionals, therefore, must be on standby to provide tech companies with a combination of rapid reaction and considered response to mitigate any damage as quickly and effectively as possible.

Crossing the boundary

If you imagine the tech industry to be unchartered territory, then tech PR is the crucial navigator, uniquely equipped with the specialised, necessary knowledge to deeply understand the campaign objectives and shape the narrative according to the appropriate audience.

Despite many consumers eagerly leaping across into the infinite sector of technology, others, typically older generations, are reluctant to abandon the comfort of tradition out of fear of what lies on the other side.

While there are some elements of tech that naturally elicit more fear than others, especially AI (Ai Da the humanoid artist comes to mind), technology only really has the power to scare those who don’t understand it or don’t welcome the changes it brings.

Tech PR is instrumental in aiding people to feel at ease with change. They help consumers and businesses to understand the extraordinary benefits that the tech revolution has to offer and can positively reinforce that the unknown is rarely scarier than our own imaginings.

Always make allies

Although tech PR is directly tailored to serving technology companies, the fundamental requirement of traditional PR remains a constant: building and maintaining excellent relations.

If you’re looking to invest in tech PR, check out the range of services we provide.