Technology

What is Healthtech PR?

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The emerging healthtech industry has increased in recent years due to several factors, including an aging population, increasing demand for personalized care, and the rising cost of healthcare facilities. However, the increasing competition has made it more challenging for healthtech firms to gain the desired attention for their products and services; this is where Healthtech PR can help.

What is Healthtech PR?

Healthtech PR refers to the activities focused on building and maintaining a favorable reputation for emerging technologies in healthcare. More precisely, it increases the visibility and credibility of technological innovations in the healthcare industry among healthcare providers, patients, investors, and media.

Some examples of Health tech PR activities include:

  • Developing communication strategies for business objectives such as attracting funding, acquiring competitive advantages, and creating marketplace trust for new technologies.
  • Creating thought leadership content like blog posts and white papers
  • Handling social media accounts
  • Securing media coverage for new product launches
  • Organizing events and webinars
  • Arranging collaborations with key influencers in the healthcare technology space

What Is The Need for Healthtech PR?

Although PR plays a vital role in the success of all kinds of businesses, it is significantly more crucial for the healthtech industry due to its complex and evolving nature. The challenges below illustrate why PR matters to the healthtech industry so much.

Technical Language in HealthTech

One of the primary jobs of HealthTech PR is to translate technical language in a way the general public and other stakeholders can understand. The healthcare industry is a complex and highly specialized field. It involves various technical terms and concepts specific to the industry. Meeting stakeholders where they are is vital, so using healthtech PR is essential.

Healthtech PR professionals are adept at simplifying the complex medical language used to describe various medical conditions, treatments, and procedures. They can convey the correct meaning to their target audience in clear, concise, and understandable terms.
Remember, your target audience can only trust a healthtech product or service if they fully understand its features, functions, and benefits.

Regulatory Hurdles

 

The healthcare industry is highly regulated; numerous laws and regulations govern the developing, testing, and marketing of healthcare products and services. Such regulatory hurdles can be difficult for healthtech companies to navigate. Plus, they can become a massive barrier to entry for new companies wanting to enter the industry.
Healthtech PR professionals are knowledgeable about the regulatory landscape of the healthcare industry. They can effectively understand and convey a product’s compliance with relevant laws, expediting the approval process and increasing the chances of acceptance by the public.
Conclusively, PR strategies are a great tool to build support for healthtech products and services amongst regulators and the public.

Privacy Concerns

Healthcare companies handle sensitive information about patients. Such data has to be protected to maintain regulatory compliance and patient trust. When developing and implementing new healthtech technologies, these companies must address all privacy concerns to earn the trust of patients and other stakeholders involved.
Healthtech PR strategies can help healthtech firms communicate how their innovations protect patient privacy. If a privacy breach occurs, these strategies also help healthcare firms transparently and effectively share how the incident happened and what steps they take to resolve the issue.

Building Trust

Healthtech firms may need help to build trust among their target audience for several reasons.
Patients often deal with life-changing health conditions, and they need to feel that they can trust the companies providing their care. Healthtech firms must demonstrate that they have the expertise, experience, and resources to provide high-quality care that meets the needs of patients.

The healthcare industry is highly complex. Besides patients, it involves many other stakeholders, like healthcare providers, regulators, insurers, and investors. This complexity makes it challenging for healthtech firms to navigate the industry and establish themselves as credible and trustworthy players.

The healthtech landscape has become significantly crowded, with numerous firms entering. Every firm has to work hard to obtain its target audience’s trust and stay ahead of the curve.
Healthtech PR can help firms build trust with their target audience by providing accurate information, demonstrating thought leadership, and showing a commitment to patient outcomes.

Rapid Innovation

The healthcare industry is evolving rapidly – new technologies and innovations continue to emerge. Rapid innovation makes it critical for healthtech firms to predict and follow recent trends and developments in the industry to promote their products and services effectively.
Healthtech PR strategies involving social media, networking events, and content creation can help firms gain and share quick insights about the latest developments in the industry.
The Core Benefits of Healthtech PR

Increased Brand Awareness

Implementing PR strategies can boost a healthtech firm’s visibility and increase awareness of their technological innovations among their target audience. These strategies focus on driving traffic to a company’s website, enhancing social media engagement, and generating more leads and sales.

Thought leadership Opportunities

Healthtech PR can also help healthtech companies establish themselves as thought leaders. Healthtech PR includes exploring valuable healthtech insights, posting thought leadership content and leading industry events.
Establishing their position as experts in the field allows healthtech firms to build credibility among key stakeholders. Increased credibility makes more people willingly try out your healthtech products or services.

Strong Investor Relations

Healthtech PR can help companies attract investors and build and maintain lucrative relationships. PR professionals in the healthcare industry know how to effectively communicate their vision, strategy, and progress to investors. They can help healthtech firms gather the funding required to grow and succeed through creating social media buzz, posting thought-provoking content on websites, and other techniques.

Reputation Management

Reputation management is one of the most critical functions of PR strategies. It is to promote the firm’s strengths, achievements, and contributions to the healthcare industry. It primarily involves creating a positive image of the healthtech firms via various channels, like social media, content marketing, media relations, etc.
In the event of negative publicity, a strong PR plan can help healthtech firms quickly address the issue, transparently interact with stakeholders, and take appropriate measures to mitigate the effects on the company’s reputation.
Healthtech PR also involves monitoring and analyzing the online presence and media coverage. It helps companies identify incorrect or damaging information that could harm their reputation. Moreover, it allows firms to make informed decisions about their PR strategy and identify opportunities to improve their standing.

Patient Engagement

Healthtech PR allows healthtech companies to build a loyal customer base by engaging with patients meaningfully. A good healthtech PR plan includes techniques like providing patients access to their medical records, creating patient-centric content, and leveraging social media to connect with patients.
It also involves enabling patients to schedule appointments online, building relationships with patient advocacy groups, offering telehealth and remote monitoring services, and providing educational resources to help them better understand their condition and treatment options. These techniques also allow companies to demonstrate their commitment to improving patient outcomes.

Effective Healthtech PR Strategies

Public relations strategies for healthtech companies are essential for building brand awareness, establishing credibility, and engaging with key stakeholders. Here are some PR strategies you can use to promote a healthtech brand.
Convey a Strong Brand Narrative
Healthtech PR helps brands convey their story that effectively explains their mission, values, products, and services. This story becomes a foundational pillar for further marketing efforts, including media pitches, content marketing, and press releases.
Collaborate with Industry Influencers
Collaborating with industry influencers enables healthtech companies to raise their credibility and exposure. Influencers may include patient advocates, industry analysts, healthcare professionals, etc. Such collaborations can lead to increased media coverage, social media exposure, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Create Educational and Thought-Leadership Content
Creating educational content is another PR technique that helps healthtech firms provide value to their target audience. It involves blog posts, white papers, and e-books that highlight the benefits of their technology and provide unique perspectives on industry trends. Firms can share and promote content through various channels, like emails, social media, websites, etc. Executives who take the reins as active spokespersons can often increase credibility for the brand when employing thought leadership tactics.  Executive visibility is crucial for emerging industries and new brands, as public needs to see faces in order for trust to emerge.
Manage Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for healthtech companies to connect with their audience and share their message. They can use social media to share educational content, engage with their audience, and promote the credibility of their brand.
Host Networking Events
Healthtech businesses can also host events to introduce and display their technology as a part of their PR strategy. Some examples of events include webinars, conferences, and networking events. Hosting such events presents an excellent opportunity to educate guests on the benefits of the technology and build relationships with key stakeholders.
Secure Media Coverage
Healthtech companies can also benefit by securing media coverage by pitching stories to relevant media outlets. They can approach industry publications, business publications, and mainstream media to build a strong narrative and tailor pitches to the interests of each media outlet.
Engage with Patient Communities
Healthtech companies can engage with patient communities to understand and anticipate their needs and develop practical solutions. They can do this through social media outreach, surveys, and patient focus groups.

Why Outsource Healthtech PR?

While healthtech firms may be able to handle some aspects of their PR themselves, there are several reasons hiring a PR agency can be beneficial.
PR Agencies Have Both Expertise and Experience
PR agencies are teams of professionals specializing in public relations with years of experience dealing with various industries. They deeply understand the media landscape and know how to build and execute successful PR campaigns.
Healthtech is a fast-paced industry, and you need a PR agency that can adapt to changing circumstances and respond quickly to emerging opportunities. When hiring a PR agency, look for one with a proven record of success in working with healthtech companies. Ensure they know the regulatory environment and vital healthcare industry stakeholders.
They Have an Extensive Network
PR agencies working with healthtech companies have strong connections with prime media outlets, influencers, and industry experts. They can help healthtech firms build relationships with the right people, opening doors that might be difficult for that firm to access otherwise. They can also secure media coverage to build a brand and drive business results.
They Offer An Objective, Unbiased Perspective
PR agencies can objectively evaluate a healthtech firm’s messaging and branding. They can help companies identify strengths and weaknesses and create a PR strategy that aligns with their goals.
They Save Time and Resources
Healthtech firms may need more time or resources for a comprehensive PR campaign. Hiring a PR agency allows them to focus on their core business activities while the agency handles their PR efforts.
They Help You Manage Crisis Effectively
In a crisis, a PR agency can provide guidance and support to help manage the situation. They have experience handling crises and can help healthtech firms navigate difficult situations with their reputation intact.
PR Agencies Provide Strategic Guidance
A good healthtech PR agency can provide strategic guidance to help you develop a comprehensive PR plan that perfectly fits your business objectives and is creative enough to stand out in a crowded industry. Look for an agency that has successfully captured the attention of a similar target audience in the past.
Metrics-Driven Approach
A good healthtech PR agency prioritizes driving and delivering fruitful results that align with your business goals. Look for an agency with a strong track record of delivering ROI for its clients.
In Conclusion
Effective PR strategies are essential for healthtech firms to succeed in today’s competitive market. By building solid relationships with key stakeholders, sharing compelling stories about their products and services, and leveraging the power of social media and digital marketing, healthtech firms can build a strong brand and reputation that will help them attract customers, investors, and talent.
However, handling public relations on top of other crucial tasks involved in a healthtech business can be overwhelming. An experienced healthtech PR agency can help healthtech firms make a real difference in the lives of patients and healthcare providers, driving innovation and growth in the industry without any hassle.

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What Makes a Great Tech Story Today

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Tech PR needs to be reinvented. Telling a great tech story today differs from what it used to be.

For the past 15 years, tech has been leading much of the conversation, so with a few press releases and a TED Talk, an upcoming and coming CEO could set the agenda. Zuck set the “let’s make an interconnected world” agenda. Steve Jobs set the “intuitive design” conversation. And while there is plenty more innovation headed our way – tech itself is no longer the story.

Emerging tech companies need to connect to the conversations their community is having or going to have in an enormous way. Why?

Today’s reporters need stories that capture the moment, not navel-gaze into the future. 90% of tech writers are curious about backend technology, but won’t write about it. Most outlets only have one tech reporter, that poor person receives over 500 pitches per day and an uncomfortable number of them are still using buzz words like “innovative”, “disruptive”, and the worst of them all, “unique.” These words now cause journalists to glaze over because they’re so overused and increasingly unbelievable. The question comes down to “WHY?”

 

So if Tech Itself is No Longer the Story…What Is?

Technology companies need to tell stories about how they’re connecting to the stories consumers are watching. Great tech stories often start with core values and it isn’t just consumers who want to know more about how you’re solving the world’s actual problems, it’s investors too – 88% of institutional investors are evaluating ESG (environmental, social, governance) with the same scrutiny they give operations and finance.

Let’s look at what people are searching for on Google:

emerging tech trends

2023 Emerging Tech Trends

How to Tell a Tech Story today

2021 Emerging Topics

Look how emerging tech doesn’t even register compared to climate change and racism. There are far more reporters covering these emerging trends than the tech itself. Tying your tech story into the zeitgeist, that’s where tech companies become indelible.

Here at Avaans, we write a lot about purpose, what it is and why it’s important to fast-growing companies. Even though we are a boutique firm, we have guiding principles as well.

That’s because not only does a clear purpose give the company and the brand extra internal fortitude, but it allows consumers to connect with your storytelling on a deeper level.

Regardless of stage of growth, having purpose is the path to longevity and a connected customer base. It’s also a great launching pad for purpose-driven PR.

Digging deep to find these stories may take some time and candor about corporate culture – but these are the stories that stick. These are the stories that create memorable brands. You can’t start telling this story too early.

 

What Makes a Great Tech Story Today?

Every story needs to be:
Relevant
Inevitable
Believable
Simple

As you look at these components, you may think about how your technology fits into these buckets; resist that urge for a moment.

The first two are the lowest hanging fruit, the last two can take years. Take, for example, Salesforce. When they wanted to grow, they made a simple but audacious claim: the end of software. Establishing relevance and the inevitability of tomorrow’s cloud-based world were the simple parts. Notice how they made that claim about the user, the client, not themselves, and it was simple. The stories about how this changes business and the world are immeasurable. But, Caryn Marooney who worked with Salesforce during those early days says “it still took us years to establish true believability,”.

Set your expectations accordingly. Expect to get two to three of those messages across in the early stages. As you grow, as you show more credibility, and as trust between your company and the media increases, “Believeable” will come. Trust isn’t something manufactured in a boardroom, trust is earned.

Today, Salesforce continues to tell stories relevant to their customers and the media that aren’t about technology. Salesforce recently claimed that the “Salesforce economy will create 9.3 million jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues.” The white paper is chock full of bite-sized data that an entire story can be built around the new economy, what this means in today’s labor shortage, the threads are endless and the study gives legs to talking points that can last a year.

 

The Case for Tech Storytelling Over Trade Shows

Let’s be clear – we’re big fans of tech tradeshows and conferences. Many a product has gotten media from its standout strategies at CES for example. But the coverage around CES, like any tradeshow, is diluted and noisy. Reporters at conferences are looking for clickable headlines: they want big dollars, ticker symbols, known brands.  At tech trade shows you need to stand out with remarkable, word-of-mouth activations, to give extra lift to your story – or you’ll probably share the story with 1 or 2 competitors. Sure, a trade show can give you a lift, and it can be an excellent place to connect with the media – but you simply can not rely on a trade show to do all the heavy lifting. We so often see companies make a trade show their launch or the key message for an inordinate amount of time. The fact is, trade shows give a temporary boost, but great tech storytelling goes on for decades. 

Here’s more good news: the more simple your key message, the longer your tech storytelling will last. Counter-intuitively, simple messages last longer and provide more room for interpretation.

 

A colleague of mine once asked “Why does everyone want to go viral (with their content), I want to go cancer with my content, I want it to last a long time and fight to stay,” Tech storytelling is the same, tapping into current media trends and the mindset of the customer. Core values, Purpose, a solid mission, and knowing your next 3 steps will ensure your tech story starts out great. 

If you’re looking for a tech PR agency that goes the distance with you to find the great tech stories of today and tomorrow, then drop us a note, we’d love to dig deep with you too.

 

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6 Ways PR Helped Hypergrowth Healthtech Brands Thrive

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Ever since the pandemic, there has been a new emphasis on the emerging industry of telehealth, many of which are on the pre-IPO track. And while telehealth VC investment is expected to stay flat in 2023, the industry received an exciting $29.1 billion in funding in 2021, mostly for consumer tech services and apps, but B2B is also on solid footing. Regardless of funding levels, how has healthtech PR helped hypergrowth brands thrive through the disruptive business environment?

 

Hims/Hers HealthTech and Consumer Goods Maximizes Growth with PR

  • $233 million raised
  • First day of trading: Jan. 21, 2021
  • SPAC proceeds: $280 million
  • SPAC valuation: $1.6 billion, according to Forbes

Hims/Hers operates two websites offering medical services specific to men (Hims) and women (Hers). To catch the attention of VCs and to eventually go public in 2021,  healthtech PR helped hypergrowth tech brand Hims/Hers maximize their most opportune moments. With a total funding amount of $233 million and a successful SPAC IPO, Hims/Hers PR was strategic and purpose-driven, which helped it create consumer trust and make them a media darling at the right time.

Authentic Purpose-Driven PR for HealthTech

In 2021, Hims/Hers followed AirBnB in offering services to displaced Afghan refugees in the wake of the U.S. military’s sudden departure from Afghanistan. Not only did this create trust for their customers, many of whom expect brands to be socially impactful, but they also leveraged tech-based media such as TechCrunch to report the news and capture investors’ imaginations. It may have caught the attention of Walgreens, who missed the chance to contribute when their competitor, Walmart beat them to the punch because three months later, Walgreens started carrying the Hims & Hers personal care products in-store and online.

Targeting Early Adopters with Content

Although it went dark in 2021, Hims/Hers used Medium to own their story, create interest in the early-adopter crowd, and help them navigate the choppy consumer waters during the pandemic. Hims/Hers used Medium to make announcements, and they also hosted Q&As with medical professionals over topics that showed their consumers they understood them and their most personal medical problems.

 

Healthtech Kiira Health Leverages Healthcare PR at Opportune Moments

  • $4 million raised
  • Named one of the most promising startups in 2021 by VCs in Business Insider

Kiira is a healthtech startup that provides an online health clinic to college-aged women with an inclusive and culture-centered approach. The platform provided 24/7 365 access to trusted health experts, including primary care providers, ObGyn, nurse practitioners, and mental health experts. When the pandemic hit, many college-aged women found themselves without access to healthcare. This an especially acute issue because without “adequate resources and guidance, students are at risk for high rates of STDs on campus, unintended pregnancies, adolescent maternal deaths, and other adverse events.” according to CEO and cofounder Crystal Evuleocha, so she teamed up Dr. Candice Fraser, MD FACOG to solve the issue for millions of young women.

Using the Media to Reach Your Target Community

Both co-founders are open about their own experiences with a lack of access to care or questions about how to access care and the dangerous consequences. By leveraging personal stories that speak directly to the organization’s community, the co-founders have shown their audiences that they truly understand them, as they did in Forbes and Essence in 2021.

Moreover, when the founders speak to their community, they stay on message. They share the same information that inspired them to start Kiira Health and they underscore the most pressing issues for young women.

Using Press Releases For Corporate History

Should you issue a press release, or shouldn’t you? One time it’s crystal clear that you should, when there is a big corporate moment that will build your brand credibility with press and/or consumers, as Kiira Health did when it announced its first flagship location in Los Angeles. While press releases aren’t usually the source of media coverage by themselves, it likely didn’t hurt when Crunchbase included them in a story about health and wellness startups. This kind of press release acts a flagpole in the sand for future credibility building for both VC and media.

 

Folx Health Using PR to Elevate Understanding

  • $59 million raised
  • #28 on Fast Company’s list of World’s Most Innovative Companies 2023

Taking Control of their Founding Story

Folx Health is a healthtech platform that provides healthcare services tailored to the LGBTQIA+ community, starting at $59/month. In May 2020, Folx founder A.G. Breitenstein took to Medium to tell how Folx came to be. Although this Medium post is their only Medium post, it shows a particular media savvy. In December that year Folx’s $4.4 million funding led to coverage on Mashable, Built in Boston, and Crunchbase. The Medium post is so important because it is an early flag in the sand about the founding story of the then little-known startup Folx, which is important when a big media announcement hits and suddenly there is a lot of press and a lot of opportunities for the founding story to be misunderstood or misrepresented.

PR to Take a Stand

On the heels of its $30 million raise in October 2022, Folx appears to take control of its narrative again. This time, it does so as a fierce source of information about healthcare’s inadequacy for the queer community. Time after time, Folx uses an intelligent combination of data and storytelling to articulate Folx’s purpose and need to a broader audience. And this time, Folx CEO is the spokesperson for thier entire community: The American healthcare system, “at best, wasn’t built for us. And actually, more often than not, it’s openly discriminatory,” says Liana Douillet-Guzmán, of the LGBTQ community. Folx isn’t simply leveraging purpose-driven PR, they are CULTURALLY purpose-driven, making their PR story all the more attractive.

 

 

All of these hypergrowth healthtech brands provide examples of PR in healthcare brands, but these examples can also be useful for all startups in any phase of growth. Taking ownership of PR in the earliest stages can pay remarkable dividends in the early development and later hypergrowth stages. During times of volatility, PR can be the shining beacon into the future and light the path for future growth, even with past coverage.

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3 Lessons Cannabis Tech Can Learn From Silicon Valley Failures

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Some have said that the fastest-growing sector in cannabis is cannabis technology. While cannabis technology companies often serve very specific regulatory needs and enter the marketplace in a tech-mature world (as opposed to those during the initial dot-com era), cannabis tech companies with hyper-growth ambitions can learn from the tech company failures of the past.

Think Ahead, But Not Too Far

Many emerging industry companies have gone bust because they were simply too progressive. From the dot-com era, WebVan and Kozmo were two delivery companies with considerable capital that both went bust, only to see companies like Amazon eventually optimize the services they both introduced. Not every first mover gets first-mover advantage. There’s a lot to be said for meeting the customer or client where they’re at.

But moving people ahead is completely possible. Cannabis tech companies can think through the future of their business by planning past a regulatory world and creating brand loyalty well before any necessary pivots.

Setting an agenda to change the narrative and create demand is a long-term play, but consumers DO change behaviors and in the wake of COVID, there is still an opportunity to maximize the massive mind-shift happening. Cannabis itself is an outstanding example of changing the narrative. In fact, changing the narrative is an excellent competitive strategy and a way to differentiate yourself.

How Cannabis Tech Can Prepare for Bigger and Better Funded

As cannabis becomes a bigger part of the economy in more states, there will be more entrances into the marketplace.

Cannabis tech only has to look at what happened to the CBD space after the Farm Act passed to see a more recent cannabis example of this. From a tech perspective, a good example of this is the Pebble Smart Watch, which raised $10.3 million on Kickstarter (the most successful Kickstarter ever at the time). But of course, they struggled to compete with competitors like Apple Watch.

B2B cannabis tech companies are vulnerable to this as Silicon Valley continues to double down on cannabis tech from companies and founders with no experience in cannabis, but more funding. Dutchie is an example of this. Dutchie’s model is less cannabis and more tech as they model their services to something more akin to GrubHub. Silicon Valley likes companies that reinvent proven scale models.

Cannabis tech companies, whether they serve B2B or B2C should leverage both advertising and PR, together to secure market share AND trust simultaneously. Align your cannabis advertising and PR campaigns and messaging. Don’t isolate your advertising data from PR. Together they can be stronger. Branding dominance and brand value is the way to secure marketplace valuation; had Pebble done that, they would have stood a better chance of survival or at the very least gotten closer to the original offer of $740 million (which they got in 2015), as opposed to the sell to Fitbit for less than $40 million in 2016.

Cannabis technology companies should also be prepared to tell stories that aren’t technology-oriented. Whether those be founder stories, or purpose, there is also more to talk about, so prepare yourself and get those corporate stories in place.

And when there are lulls in cannabis tech VC funding, that’s a great time to prepare for the future and focus your energies on the most important initiatives to help you stand out when the funding cycle returns.

Watch Consumer Tech Trends

Media consumption on the biggest social media platforms may well have peaked already. 2021 was the first year Facebook reported a decline in users. So what’s happening to those consumers? They certainly haven’t left the internet, they’ve simply shifted platforms.

Consumer communication with a cannabis niche or cannabis advertising platforms can learn so many lessons from the failures of social media platforms, in particular Facebook. These platforms need to evaluable the trust equation and invest in it immediately. Whether the customer is B2B or B2C, there is a broader techlash going on.

Leveraging the trust of third-party media outlets is imperative now. And unlike plant-touching brands, cannabis tech companies have a wide-open playing field about the media outlets who will write about them. We always say that “trust is an inside out job,” and that means PR can only clean up so much if you’re abusing trust; if you’re the Theanos of cannabis tech, PR won’t be your biggest spend.

 

Cannabis tech is sure to be a competitive and thriving sector with massive ups and downs, but those who reach hyper-growth will have taken a page out of the successes and failures of past Silicon Valley darlings.  Check out our PR Case Studies and Results for more ideas about how to stand out in cannabis tech.

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5 Often Untapped Strategies of Early Adopter Marketing

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Ah, the early adopter. Their the people who grab on to things first, they start trends and they are influencers in their respective communities.

Whether you’re a startup, a movement or a personality, you need these early adopters. Marketing to early adopters can be slippery though, what they grab on to is almost entirely motivationally based. Toss out your traditional “Three P’s” of marketing if you want to capture this crowd, you’re going to need to think through what makes them tick.

Whether you’re building a product or starting a movement, keep your early adopters in mind. Strategies of early adopter marketing require a deep understanding of their motiviations.

Early Adopters Value Intellectual Stimulation

It doesn’t matter what your target market is, a certain segment of them are early adopters and early adopters like to be challenged and stimulated.  Puzzles and quizzes are intriguing to these people, but they get bored easily, so make sure the content matches the intelligence level.

Don’t mistake this to assume that every puzzle or quiz is intriguing to early adopters. They aren’t necessarily the “Buzzfeed” quiz takers. They like to learn and be challenged but they aren’t interested in dumbed down versions of anything. By the time something has caught mass adoption, early adopters have either “been there/done that” or are already deeply engaged in using the product.

Early Adopters Have High “FOMO.”

Because they value their role as early adopters, they never want to be “out of the loop” or miss something that’s particularly cool.

Tap into that “Fear of Missing Out” during the earliest stages. Give them ways to be cool to their community by letting them be the gateway to a broader audience and you’ll be tapping into their desires to be seen as an early adopter.

Google generally does this really well when it launches products. It does an initial invitation to known early adopters and gets everyone else clamoring to be part of it in the first phase and SEEN as an early adopter. Google definitely has marketing to early adopters down.

Early Adopters Are Attracted to Art, Emotion and Adventure

Perhaps more than any other target market, early adopters are pulled in by emotion, art and adventure.

This is one reason why Apple’s early emphasis on design caught on with early adopters, they loved the elegance of the product and interface, the art of the experience.

Remember, art, emotion and adventure can happen online and offline. This is a place where you can really get creative and have some fun. It’s also easy to identify these people based on where they go because events like TED and TEDX inherently draw early adopter personality types.

Because of this constant searching early adopters have, curiosity is a primary trigger for action. Tripping the curiosity trigger requires some thought because early adopters aren’t generally suckers for the usual mass-marketing techniques; they’re a little more sophisticated than that. You’re going to really have to think of something that genuinely makes them curious.

The “Why” Seriously Matters

Early adopters are very observant they generally see through tactics and need a reason to be inspired.  Your marketing message to early adopters needs to be centered around something inspiring.

Instead of focusing on product features, tap into the deep intellectual and emotional reservoir of early adopters and give some insight to them about why this product or movement matters. You’ll likely need to do some message testing here, but it will be worth it once you hit on the “why” that matters most.

Don’t Confuse Early Adopters for Extroverts

It’s easy to lump the two together, but research shows that messaging that targets extroverts actually repels early adopters. Early adopters like intrigue and creativity, they aren’t particularly attracted to social attention in a public way. This doesn’t mean they aren’t on social media, it just means that their triggers are different. They like to have their role as early adopters confirmed, but they also like to be the messenger of that delivery.

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The Most Notable Consumer Tech PR Trends for 2022

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The consumer tech PR trends to watch for 2022 are exciting and combine other macro trends impacting emerging brands’ PR this year. This year, for the first time in two years, consumer tech companies gathered to show off their latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Healthtech is helping consumers avoid using their confusing insurance all together.

Perhaps it was the pent-up demand, perhaps it was the changes to our lives since the pandemic started, perhaps it was just that technology is ramping up faster than ever before, but the consumer tech PR trends to watch for 2022 are exciting.

Consumer Robots for Real

Robots, once the domain of government-grade applications only are becoming a reality in our homes. Consumer robots for everything from home tasks and chores like pool cleaning and vacuuming, STEM education for kids, to emotional support pets that are easily cared for, consumer robots are finally here.

While the Jetson age doesn’t look quite the way we thought it would, in some ways it’s better because many of these consumer robots are utilizing AI to do their jobs more efficiently.  This combination of robots and AI means robots will better integrate into our daily lives. But the physical world isn’t the only place where we will interact with robots.

Consumers will start interacting with robots more frequently as drones or uncrewed vehicles make their way onto our sidewalks for delivery of everything from food to medical prescriptions. Robots will soon be delivering food in restaurants and even mixing your drink at the bar.

While journalists are deeply familiar with some robots, AI-driven demonstrations are sure to catch the eye of media outlets throughout 2022.

The Metaverse

No consumer tech trends piece would be complete without mention of the Metaverse. While the depth of the cultural catalyst of the metaverse is yet to be written, we know the future will include a digital and virtual world that’s more interactive than the social media world we know no.

But what’s new, is the way robots will bridge the gap between our physical world and our digital world, for example, what Euisun Chung of Hyundai Motor Group is calling “metamobility” where robots will perform tasks for people who aren’t physically there.

Naturally, the expansion of the metaverse will be dependent on processing power and affordable hardware, but if CES 2022 is any indication, it won’t be long before those two items catch up to the idea of the Metaverse.

With the new .metaverse domain name, major consumer brands like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and P&G are already staking out their metaverse presence.

Some estimates have the metaverse marketplace growing to $800 trillion. While that seems pretty extreme, between physical products and blockchain technologies and non-fungible tokens, the metaverse could indeed be an entirely new consumer tech economy.

Consumer Tech Trends Turn to Mental Health

According to the Pew Research Center, about one-fifth of adults are experiencing high levels of psychological distress. From emotional support wearables to digital therapeutics, tech is turning to home health and mental health for the latest innovations. Some wearables are predicting stress, others are helping address stress and anxiety. From soothing sounds to induce deep relaxation to mobile games that reduce stress, wearables are becoming more communicative, predictive, and meditative.

Also new is the connectivity to our medical professionals along with reducing costs for delivery of healthcare that democratizes access.

Anyone who has suffered from chronic sleeplessness can attest to sleep’s importance on mental health. Smart mattresses to the rescue. From self-adjusting mattresses that prevent snoring to self-regulating temperature mattresses, tech has taken over your sleep cycle, and given consumers a new way to improve mental and physical help.

Consumer Tech and Purpose-Driven Initiatives

Consumer tech PR will increasingly include stories about social, cultural, or environmental impact.

“Technology-driven by purpose will change the world,” says Deborah Wahl, Global CMO for GM. Indeed, purpose-driven initiatives are as critical to consumer tech brands as they are to any other consumer product.

Indeed, one of the biggest consumer technology trends is how cars will adapt to the environmental demands of the future.

Sustainability and tech are inextricably connected. From solar-powered batteries for cars and homes, to the reduction of single-use plastics, saving the world is on the mind of consumers, and technologists alike. Consumer technology products, a huge contributor to plastic waste, will soon be comprised of more recycled ocean-bound plastics.

Additional innovations will save water and electricity through newly developed systems that will be increasingly popular. Innovations that save water by cleaning, disinfecting, and drying drinking glasses in 10 seconds with .6 ounces of water will empower consumers to take better control of their water usage.

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