Tag Archive for: green energy startups

What is Tech PR?

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PR for tech companies is a specialty in many subspecialties, from FinTech to GreenTech to PR for AI companies and more. What makes tech PR distinct is its ability to translate complex technology into clear, compelling narratives for a wide range of audiences: venture capitalists, tech media, B2B buyers, analysts, and even non-technical stakeholders. This becomes even more essential when a company is truly disruptive and requires context the market doesn’t yet have.

So what makes B2B tech PR unique compared to other forms of PR? And why are there so many agencies specializing in B2B tech? It comes down to one core truth: the right tech PR firm quickly understands your place in the media ecosystem and knows how to build stories around it. You don’t need someone to teach you your own tech—but you do need a firm that can make your technology easy to understand for every audience.

Below is what to know when hiring the best B2B tech PR partner for your company.

 

Pricing and Budgeting for B2B Tech PR

If you’re researching PR firms, the process can feel overwhelming. One of the first questions companies ask is:
How much should we spend on a B2B tech PR budget?

The answer depends on your goals and your stage:

A helpful rule of thumb:

The higher the stakes, the higher the budget should be.

Of course, the budget is what the budget is, so hire the best of the best at whatever your budget is. If your budget is small, consider a freelancer. If your budget is national, avoid stretching for a global agency. Being a priority client, rather than a small fish in a giant tank, always works in your favor.

The B2B Tech PR Strategy

Defining the strategy will be one of the most critical aspects of hiring an agency. Be careful not to get swept up in promises of your name in headlines on the Wall Street Journal front page. Above all, understand how a tech PR firm approaches tech PR strategy:

A good tech PR strategy begins with identifying your assets, not just differentiators. Assets are story elements journalists actually care about, such as:

  • A compelling founder story
  • Strong data or proprietary insights
  • Innovation with real-world impact
  • Customer outcomes or industry proof points

A well-spoken media-trained CEO is an asset, but having a technologist CEO may not be a PR asset, but it may be a product asset. Cool technology MAY be an asset, or it may not be an asset; a good tech PR firm will help you identify your assets. Your PR agency also be should be able to help you identify key messages for various stakeholders and understand how to discuss and frame each key message for each audience as part of your tech PR strategy.

Measuring PR Success and ROI

How should you measure PR? Well, there are two divergent thoughts on this. First, measure it strictly through what your PR firm can directly control. That could be as simple as the number of articles, the total reach, or outputs like ghostwritten contributions. These are very simplistic tactical measurements, and your PR will almost certainly measure them because it’s the easiest for them to estimate based on their internal tools. You can and should track those, but the problem with those is they don’t speak very specifically to a tech company’s goals, do they?

To get the most out of your PR ROI, take the time to dig into your goals with your tech PR firm and give them access to your internal resources, which will help them think more strategically. For example, your digital PR firm will need access to your Google Analytics; you shouldn’t cringe at this if you’re asking for goals like web traffic and lead quality, but PR for tech firms is more than inbound links, ultimately, the goal is something like venture funding, private equity PR, or an IPO, and it’s important to measure those milestones as well.

Whether digital PR to increase web traffic or CEO authority building for venture capital, the WHY behind the KPIs is as important as the KPIs themselves. PR measurements for tech companies should align with the tech company’s stage of growth, budget, and short and long-term goals. For example, the goal for a fresh-faced startup might be to get an A-series, in which case the key metrics will be very much around awareness (including reach, web traffic, and sales closing time), which differs from a pre-IPO startup with a series D under its belt who might need PR to help them recruit premier talent, or premier clients where the KPIs might be more about quality than quantity and less about reach and more about niche.

PR for B2B Tech Purpose

When you’re a fast-growing tech company, it’s sometimes hard to slow down and take a value assessment. But if you’re growing, you should.

A solid B2B tech PR agency should also be able to help you navigate the world of communication ethics and pitfalls like transparency or misinformation that can create a media crisis; a crisis is a horrible introduction to the world. And when you’re new, and no one knows you or has any reason to stand up for you, a crisis can end a good idea before it ever sees the light of day.

Conversely, tech companies with a heart can stand out with the right purpose-driven initiatives. Select purpose programs for aligning with your company today and how they will land with stakeholders. I hate saying this because I wish we could all do everything out of the goodness of our hearts, but in business, if you want to get the benefits of a purpose-driven initiative, you really need to think through all the angles.

 

If you’re considering your next B2B PR steps, we’d be happy to talk with you and discuss your questions.

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What Makes the Best Tech PR Agencies?

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5 CleanTech PR Strategies for Right Now

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Key Takeaways

  • Integration of AI in Cleantech PR: The evolution of AI technology significantly enhances cleantech PR strategies by automating content creation, monitoring social media sentiment, and managing crises more effectively. This integration allows PR teams to quickly respond to potential issues and leverage data-driven insights for better decision-making.
  • Effective Media Outreach and Backlinking: Engaging with relevant journalists and media outlets is essential for cleantech companies. Media outreach, especially through social media, helps promote the brand’s message, while backlinking strategies increase exposure by providing valuable content to journalists in exchange for brand mentions.
  • Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): For cleantech companies, demonstrating a commitment to CSR is crucial. This involves not only promoting sustainable practices but also engaging in community support and partnerships that resonate with their brand values, thereby enhancing their image and fostering trust among consumers.

Cleantech startup PR is a crucial aspect of creating, organizing, and measuring the effectiveness of a cleantech and sustainable messaging campaign.  Cleantech PR may cover a single goal or a year-long campaign. A cleantech PR firm ensures the drive is creative while illustrating how the brand adds value to the customer. If you are still on the fence about using a cleantech PR agency, you are at the right place. Here are 5 cleantech PR strategies for right now every tech-based emerging industry company needs for success.

1. The Rise of Cleantech and AI

It goes without saying that as public relations and AI evolves, it will also affect cleantech PR. The great news is that there is no need for sustainable and green companies to fear because, in the future, AI and cleantech PR will go hand-in-hand, with the former helping with all the heavy liftings when it comes to creating relevant content and SEO-optimized social media posts that are going to completely automate the process of maintaining public relations.

Many forward-thinking PR professionals are already utilizing AI-powered tools for monitoring and analyzing all social media mentions and online conservations to identify patterns of negative or positive sentiments.

When averting the negative impact of a crisis, AI-powered tools can help cleantech PR teams monitor, evaluate and identify possible emerging issues or existing negative sentiments that threaten to put a cleantech startup in a tailspin.

AI-driven technology will, without a doubt, completely revolutionize how cleantech PR firms can respond to concerns. The team can help mitigate possible damage detrimental to a cleantech-based brand.

Many examples show how forward-thinking tech-based businesses and cleantech PR firms harness AI’s power to track online media, analyze impressions, and correlate sales results to planned media coverage. Using AI’s latest tools, such as natural language generation, sentiment, and predictive analysis, cleantech startup PR firms can help emerging businesses and the top renewable energy experts in the cleantech PR strategies for right now.

2. CleanTech PR Strategies for Right Now: Media Outreach

One cleantech PR approach is media outreach, which is reaching out to various media sources and journalists to promote the cleantech company’s message and what their target audience may anticipate. This strategy is crucial since it saves tech-based companies both time and resources in the future when pitching their ideas to journalists for publishing.

Cleantech companies must carefully filter out the ones unrelated to their sector or business and focus on the channels relevant to their brand and expertise. It boosts the chances of publication and will give the cleantech company an idea of how to organize their material in a way that those specific sources consider worthy of publication. Social media is generally the go-to platform for cleantech PR firms looking to promote brands making waves in the clean technology space.

Social media is an excellent resource for media outreach mainly because it provides a casual platform for communicating with tech journalists, channels, and other resources naturally and acceptably.

With this in mind, while social media is considered a casual platform where cleantech PR agencies and journalists can connect, it is crucial for you as a company or PR agency not to be too simple and carefree when reaching out or communicating with journalists and other related channels mainly because you risk saying something inappropriate or something that may offend the particular journalist or media channel that you are reaching out to.

To ensure you leave an excellent first impression, studying the journalist or media outlet and how they interact with others on social media platforms is essential. You can then emulate the style they use in their communications to come across as someone they want to communicate with.

Unlike other PR agencies, cleantech PR professionals are consistently in the know when it comes to the journalists and media outlets that matter and know exactly how to extend their reach in a not considered inappropriate way.

3. Backlinking

Backlinking is one of the most cost-effective ways to disseminate cleantech PR strategies.  Backlinking is contacting journalists, bloggers, and other media sources, offering articles on themes in which your brand shines, and obtaining a reference to your website and business.

The mutual advantage comes from journalists receiving content for the industry in which they are interested from an expert. At the same time, the cleantech company gains much-needed exposure and brand awareness. While connecting with tech journalists, bloggers, and social media influencers is no longer shrouded in secrecy, a dedicated cleantech startup PR firm can communicate with the relevant journalists, bloggers, and social media influencers who will be interested in your service or product.

Only an experienced cleantech PR firm knows the importance of keeping tech journalists engaged even when you have nothing to pitch, mainly because if a cleantech PR agency only reaches out to a tech journalist whenever they have a new tech product or service to sell, then that’s going to be a clear giveaway that neither the cleantech PR agency nor the tech-based company is genuinely interested in establishing a long-term working relationship with them.

It will negatively impact the overall relationship between the journalist and the cleantech PR agency. It can also be disadvantageous as the journalist will be less passionate about what your brand offers and why a cleantech startup or business must hire cleantech PR agencies always who know the importance of keeping journalists and others in the industry engaged, despite of whether or not there’s a new product or service on offer.

For a cleantech PR firm, keeping in touch with the relevant journalists and social media influencers could be as simple as sending out regular ICYMI “in case you missed it” emails, sharing relevant stories or news articles, and leaving comments on their websites or blogs. Keeping in touch is a fantastic way to ensure the journalist knows you are genuinely interested in their work.

These thoughtful and organic interactions between cleantech PR professionals and journalists ensure a high trust they can build over time. It also makes a clean tech-based company position its brand name as an authority in a particular niche and not just some fly-by-night company.

For new companies ready to enter the cleantech space, it is crucial to realize that PR is now one-sided, as the cleantech PR agency is one of many doing all the work. There is a need for collaborations between the cleantech PR firm and the drivers of your cleantech message, such as journalists, media outlets, and influencers, now more than ever. It is why cleantech PR firms must understand the brand/client perceptions and work on a PR strategy accordingly.

4. Sustainable and Green PR Strategies for Right Now: Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is another crucial part of the PR world, especially for cleantech companies always looking to find a way to spread the word about their new and fantastic product to a broader audience. Cleantech companies certainly have a leg up in this area, but there are pitfalls to assuming that just BEING a sustainable and green company is enough. When it comes to conveying a tech-based company’s message regarding corporate social responsibility, it’s all about creating a soft image of the company. It may involve sharing information on how the tech-based company seeks to reduce customers’ carbon footprint with their new products or that the firm is paying their staff more than the minimum wage.

It is not unheard of for tech-based companies to show their support for non-government organizations and charities, message their audience about what they care about, or even set up their own charity or social welfare program that benefits the local community. Hiring an experienced cleantech PR firm means that technology-based brands can come across as caring for the planet and the people.

It is optional to be a non-profit to show corporate social responsibility. In short, tech-based companies that follow the CSR model focus on the company’s bottom line, profit, and two other Ps: people and the planet.

Besides, you would want the cleantech PR agency you hire to convey your CSR vision to your clients, mainly because not all CSR-based companies are Certified B Corporations, which means the organization meets very high standards regarding positive social and environmental impact. But, the truth is that a tech-based startup or business can practice and convey its CSR message whether they are certified or not.

One of the best examples of CSR done correctly is Dawn liquid dishwashing soap. During the 70s, research found that the brand was highly effective at cleaning bird victims of oil spills. Ultimately, P&G, the product’s parent company, donated crates of Dawn dishwashing liquid to Exxon Valdez. It became a media fixture in the cleaning-up process during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Sure, when it comes to cause-related marketing, it’s usually the company that selects the non-profit, but in this respect, it is the other way around. But, smart brand positioning gained something positive (for Dawn) from a sticky situation. So, what does this tell us? Regarding cause-related PR, tech-based companies must pick a cause strategically tied to the brand’s positioning.

5. Crisis Management as a CleanTech PR Strategy

Preventing a crisis is most important, but containing the PR impact is critical when you have one – especially for high-trust businesses like energy startups. Crisis management is an area of PR that you must recognize, mainly if your company operates in the tech space where software and product malfunctions are part of the package. A crisis management strategy is crucial, especially when an injury or a negative social media campaign is involved.

Hiring the expertise of a cleantech PR agency means you have professionals who will not only develop a plan but also coordinate resources toward dealing with the issue in a mutually beneficial manner. The team will find a  way that helps repair the reputation of the brand and addresses the needs of the affected party.

In short, hiring the expertise of a cleantech PR firm for crisis management is analogous to extinguishing a fire. It is only possible to employ a cleantech startup PR firm that always has a crisis management plan mapped up, documented, and communicated.

While we most certainly would like to think that we can “rise to the occasion” under pressure and handle any stressful situation like the professionals we are, that’s seldom the case. Keeping that sad but actual fact in mind, it pays to invest in a cleantech PR agency to handle the situation when …hits the fan.

Ending Note

In the end, cleantech PR is a dynamic industry constantly evolving to keep up with the advancements in new “clean” technologies and the challenges that arise. However, tech-based businesses and startups that need to realize the importance of consulting a cleantech PR firm are bound to be vulnerable. They might not just face the negative press but also need to catch up on the note-worthy shifts constantly occurring in the tech niche.

Hiring a reputable cleantech PR firm’s expertise will also help identify new business opportunities in the clean tech sector, allowing startups in the cleantech space to scale up their business and reach greater market visibility.

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