“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion,” said Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric in 1989. In today’s world, vision is still very much a must for all those looking to dabble in the startup universe and rock legacy industries with breakthrough tech, and just as important is the ability to convey your ideas to others. In essence, this is what thought leadership, something public relations experts hold in high esteem, is all about. So what exactly is it, and how do technology PR firms help your thoughts and ideas take off?
Not Your Regular Sales Pitch
Imagine you are running a high-tech startup—a cybersecurity platform, for example. Now, imagine all top publications, like Bloomberg, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal, knocking on your door for comments on the SolarWinds hack and its implications for those affected. They know something big is up, and your experience and savvy can shed light on the story currently making headlines.
This is what it means to wear the thought leader’s mantle: you help shape the larger narrative, one that is tied to your trade, but ultimately stretches far beyond the immediate operations of your company. You explain how you view the world, through the prism of your knowledge, experience, and vision, and people listen, making sense of things that did not seem to make sense before and noting your ideas.
One thing to stress, however, is also what thought leadership is not: do not confuse it with plain marketing. Your audience wants your thoughts, but not necessarily your sales pitch, it wants the intellectual value, not self-promotion. So why should I bother, those more pragmatically-minded might ask, not to mention hiring one of the technology PR firms to help me make my case to the world?
Living in Heads And Headlines Pays Off
When investing time and effort into anything, we like to have ways to easily gauge the results. With regular marketing, for example, it is often simple: you can always see how many “likes” your Facebook post got, how many people clicked on the link to the landing page, and what fraction of those left their contacts or booked a live demo. Neat, right?
With thought leadership, however, the KPIs are not as crystal-clear, and its exact impact can be tough to estimate. Yes, you can always say that over half of decision-makers study thought leadership pieces before signing a deal with another company, and, as the same LinkedIn-Edelman poll found, some 60 percent of top executives shared their contact details in return for compelling materials. This is good, but that’s not where the magic is.
The real value of the trade comes when you arrive at a meeting with prospective investors, and one of them excitedly quotes your recent opinion post in Forbes. You will know it when the invitations to speaking events begin to rain, bringing the promise of networking and new leads. The sheer joy of such moments, not to mention just how much they help your business, is what makes bringing one of the technology PR firms onboard worth it.
How Technology PR Firms Help Your Savvy Shine
Now that we know just how much benefit the expert’s reputation can bring you, it’s time to see why it makes sense to get some help from those who know the ins and outs of the industry. Public relations companies work to get a clear picture of not just your product, but also of the vision you put into its design. They can help you build up a robust communications strategy putting the highlights in all the right places and shine a spotlight on what matters the most—your expertise and ideas.
Technology PR firms are also very much aware of both the general media landscape and the particular niches that will meet your vision with open arms. They can help you streamline your communications to the target audiences and expand your presence in the everyday buzz. Having a team of professionals prop you up as you make your way through the turbulent mediascape is a brilliant way to safeguard yourself against any missteps and communicate your values in a way that will guarantee success.
