Blogs - Whiteoaks PR

Maximising event attendance to become a thought leader

Establishing thought leadership in your industry is essential for gaining recognition and credibility. For emerging and growing B2B tech businesses, being seen as a thought leader can make the difference between being an industry frontrunner, or an also-ran.

Despite having innovative ideas and a unique value proposition, many B2B tech companies struggle to position themselves as thought leaders. This can be particularly frustrating when significant efforts have been made in product development and securing speaking slots at key events, yet prospects and partners still gravitate towards competitors perceived as more knowledgeable.

Getting your voice heard

Becoming a thought leader involves more than just having good ideas. It requires consistent and strategic efforts to communicate your insights and expertise to the right audience.

Many companies face the challenge of getting noticed in a crowded market where numerous voices are vying for attention. In tandem with your PR and marketing campaigns, the key is to leverage every opportunity to showcase your expertise, and one of the most effective ways to do this is by maximising your event attendance.

Events offer a unique platform to connect with industry peers, potential clients and partners and become part of a meaningful conversation. However, simply attending events is not enough. To truly stand out and be recognised as a thought leader, you need to strategically use these opportunities to create and share valuable content.

Leveraging event insights

By partnering with a performance-driven PR agency, you can turn event attendance into a powerful tool for building your thought leadership credentials. PR agencies can identify events that align with your business goals, appeal to your target audiences and offer the best opportunities for exposure. They can support your attendance by providing expert team members to join you at events, or even on your behalf, to gather valuable information and perspectives.

PR professionals are adept at identifying key themes and trends at events. They can capture the most important discussions, keynote speeches and panel debates, which can form the basis of or spark ideas for you own unique, compelling content. This content not only highlights your expertise within the industry but also positions your business and key stakeholders as forward-thinking leaders who are ahead of the curve.

Content developed from event insights can take various forms, including whitepapers, articles and blog posts. These pieces should not only reflect the key themes of the event but also relate to your business and the broader industry. By making this connection, you demonstrate your ability to connect industry trends and hot topics with practical applications, showcasing your thought leadership.

Whitepapers can delve deep into the topics discussed at the event, offering detailed analysis and your unique perspective. Commentary articles can provide a more immediate response to the event, highlighting your thoughts on the key takeaways and their implications for the industry, while blog posts offer a more personal touch, sharing your experiences and insights from the event and can be supplemented with your photos from the event.

Amplifying your content

Once you have created this content, it is essential to leverage it. For instance, your sales and marketing teams can use these materials as powerful handouts at future events or meetings with prospects to reinforce your expertise and credibility. Sharing this content on your website and social media channels can also help reach a broader audience and position you as a thought leader in the digital space.

A Performance PR agency can be invaluable in this process. Our team of experts can help identify the most relevant events for your industry and business goals. They can also assist in developing a strategic plan for attending and leveraging these events and the information gathered to maximise your thought leadership potential. By working with a Performance PR agency, you can ensure that your efforts to be seen as a thought leaders are strategic, consistent and, importantly, effective.

Want to find out more about how to maximise event attendance for thought leadership? Talk to one of our experts today.

We recently likened integrated Performance PR campaigns to an orchestra.

Each channel – social media, content, media and creative – represents different instruments. When they play together they engage the audience and crescendo to create a powerful, memorable PR campaign.

But imagine this: the oboist is actually really a flautist, the harpist is off sick and the conductor has only been practising a year.

Can they pull it off? If the individual players lack the necessary proficiency and expertise, they likely won’t play their parts correctly, let alone sound good together.

Just as a successful orchestra relies on skilled musicians, an effective PR campaign depends on professionals, knowledgeable in each discipline to build a cohesive and impactful performance.

Expertise

Social media, creative, media relations and content are the instrumental parts of an integrated PR campaign and having extensive knowledge in each component means excellence in each discipline. Fortunately at Whiteoaks we have a team of dedicated experts who know how to hit all the right notes. To prove it, we asked them what it takes to craft an integrated PR campaign and why specialists are essential.

Creative

While other disciplines largely stay in their lane, creative’s role is to straddle multiple channels and bring them to life. If we continue our orchestra analogy, creative is like the percussion section which adds excitement and colour to the soundscape.

In integrated PR, messaging must always remain consistent, but creative is where diversity can be afforded.

“Without a strong message, the execution falls apart; there is no point to it. Creative also runs off the messaging, and the best campaigns are those that bring the messaging to life in a unique and different way,” says Whiteoaks Creative Director, Mark Wilson.

He adds: “The most engaging campaigns are those which take a risk from the ‘norm’ and try something different.”

This is especially important in B2B circles, where audiences see a lot of the same thing. However, while creative needs to be engaging, it should always remain relevant – a fine balance.

Social

Social media offers immense potential for your content – be that blog posts, whitepapers, videos or infographics – to go viral and significantly boost your campaign’s reach, visibility and impact.

Specialist expertise ensures these campaigns are technically sound, culturally relevant and timely.

The tech industry thrives on knowledge sharing and innovation, as enthusiasts, professionals and consumers are highly active on social media. This makes it the perfect conduit for a technology PR campaign.

Natalia Kaczmarek, our Digital Content Manager, highlights the value of social media for tech brands.

“The dynamic nature of the industry demands real-time engagement, immediate feedback and continuous communication, all of which social media excels at providing,” she says.

Natalia’s top advice for tech brands to excel in social media for their integrated PR campaigns revolves around one word: consistency.

“Posting consistently keeps your brand relevant in the algorithm. This doesn’t mean you have to share new posts every day. Consistency helps you meet your target audience’s expectations of when to anticipate new content, which is key to boosting engagement and post reach,” she says.

Consistency in messaging, themes, and narratives helps create a compelling story that resonates deeply with your audience.

Having an expert like Natalia on your campaign ensures you have someone with a robust understanding of the analytics tools needed to provide insightful data on audience behaviour, preferences and engagement – essential for refining and optimising campaigns.

Media

We asked Alex Kent, our Senior Account Director, about the biggest media-related challenges in tech PR. He pointed out that securing media coverage is something most agencies can do, but actually being seen and heard in such a saturated market is one of the toughest hurdles.

“B2B is noisy! There are a lot of people with opinions, especially on LinkedIn, where those opinions are unfiltered,” he says.

Creating a successful media relations tech PR campaign requires a deep understanding of the media landscape and a clear vision of your goals.

According to Alex, you should: “Start with an objective and work backwards. Once you have the objective, figure out what story supports it. Only then can you design the tactics to get that story in front of the right people.”

Having an experienced PR consultant who can place the right stories in the right publications is a powerful way to reach customers.

“As I tell any junior team member, there’s no substitute for experience. The only way to know what to recommend to a client is through years of practice,” Alex adds.

Content

Creating content as part of an integrated tech PR campaign involves producing valuable and relevant materials which resonate with the target audience.

Whiteoaks’ Hannah Buckley, Head of Content and Service Development, stresses the importance of specialist knowledge and how it means that content is created with the target audience in mind and so is ‘written in their language’.

“We write about highly complex topics across everything from cybersecurity to the latest innovations in healthtech, so it’s only right we take the approach of having a team of dedicated, specialist content writers,” she says.

She adds at other agencies, you may find ‘all-rounders’ within a team creating content for your brand.

“When content isn’t written by a specialist B2B content creator, you can really tell,” she says. This isn’t the case at Whiteoaks.

Specialist expertise ensures that content is not only engaging, balances technical depth with accessibility but also strategically aligns with the campaign’s objectives.

Integrated = team

Our experts bring experience, understand challenges and can adapt quickly. Working together with clients is key, and when experts who’ve completed many successful projects team up – as is here at Whiteoaks – they become a single force.

As Mark puts it: “We work really well as a team. We’re a medium-sized organisation, agile, and we can just go and talk to each other across the desks. We’re all genuinely interested in making our clients’ campaigns work – we’re driven by their success. And we love what we do.”

Make sure it’s only experts who are conducting your integrated Performance PR campaign. Take the first step in raising your game by contacting us today

Performance PR – a proven approach to results and accountability

So, you’re a successful tech brand eager to attract new clients and establish industry credibility. You decide to invest in PR, and enlist a top-tier agency on a monthly retainer, which promises coverage in leading industry publications. The campaign has some success, but it’s not what you’d hoped for, especially considering your investment. There’s a distinct lack of tangible results, the phones have remained eerily quiet, and the promised influx of engagement and referrals fails to materialise. Frustrated, you abandon the PR element of your marketing and communications campaign. All you have to show are several large holes in your budget, and a boss piling on the pressure for results.

This is a frequent scenario we hear from marketing and senior leadership teams within technology businesses, who come to us deflated and disappointed with their incumbent PR agency. After poor performance, insufficient results and a lack of accountability, the high cost is the final nail in the coffin. Expensive retainers, missed targets, and lack of transparency, which leaves brands with zero recourse, is a model that has given PR a bad name. But thankfully, there is an alternative. One that addresses all of these issues, and it’s something that we have preached and practised at Whiteoaks for over 30 years.

This is Performance PR

At the heart of Performance PR is a commitment to offering fixed fees for fixed outcomes. We work closely with clients and agree to targets that connect with their overall business objectives. We guarantee that if those agreed targets are not met, the client gets their money back. It offers peace of mind for the client and accountability for us.

The measurability conversation

While some will argue that you can’t measure PR, that is not the case with performance PR. In fact, it is essential to validate successes and understand a campaign’s impact. Campaigns should be designed and measured around the target audience; has it reached who it was intended for? Has the audience engaged with the campaign, and how? And at what scale?

Modern performance PR

Performance PR also presents a shift away from traditional media relations to modern PR, which includes integrated campaigns involving social media, content, and creative work. Measurability is central to performance PR, so being able to quantify these components is key to ensuring targets are hit. We measure our campaigns with key performance indicators (KPIs) which can include traditional coverage volume but depending on the audience, objectives and campaign, may also include things like website referrals and social media engagement. As integrated campaigns have a lot of moving parts, they require distinct areas of expertise to execute them effectively. The Whiteoaks team is made up of experts in different areas including social media, design, and content creation. We all work together to build and drive truly integrated Performance PR campaigns.

Performance PR and business objectives

Unsurprisingly, a lot of PR agencies will talk about being results-driven or result-oriented but it’s only performance PR that can actually walk the walk. We understand that marketers in tech brands are under a lot of pressure to deliver the leads that will fuel growth – and with Performance PR, campaigns are designed to deliver the metrics that are aligned with a company’s business objectives – which is key to gaining senior management buy-in.

Why we excel at Performance PR

Performance PR isn’t just another superficial marketing tactic at Whiteoaks; it’s ingrained in our approach, as it embodies our values and behaviours. Our values underpin our performance-led approach – quality, teamwork, integrity and commerciality. And in our employee-owned business, every staff member is personally invested; your results are our success too. This results in better outcomes for our clients. Performance PR allows us to be one hundred per cent accountable to our clients, and to continually improve and evolve our services. As a result, over our 30-year heritage, we’ve become a trusted partner to many.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we do Performance PR here at Whiteoaks and how it can help you achieve your business objectives, get in touch: https://whiteoaks.cmsstaging2.image-plus.co.uk/contact/

Navigating the world of marketing and PR presents a unique set of challenges for CEOs and founders of B2B technology businesses. Not only do they have to shoulder the responsibility of steering their companies through rapid growth phases but also the increasingly crucial task of enhancing their visibility within the industry. This dual mandate stems from pressures exerted by investors and the board, who recognise the vital role brand visibility plays in attracting investment, building long-lasting partnerships and driving market influence.

CEOs and founders of scale-ups in particular frequently find themselves wearing multiple hats, with PR and marketing among them, but often taking a back seat to more immediate operational demands. This is exacerbated by the fact that their professional backgrounds rarely lean towards marketing communications. And that’s perfectly fine. After all, not everyone wants an academic degree in PR.

However, every business owner in a competitive B2B tech landscape should understand the critical role of PR as it directly contributes to business growth by supporting lead generation, attracting investors and opening doors to new partnerships and collaborations. Positive media exposure, thought leadership articles and endorsements from reputable sources help to establish credibility and trust among target audience, industry peers and stakeholders.

Don’t let skills gaps put investors off

The repercussions of the PR and marketing skills gap are far-reaching, particularly when it comes to attracting investors and establishing industry visibility. A study conducted by ScaleUp Capital found that a substantial 63% of companies fail to secure funding due to perceived deficiencies in their sales and marketing capabilities. Investors rigorously assess a company’s market visibility, brand reputation and strategic messaging when evaluating funding opportunities. Without a robust PR strategy in place, CEOs and founders may struggle to effectively convey their company’s value proposition, potentially missing out on critical investment opportunities.

Recognising these challenges, many CEOs and founders initially attempt to manage PR internally. However, they soon realise the resource-intensive nature of effective PR campaigns and the specialised skill set required to achieve meaningful results. This is where partnering with a specialised, performance-driven PR agency can make a significant difference and unlock new opportunities to propel growth.

Improving brand visibility with a Performance PR agency

An experienced PR agency like Whiteoaks brings a wealth of industry-specific knowledge, established media relationships and a track record of delivering measurable outcomes. By outsourcing PR activities to experts who understand the intricacies of the B2B tech industry and market dynamics, CEOs and founders can optimise their time and resources. This strategic partnership not only enhances the company’s visibility and credibility but also allows its leadership to focus on core business functions critical to driving growth and innovation.

But how does a Performance PR agency help to improve brand visibility?

Strategic messaging and positioning: A Performance PR agency works closely with CEOs and founders to craft and refine its key messages and brand narrative. By identifying a single-minded proposition, industry trends and competitive advantages, the agency ensures that the company’s messaging resonates effectively with its target audience and reinforces its brand positioning.

Content creation and distribution: Using a single-minded proposition as a guiding principle, expert copywriters develop engaging content such as press releases, thought leadership articles, case studies and blog posts that highlight the business’ innovations and position key executives and subject matter experts as thought leaders within the industry. The agency will strategically distribute this content, which includes core brand messages, across various media channels and platforms to maximise engagement and enhance the company’s credibility and authority.

Media relations expertise: A Performance PR agency leverages its established relationships with journalists, editors and media outlets to secure high-impact media placements. By pitching compelling stories, expert commentary and company news to relevant publications, the agency ensures that the tech business gains visibility among its target audience and industry influencers.

Social media and digital PR: In the digital age, online visibility is crucial. Consistent messaging in organic and paid online content makes it easier for the target audience to recognise and remember the brand. A Performance PR agency utilises digital PR tactics such as SEO content, social media engagement, online reviews management and influencer partnerships to boost the business’ online presence and manage its reputation effectively.

Measurement and analytics: A Performance PR agency employs robust measurement and analytics tools to track the impact of PR efforts, including the volume of media coverage and message penetration. Metrics such as media impressions, website traffic, social media engagement and sentiment analysis provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of PR campaigns. At Whiteoaks, we use KPIs to measure campaign performance against a business goal. Our ‘fixed fees for fixed outcomes’ model is designed to deliver tangible outcomes and positive return on investment.

Ultimately, the decision to partner with a Performance PR agency isn’t just about filling a skills gap. It’s about unlocking new opportunities, shaping industry perceptions and achieving enduring success in a competitive market.

At Whiteoaks, our performance-driven approach will help to elevate your company’s visibility, inspire confidence among the board and investors and pave the way for future business growth and innovation.

Get in touch with us today to discuss your next campaign.

Some companies think of a trend as something that will pass quicker than it came about. While there’s an element of truth to this with a small sub-section of them, most stay for longer than a blink of an eye. Let’s take artificial intelligence (AI) as an example. A few years ago, some people viewed it as a futuristic buzzword that lacked substance. Today, AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are revolutionising all industries. There are few businesses out there that haven’t explored ChatGPT’s capabilities.

Trends enable businesses to break the boundaries of the market. They offer exciting opportunities for fuelling innovation and fresh ideas for competitive differentiation. However, keeping up with relevant trends is no easy feat, particularly for marketing leaders. What do they need to do to keep pace?

Where the struggle lies

Internal business culture, market conditions and rapid evolution can leave B2B tech brands struggling to stay ahead of the latest trends, leading to potential growth and market expansion opportunities passing them by.

Businesses often have multiple priorities, from daily operations to long-term strategic planning, which can vary depending on the department. Marketing departments are likely to have different priorities to finance departments. This makes it difficult for the organisation to collectively focus on emerging trends and agree on the most important ones.

Tough market conditions have also pushed leaders to prioritise the bottom line. Smaller businesses or those with tight budgets may lack the resources to invest in trend analysis and implementation, and financial pressures have only worsened for many as inflation has increased costs. Perhaps most significantly, trends can change quickly, making it difficult to stay updated without dedicated effort and attention.

These difficulties can make the practical strategies for navigating trends hard to implement. Regularly reading industry publications, investing in market research and attending webinars and conferences to improve knowledge would all leave brands better placed to latch on to new opportunities. But what if these strategies could instead be left in the hands of the experts?

Tapping into trends with performance-driven insights

Partnering with a performance-driven PR agency can provide valuable insights and support in incorporating trends into business strategy. Comprised of experts in media relations, design, social media and content creation, our specialist functions collaborate to not only keep clients ahead of latest trends, but capitalise on the opportunities they present as well.

For example, Whiteoaks provides in-depth market research and competitor analysis reports to keep businesses informed about the latest trends and their potential impact. Say that a B2B tech brand wants to capitalise on the buzz around AI by launching a new AI-driven product to market. A research project can delve into the opinions and concerns of prospects and customers to understand their current pain points, their readiness to adopt such a solution and the product features they would most value.

A Performance PR agency can also secure top-tier media coverage around trending topics. This allows organisations to make valuable contributions to the conversation, positioning them as thought leaders and helping to build brand awareness. These tangible trend-related initiatives are backed by a commitment to deliver measurable results through established KPIs, enabling a positive ROI.

Beyond just the latest buzzwords

Staying ahead of industry trends isn’t just knowing the latest buzzwords, it’s about driving innovation, seizing new opportunities and achieving differentiation in a competitive market. Some trends fade as quickly as they appear, but others have lasting impacts that businesses should grasp with both hands.

Internal business culture, market conditions and the rapid pace of change can make it difficult for B2B tech brands to focus on and implement the necessary strategies to stay ahead of trends. One of the most effective ways is by partnering with a Performance PR agency.

Whiteoaks helps B2B tech brands stay at the forefront of changing trends in their sector, offering services such as comprehensive market research, competitor analysis, and generating media coverage to help clients become part of the conversation. We provide the expertise and resources needed to turn trend-related initiatives into measurable successes, ensuring a positive return on investment.

Leverage the latest trends with a Performance PR campaign. Contact one of our experts today.

Integrated PR harnesses the multichannel nature of communications and media to create modern, measurable PR campaigns.

Think of an integrated campaign as an orchestra, with each channel – social media, content and creative – working together to captivate the audience.

As the campaign unfolds, each channel’s unique contribution stands out, similar to how different instruments in an orchestra add to the overall performance. The audience remains engaged and attentive to every detail, much like a compelling PR narrative holds their interest. When all channels unite, the campaign reaches its peak impact, creating a powerful and lasting impression.

In PR, much like in music, success is measured by the audience’s response – increasing engagement, growing awareness and achieving tangible results.

When all elements are in sync, the result is a cohesive and impactful campaign that leaves a lasting mark.

Integrated PR components

So what elements make up an integrated PR campaign?

Social media: The heartbeat of modern public relations, social media offers unparalleled opportunities for brands to connect with their audience in real-time, foster customer relationships, and serve as a channel for engagement and amplification. While LinkedIn is the primary platform for B2B brands, X, Facebook, and Instagram also have their place, each providing ways to reach and resonate with different audience segments.

Content: Whether it’s blog posts, videos, infographics or podcasts, content contains compelling narratives which may offer educational information, entertainment or inspiration to target audiences.

Creative: It’s the element which breathes life into campaigns, transforming ideas into visually captivating and resonant experiences. From eye-catching visuals to immersive brand experiences, creative elevates and should leave audiences with a lasting impression.

Media: While securing coverage is the cornerstone of nearly every PR campaign, connecting with the right media to influence key audiences and shape perceptions is what truly underpins successful coverage. A robust media strategy encompasses a combination of thought leadership and positioning pieces, product reviews, news hijacking and analyst relations.

Leveraging each component

When all aspects of a PR campaign come together, it creates a synergy which amplifies the overall impact; for example engaging content on social drives website traffic, while a creative visual aspect enhances its appeal, leading to increased engagement and conversions.

Bringing all these elements under one umbrella – without losing key messages or undermining impact – while maintaining consistency is something we excel at here at Whiteoaks.

Consistency across all components reinforces a brand’s message and identity. It could be tone of voice, visual identity and aesthetics or messaging; if it’s coherent and consistent, clients receive a seamless brand experience across different touchpoints.

But the glue that binds an integrated campaign is the targeting. If you’re not landing content in the right publications – no matter how good your content or creative, it’s going to fall flat. And, even if you’ve secured a seat on the biggest podcast, but your key decision makers don’t make up the listener numbers, then regardless of how far and wide your message is spread, those tangible outcomes are not going to materialise.

The right targeting with the right message is where and when it all comes together.

Measuring integrated campaigns

As there are many moving parts to integrated campaigns, understanding how each contributes to overall campaign performance is essential.

Measurement is done by tracking KPIs that are aligned with overall business objectives. Defined KPIs for each component ensure brands can assess performance, identify areas for improvement and optimise future strategies.

Importance of expertise in different fields

Consider this: social media requires a deep understanding of platforms and the creation of content that encourages likes and shares. Creative work demands years of graphic design experience, branding knowledge and aesthetic insight. Media relations necessitate years of building a network of media contacts and crafting compelling angles and narratives. For an integrated PR campaign to excel, every component must perform at its best. This is why, at Whiteoaks, our team is comprised of the best professionals with exceptional credentials.

Integrated campaigns for tech brands

Integrated PR offers significant advantages for tech brands due to its ability to effectively communicate complex products and differentiate the brand in a competitive market. It caters to tech-savvy audiences, maintains a multi-channel presence and helps foster engagement. Integrated PR enables global reach and is scalable for growth. Finally, it offers insightful metrics and when combined with the Performance PR model, ensures tangible outcomes.

If you’re seeking a partner to unify your communication channels and maximise their effectiveness, contact us to discover how we can help you build an integrated Performance PR campaign.

Without the necessary local knowledge and contacts, entering a new overseas market can seem like a daunting prospect for B2B technology companies.

It isn’t as simple as replicating the strategy and tactics that have worked so well in the UK. Instead, B2B tech brands need to consider the potential language barriers, cultural nuances and broader technology landscape in the region.

Yet, all too often we see organisations making the vital mistake of opting for a one-size-fits-all approach to international PR.

This can leave international PR campaigns falling flat and unlikely to yield the results firms desire.

After all, brand messaging that resonates with audiences in North America might not have the same impact in Asia due to cultural and linguistic disparities. All it takes is one crucial word in a brand’s key messaging to not translate to change the entire sentiment it is trying to convey.

Consequently, a tailored approach to international PR is needed to ensure companies see return on investment and achieve brand resonance in the markets in which they wish to make headway.

An agency-agnostic approach to international PR

B2B technology companies can take the uncertainty out of international PR by engaging with the experts on the ground. One lead B2B tech PR agency can act as the gateway to a network of trusted, performance-driven agencies in key regions to deliver global reach. This is the agency-agnostic approach.

Access to this network enables B2B technology companies to develop bespoke PR strategies that align with local expectations, yet stay true to the global brand identity. From the outset, organisations can choose the relevant agencies that reside in their target regions. These local partners provide invaluable insights into cultural expectations and etiquette, preferred communication channels and key thought leaders or industry events that can amplify a brand’s message effectively.

Consistent practices and reporting

B2B tech companies needn’t worry that this approach would result in engaging with various different points of contact across agencies. Instead, the lead agency engages and manages agencies across all key regions to ensure consistent processes and effective practices for international success.

Every local agency in the network is held accountable for content, delivery systems, effective ways of working and reporting. Detailed region-specific reports provide clarity as to the results being achieved in each country. Companies can quickly see the ROI across individual regions and as a total figure, alongside market dynamics and consumer behaviour.

Collective strength under the unified standard of an agency-agnostic approach allows technology businesses to seamlessly scale in new markets as needed, with the ability to review and replace PR agencies in any country. This can all be facilitated with one simple contract with the lead agency, removing the constraints of traditional and inflexible global PR contracts. Multiple local agencies within the global network can even be combined to collaborate on a multi-region major campaign.

Extending into international markets

Our agency-agnostic approach to international PR allows B2B tech companies to maintain a unified brand identity while adapting messages to resonate on a regional level. By embracing this approach, B2B tech firms can overcome the challenges of entering a new market and effectively tailor their PR efforts to meet the unique demands and sensibilities of each target region to drive impact.

Looking to find out more about our approach to international PR? Discover more here.

Rapid growth and quick market recognition are the holy grail for B2B technology scale-ups, but the journey from zero to hero is usually fraught with challenges.

Limited budgets and staffing constraints can hinder scalability, and achieving brand awareness in a crowded market is often difficult. On top of this, customers and investors may be risk-averse when dealing with a company that has yet to establish its credibility.

But none of these hurdles will ease the expectations among founders for the business to achieve rapid growth, particularly where significant capital has been invested to get the idea off the ground.

This is where targeted, performance-led PR campaigns become essential. Here’s why:

Differentiate your brand

For scale-ups to make their mark and ultimately achieve their growth objectives, it’s vital they clearly communicate their key differentiators. What makes them stand out from the crowd? And why should their target audience care?

We work with scale-ups to devise their single-minded proposition (SMP) – a punchy, memorable descriptor of their promise to customers. Alongside compelling narratives and positioning, this can help scale-ups differentiate their brand against competitors to become disrupters and cement their brand identity.

Establish credibility

Building credibility is an important for any business, as we discussed in our recent blog on the subject, and scale-ups are no exception.

B2B buyers need to know that the company they are considering engaging with is reputable and trusted. We help scale-ups to develop this much-needed credibility by building up a portfolio of customer case studies and press releases as new clients come onboard. These assets serve as endorsements for scale-ups, providing tangible proof-points for potential prospects.

Maximise resource efficiency

Working with a B2B tech PR agency provides scale-ups with a team of PR and marketing experts to draw on, without sacrificing the budget required to hire for these positions internally. This approach allows scale-ups to access the exact level of support they require at each stage of their growth journey.

We also ensure that all campaigns are tailored to our clients’ unique needs, with all activities aligned to getting the right results, whether that’s focusing on building media relations and obtaining coverage, building up an online community or increasing brand awareness among target audiences. That brings us on to our next point.

Demonstrate the impact of PR

We work with scale-ups to set transparent key performance indicators (KPIs) at the beginning of their PR journey. This ensures they can measure the impact of their PR investments, see how it is driving them towards their goals and achieving tangible results.

These insights not only reveal the campaign’s effectiveness to founders and key investors, but also provides the intelligence needed to adapt and make informed decisions moving forward.

Undeniably, scale-ups have a long road ahead of them. But by embracing Performance PR, they can overcome many of the common growth challenges they are likely to face along the way, build credibility, maximise resource efficiency, and importantly, achieve the desired results.

Our strategic approach to Performance PR not only helps in differentiating the brand but also in measuring the impact of PR efforts, ultimately driving sustained growth and success for scale-ups in the competitive B2B technology landscape.

Are you a scale-up under pressure to achieve rapid growth? Get in touch to find out how we help you on your journey.

Are you sceptical of anyone who claims they can guarantee results? It often sounds too good to be true.

But that’s what Performance PR is all about; guaranteed results or your money back.

Our ‘fixed fees for fixed outcomes’ model, bolstered by robust KPIs and offer of a formal service level agreement, means if we don’t hit the targets we’ve agreed with you, you don’t pay for them. It sounds bold, wild, and perhaps even a little risky (on our part) but the truth is it offers transparency and accountability, a return on investment for you, and success for us; because your wins are also ours.

You’re waiting for a ‘but’…

Well, there is no ‘but’. There is, however, an important discussion about how we set those agreed targets; the process, working out what is achievable and understanding how they relate to your overall business objectives. But how do we go about doing that?

Working with you and for you

We specialise in collaborating with B2B tech brands, so we already have a comprehensive grasp of the tech PR landscape. The more intricate process of devising campaigns and setting outcomes goes a little like this:

We forge an intimate understanding of your business; your positioning and your commitment to your customers.
We extensively analyse your target audience; what are your customer pain points and their aspirations? Which communities do they congregate in – where can we target them?
We understand your overarching business objectives; are you interested in building brand awareness or generating brand loyalty, for example?
We look at your timelines – what do you need to achieve and by when?

All this informs the strategy and helps us craft the narratives underpinning the campaign; we want them to cut through the noise and drive meaningful results.

Why agree on outcomes?

Results can only be reported objectively and quantified if measured, which lies at the heart of Performance PR. We’ve written comprehensively on our approach to measurement.

We use KPIs to measure performance against a business goal. KPIs can include traditional media coverage volume, website traffic, social media engagement, and more. We recommend tracking just a few important KPIs, and only those that are relevant to what you’re trying to achieve.

Agreeing on the campaign’s targets or its outcomes is important because it provides clarity for all parties, it defines the scope of a campaign and is important for managing expectations.

And when those KPI targets are hit – and they’ve been aligned with business objectives – demonstrating ROI becomes straightforward and makes justifying the investment in performance PR to your senior management team a piece of cake.

Deciding and reporting on targets

So how do we set KPIs targets? The slightly annoying answer is “it depends” because the truth is, of course, every client and their goals are unique.

Setting targets in PR requires a delicate balance between ambition and realism. Budget constraints and timing play significant roles in determining what is feasible within a given campaign. And it’s essential to establish clear milestones and delivery stages, allowing for iterative adjustments along the way.

For a business seeking to enhance brand awareness, our reporting would likely highlight metrics such as the volume of media coverage, total media impressions garnered by the campaign, and the audience’s association with key messages (message penetration). We could compare these statistics before and after the campaign to illustrate the impact and changes achieved.

For a business working to build brand loyalty, trust, and credibility, we’d report on metrics showing the content’s effectiveness at engaging your audience and sentiment. Agreed KPIs would include ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on social media platforms, or clicks through to a webpage, comments, messages, and enquiries.

For a business aiming to enhance brand consideration, we could focus on measuring the percentage change in brand perception before and after a PR campaign.

Fixed fees for fixed outcomes

By understanding the nuances of each client’s business, setting realistic targets, and maintaining accountability through robust reporting, we can help tech brands cut through the noise in an increasingly competitive landscape.

At Whiteoaks, we devise campaigns aligned with those goals right from the outset. Our Performance PR model is designed to deliver tangible outcomes that directly support your business objectives and deliver ROI.

We guarantee results, for a guaranteed return on investment – it’s as simple as that.

If you’re interested in finding out how investing in Performance PR can help your brand get results, reach out to us today.

Hook, Hampshire, 23 May 2024: Whiteoaks International has been awarded the PRCA Gold Communications Management Standard (CMS) accreditation for the sixth consecutive year.

The accreditation follows a comprehensive and successful audit and moderation session that examined areas including business planning and development, client satisfaction and campaign management.

James Hewes, CEO, PRCA, commented: “Congratulations to Whiteoaks for maintaining their CMS accreditation for six years. Their processes have become highly refined. Numerous examples of best practices were observed in client and campaign management, and diversity was thoroughly assessed as part of the CMS best practice standards.”

The CMS accreditation is founded upon the pillars of the ISO9001 standard for quality and Investors in People, making it a distinctive hallmark within the PR and communications industry.

“Celebrating our sixth consecutive CMS accreditation is not just testimony to Whiteoaks’ unwavering commitment to excellence, but also to our unique identity as an employee-owned business,” says Whiteoaks Managing Director, Suzanne Griffiths.

“Our performance-driven approach to PR is ingrained in every aspect of our operations, ensuring that we consistently deliver impactful results for our clients. This accreditation stands as a remarkable acknowledgment of our team of specialists’ dedication to client satisfaction and exemplary campaign management.”