Digital disruption is a term we’re hearing a lot these days. As the digital infrastructure expands and grows more capable, and as businesses keep creating innovative and exciting products and services, we’re coming to find out that digital disruption is the new status quo. It’s like the Journey song says, “The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.” In fact, this reference seems even more appropriate (besides being a great song) if you consider all the innovation happening in the cloud right now. So, how does this relate to B2B tech companies and public relations?
Technology isn’t Stopping
At no point in history have we seen more rapid and constant technological advancement than we do today. The reason we keep hearing about digital disruption is because companies are coming out with new and creative products every day, and they’re building out services to support them that outshine anything we have ever experienced.
Customers have come to expect real-time interactions with brands via the Internet and social media, and they will no longer settle for static products and services. Particularly in the B2B realm, brands must convey to prospective clients that they will enable them to keep up with and surpass industry demands and the activities of their competitors. Public relations firms can make a world of difference when they properly understand the industry their clients operate in and judiciously apply time-tested strategies to create impact.
PR Fuels the B2B Tech Engine
The Huffington Post recently published an excerpt from the book Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation, written by James McQuivey, in which he accurately sums up what this means for B2B tech PR:
“Digital disruption accelerates competing ideas even as it facilitates the entry of a previously impossible number and magnitude of ideas. The cumulative effect is devastating to any company operating under the rules of the prior century.”
What this means is that, in order for companies to survive in this day and age, they must evolve and innovate at a pace that was, up until recently, impossible to sustain. It is the job of PR professionals to make sure that the advancements of their B2B tech clients stand out from all the noise generated by the competition, and are framed in a way that attracts the attention of new business, journalists, analysts and other key influencers.
This is done through comprehensive PR campaigns that incorporate proactive pitches, analyst briefings, press releases, social media management, maintaining an active and engaging blog, and developing a wide range of collateral, from contributed bylines to white papers and eBooks. All of this content must be carefully coordinated to support one another and position technology industry clients as forward-thinking organizations with a wealth of experience and the ability to not just keep up with, but lead in their respective fields.
Is your brand taking the steps necessary to prevent the competition from digitally disrupting your business?
This post was first published by Brendan Reilly on March Communications‘ blog.