Most of us were happy to slam the door shut on 2023. While realists do not expect the changing of the year to instantly cure all the tumultuousness from the prior one, at least it provides a mental reset toward progress.
With the building transformation of AI and automation, and other technologies that continue to advance, venture-funded companies are rolling out new platforms to address inefficiencies and pain points in markets at a rapid pace. Innovations are permeating all corners of technology.
A veteran tech leader involved with CES said to me that what stood out to her this year was the impact of the application of technology. It was no longer just a look at the future. The show featured new products that were inherently more technologically advanced– from AI to batteries. Her decades-long perspective was that transformation was no longer on the horizon – it was showing up on the floor of the show, at scale, in the form of better products.
In B2B tech, this year we will see how the adaptation and integration of technologies are building software platforms that are changing at an increasingly rapid tick– from how we access and process data, complete workflows, and mitigate risks.
As we move through Q1, what should software and technology companies be focused on from an overall PR perspective?
1) Defining the solution – With a wave of new and advancing platforms rolling out in 2024, technology company leaders need to focus on setting up the narratives of their differentiated solutions for their target market. This cannot be done in a vacuum. The solution narrative needs to be refined, vetted, and aligned in context of the pre-existing analyst, competitor, and media concepts to ensure potency and precision.
2) Get out front – Amid a surge of technological advancements, there are overlapping solutions and narratives. Half competitors and quarter competitors with competing solutions for similar or similar-sounding platforms are already everywhere. Companies with a Venn diagram-like competitive environment need to focus heavily on external visibility marketing and PR strategies to win the brand and solution awareness game in context of the pain points for their solutions.
3) Move fast – Even with the economic bumps of the last two years, scores of venture and private equity poured into new category solutions. For many of those companies, 2024 is the year to go out and get market share. Technology companies need to be agile and alert. There is a great deal of advantage in being the first solution to claim a category over jumping in and making an argument in a more crowded market segment. While the latter can be executed successfully, being the first has greater ROI in PR.
This year is not going to be quiet or simple on the technology front – it’s poised to be a time of breakthroughs and change. It’s a year where AI, RPA, and other breakthrough technologies will be applied to more and more markets at scale. For companies seeking to own the conversation and win their category, getting out front with clarity quickly will make a difference and perhaps be THE difference in winning over the targeted B2B technology decision-maker.
anthonyBarnum specializes in helping marketing executives establish metrics-driven technology public relations programs designed to shape and own categories.
Reach out if I can be a resource in your 2024 marketing and PR objectives.
