Any PR professional will tell you that the public relations business is changing rapidly.

The continuing decline of traditional print and broadcast media outlets, coupled with the rise of social networking and an increasingly digitally-connected public, are requiring fundamental changes to the way client communications programs are conceived and executed.

And nowhere is this more evident than in the world of technology PR.

Budget-, competition- and eco-minded organizations spanning virtually every technology sector are putting increasing pressure on their PR partners to adapt to this new era, and essentially, do more with less. This means generating more brand visibility, continually devising new and more creative program strategies, and driving more online traffic, in less time, with fewer resources, and often with only limited “news.”

At the end of the day, PR is still about helping a company manage how it interacts with, and is viewed by, it’s public. However as the rules of the game change, so does the tech PR practice as it seeks to keep up with new and unprecedented client and market demands.

Here are 4 fundamental ways in which the tech PR practice is evolving to meet these changing times:

1. Social-centeredness – PR pros are increasingly called upon to help tech clients devise strategies to identify and reach the growing numbers of media, influencers, partners, investors, and customer via a wide range of social networking tools and outlets. And, as no two client social media programs are alike, PR pros must quickly become experienced in a variety of social networks, tools and norms.

   This new social networking focus, by necessity, requires that the PR practitioner truly walk-the-walk. It’s virtually impossible to counsel a client on the nuances of Twitter unless one has used it him- or herself. As a result, many PR pros are blogging, Tweeting and engaging in Facebook, YouTube, Ning and a host of other social networking outlets on their own and on behalf of their agencies to hone their skills.

2. Google trumps ‘ink’ – While a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal may still be the Holy Grail for many tech clients, public relations is increasingly focused on helping a company establish and maintain strong brand visibility and a positive corporate reputation in the social media sphere, and by optimizing programs to help drive organic search visibility. This requires an entirely new set of technology and communications skills that traditional PR pros must learn — and learn fast. As a result, to be successful moving forward, tech PR pros will need to be trained in multiple disciplines, which brings me to the next point…
3. Cross-functional expertise – Traditionally, communications, media and/or journalism was the primary training of the PR pro. Today, with much effort centered on driving client visibility on the Web and via digital media, they must also have a basic knowledge about how to maximize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for all PR campaigns. This includes identifying the ideal keywords and proper ‘keyword density’ when developing outbound PR materials to attract the most qualified search traffic to clients’ Web sites. Thankfully, there a number of helpful tools available for this purpose, including the Google Keyword Tool and PRNewsire’s SEO tips document and Keyword Density tool.

   Also, given the growing popularity of client blogs as part of an overall PR strategy, it helps to have a basic understanding of HTML programming. While most blogging engines are pretty easy to use and provide plug-ins to enable most of the core functionality, an understanding of basic HTML provides much more power and flexibility — particularly from an SEO perspective.

4. Putting the “public” back in PR – With the growing importance of social media communications, PR today is increasingly about helping clients use new tools to establish authentic, transparent relationships with customers and business partners, in addition to press and analysts. For the PR pro, this requires actively tracking client- and issue-centric discussions, monitoring conversations, and managing relationship-building and content-development strategies. Sometimes, it also means helping clients break through old, well-entrenched corporate cultural norms and biases as a means to build meaningful social media programs.

This is not to say that all traditional PR tactics will cease to have value. For example, there will still be a need for media/analyst relations activities, and press and/or social media releases for the foreseeable future.

However, tech PR is and will always be a strategic discipline. It’s about analyzing clients’ corporate and technology assets, target markets, competitive issues, and customer needs, and then devising customized strategies to reach their key audiences via the right combination of messaging and delivery vehicles.

And, these changing times, new technologies and the increasing pressures require that PR pros apply the same type of strategic process to continue finding new, creative, efficient, and effective ways to help clients achieve tomorrow’s communications and marketing goals.

Interested to hear your feedback.

Geo2