If they’re in the tech industry, they had better learn.
Too often in the tech world you hear about a divide between engineering or product management teams and groups like PR or marketing. It’s easy to see why this could be the case. You wouldn’t ask your PR team to be fluent in Python or C++ any more than you would ask your engineering team to study AP Style.
But to successfully tell your company’s story, to represent the brand and pitch the product, your PR team does need to be fluent in said product’s function, its value to customers, and the intricacies of its operation. And yes, if your company is making hardware or software, your PR team should be using it!
This is true at companies large and small, but can be especially impactful at startups or small businesses where product development roadmaps can change suddenly and dramatically, leaving little time for a ramp-up on technical know-how and lingo.
How can your PR team get a handle on the technical details of your product?
- Get hands on. Wherever possible, your PR team (whether in-house or agency-side) should use your product daily. As we’ve written about previously, the team at Communiqué PR uses Smartsheet—our client’s product—to manage many of our day-to-day projects, track deadlines and to keep an eye on how busy each of us is. There’s no better way to understand your client’s or your company’s product than to make it a part of your daily routine.
- Let PR and product teams collaborate early and often. You already have a tremendous technical knowledge base under your roof: your product development teams. Working with cross-functional teams is a crucial component of success at any modern business. So to keep your PR team in the loop, make sure they have plenty of chances to interact professionally and casually with your developers, engineers and product managers. A two-way flow of information between these teams helps everyone learn about the product, internal processes and each other. Building bridges between these teams can help prevent a panic on your PR team next time a product launch is cancelled, specs change, or you ship a new version of your API ahead of schedule.
- Your PR team should speak your product’s language. If a reporter asks your PR team about your SDK, API or IDE, they need to be able to answer—or at least know who to ask. Tech PR teams need to be able to translate industry jargon into easily understandable language—I call this the “explain-it-to-your-mom principle.” But to do this, they need to understand the jargon themselves. This comes from spending time immersed in your product and from consistent collaboration with product teams.
- Understand the competition. It’s not enough that your PR team has a working knowledge of the product. They need to know what you’re up against, inside and out. This means sending your PR team to industry conferences and trade shows, staying on top of press and analyst coverage of competitors, and being able to answer intelligently, “Why is your company different?”
Don’t let your PR team’s eyes glaze over next time the conversation turns technical. In this industry, the product is everyone’s business, and your PR team should have a deep understanding of it as well.