As we approach 2025, we’ve identified five trends that we think will shape B2B tech PR next year.
AI (still)
It’s been on our list for the last two years, but we can’t not include it again. 2025 will see a further evolution of AI, with its use becoming much more frequent and widely accepted, especially in collateral like images and video. This could lead to faster-paced campaigns, and companies that don’t embrace it could find themselves falling behind the marketing curve. But we would caution against relying on it blindly – as a nascent technology, anything AI-created still needs careful reviewing and often the quality of the output depends on the quality of the human input.
Podcasting (again)
Some might say it is cheating to include another trend that also made our 2024 list – but it does feel like this is a trend that is just beginning to really take off in the B2B tech sector, having seen signs of growth throughout the year. What we will see in this space in 2025 is increasingly niche topics being covered, shorter series and episodes and the introduction of video-casts.
Value-based marketing
This trend builds on the need for brands to show trust and integrity as the challenges around fake news and misinformation continue. But, in 2025, we think brands will take this one step further and market themselves around their values, particularly in noisy, crowded markets where they are fighting for attention (and business). Values can serve as a key differentiator, and companies will be keen to show how they are embracing CSR, sustainability and equality and diversity, among others
Crisis Comms Strategy
Maybe this is more of a recommendation than a prediction, but 2024 saw a number of high profile brand crises, which gained even more mileage because of how the businesses involved reacted. Businesses should take a note from these cases to look at their own crisis communications strategies and ensure they are prepared. Who takes point in a crisis situation? How should it be escalated? Do you have stock responses in place that can be adapted for quicker approval? Who will deal with media enquiries? While a crisis can happen to anyone, businesses are likely to be judged for longer on their response.
Hyper-personalisation
Generally speaking, PR and marketing practitioners love a buzzword and hyper-personalisation is an up and coming one. Perhaps driven by AI, it simply refers to sending highly contextualised communications to specific customers. The impact will be seen in marketing, including in outbound marketing and digital ads, but we also think there will be an impact on PR, specifically in media relations. With fierce competition, businesses are going to need to cultivate deeper relationships with journalists to ensure their pitches are considered – or partner with an agency that already has those relationships.
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