Five B2B Public Relations and Marketing Strategy Shifts for 2025

What B2B PR strategy shifts will we see in 2025? Here’s what we’re watching – with an extra emphasis on the B2B tech and SaaS landscape.

1. AI Engine Search Optimization Will Shift Tech PR and Marketing Strategies

AI engines like ChatGPT and Gemini are rapidly redefining how buyers discover content. Unlike traditional search engines, these tools don’t just provide links—they synthesize answers giving users the information they need without ever visiting your website. The result for most tech providers: declining website traffic and less control over buyer journeys.

For B2B marketers, this requires a fundamental rethink of content and PR strategy, with a renewed focus on creating assets that AI engines prioritize and reference.

The hard part: AI answer optimization is new and changing fast. No one is an expert yet (and don’t let them tell you otherwise). Waiting, however, is not an option. In 2025, marketers must experiment, learn, and pivot on the fly. Here are a couple of ideas to get going:

• Develop Robust Knowledge Hubs: Create centralized repositories of high-value information such as FAQs, white papers, interactive tutorials, case studies, and product documentation.
• Publish with Contextual Relevance: Answer specific, nuanced questions that are relevant to your buyers, positioning your content as the definitive source on niche topics.
• Focus on Media Authority and Credibility: AI engines prioritize trusted sources. B2B brands should invest more in thought leadership, third-party validations, media placements and backlinks from high-authority sites. From a media relations perspective, some media sites–such as Forbes and TechCrunch–allow AI engines to mine their stories. Others–such as Bloomberg and the New York Times–do not. While this shouldn’t drive your entire media strategy, it still matters.
• Build Your Own Credibility: Awards, peer reviews, and rankings will matter more than ever as AI engines quickly evaluate what to recommend.
• Structure Content for Machine Readability: Use metadata, schema markup, and structured formats to make your content easily digestible for AI engines.
• Monitor and Adapt: Track which queries and topics your competitors are influencing through AI and adjust your knowledge base to fill content gaps.

2. Investment in Non-Traditional B2B PR Channels and Niche Influencers will Rise

Traditional B2B public relations channels—like trade publications, business and tech media, and LinkedIn — remain critically important in 2025. But that’s only half of the game. Today’s B2B buyers are increasingly engaging with niche, non-traditional platforms to learn from peers and independent voices. Examples include:

• Newsletters: Many B2B buyers turn to platforms like Substack or industry-specific newsletters for curated expertise. Major traditional publications – like Axios and The Wall Street Journal – have their own newsletters as well, which are often more effective for zeroing in on specific audiences than getting coverage on the paper’s mainstage.
• Podcasts: 67 percent of U.S. consumers listening to podcasts in 2024 and 75% of B2B decision-makers listen to podcasts, according to a study done in 2023. Podcast consumption has been rising for years–so this isn’t new. The trend will continue, making podcasts an essential part of every well-rounded PR strategy.
• Industry Communities: Non-traditional mediums–such as Slack channels and subreddits-are thriving hubs for professional exchange. PR teams need to be present where these conversations are happening.

3. Buyer-Centric Storytelling will Crush Broad Awareness

B2B technology companies will demand their PR agencies shift away from “air cover” awareness campaigns and prioritize telling meaningful, high-impact narratives to niche buyers. Instead of chasing “awareness” for its own sake, brands will concentrate on deep, buyer-centric stories that address real pain points with tangible proof points and narratives that drive actual sales conversations.

Tech PR agencies will also have to demonstrate how their strategy connects back to the sales funnel. How much of the PR program influences the top of funnel? What about the mid and bottom? An intentional, buyer-centric PR strategy–along with forward-thinking PR measurement–can accomplish this.

4. Marketers will Move from Passive Social Media to Intentional Social Activation

The era of “set it and forget it” organic social strategies is fading. Platforms like LinkedIn and X are no longer optimal for simple broadcasting. Social success lies in activation—turning static posts into dynamic conversations that extend beyond your immediate audience.

This shift means that social media responsibility will increasingly sit with your executives, not just your brand account. Simply posting and sharing company news and updates isn’t enough.

The best social strategies center around bold and clear messaging platforms that are relevant for the audience. Effective activation includes leveraging influencers, partnering with industry voices, joining existing conversations outside of your network, and empowering your team to become brand advocates.

Creating shareable content remains key. Prioritize snackable, insight-rich assets and conversational starters designed for engagement and resharing by industry professionals. Bold perspectives, real-time reactions to industry developments, and provocative questions often perform well.

5. What PR trends will we see in 2025?

Additional PR strategy shifts and trends we expect to see in 2025 include:

• The return of brand building. For years, B2B marketers over-indexed on short-term demand generation. In 2025, the pendulum will swing back to brand building, as companies realize the long-term impact on buyer trust and loyalty.
• AI whitewashing will peak. Prospects are increasingly skeptical of inflated AI claims. We’ll see AI whitewashing hit a crescendo – which will quickly leave companies that don’t have a real and meaningful AI narrative in the dust.
• More paid content distribution. As the media landscape dwindles, and niche influencers and channels play a bigger role – more tech companies will leverage paid distribution to seed their story in the market.
• Trust becomes the most valuable currency. Is the media biased? Is that story real, an AI deepfake, or intentional misinformation? Can we trust that a technology does what it says–and isn’t just AI marketing hype? Buyer trust is teetering at all-time lows, which will make building credibility, validation, and trust a top objective for every public relations campaign.

B2B PR is entering a transformative phase in 2025. Building trust, scaling growth and leading markets requires companies to embrace these shifts with intention and strategy. What strategy shifts are you watching in 2025?