Public relations can often feel like the wild card in the B2B tech marketing mix. Unlike digital advertising or demand generation, PR agency outcomes can be harder to connect directly to revenue. Yet public relations, when executed strategically, is one of the most potent levers B2B technology companies can leverage to drive growth, shape markets, and influence the sales funnel.
The challenge lies not just in measuring PR’s impact but in setting the right metrics – and aligning your strategy with the business outcomes that matter. Here are seven smart ways to do just that.
1. Align PR Strategy with the Sales Funnel
For B2B tech and SaaS companies, the sales funnel is a labyrinth, not a straight line. Decision-making often involves multiple stakeholders, long buying cycles, and high-stakes investments. Effective public relations doesn’t just generate awareness; it influences prospects at every stage of this journey.
- Top of Funnel (Awareness): What type of PR do you need for a prospect that has never heard of your brand before? At this stage, your goal is visibility with credibility. Thought leadership articles in influential outlets, data-driven research reports, rapid response, and visionary commentary all work here. The key ingredient for top-of-the-funnel PR: connecting stories to the topics and issues your buyers care about most. The impact can be measured through growth in branded search terms, share of voice in high-value publications, visibility on trending topics that are of interest to your target market, and most importantly, an increase in sales at-bats (like RFPs and inbound opportunities). Over the long-haul, strong awareness-level PR should also increase email marketing, social engagement and sales conversion rates, as prospects that know and trust your brand are more likely engage.
- Middle of Funnel (Consideration): This is where prospects dive deeper, evaluate options and seek validation. The best PR agencies deliver buyer-centric, solution-focused stories that position your company as a resource on the niche and specific problems your buyers face every day. Measuring success at this stage includes tracking message penetration—how often are you placing stories, in targeted trades, that directly speak to challenges your prospects are looking to solve? For instance, this could be a how-to piece on meeting a specific regulatory requirement top-of-mind for your ICP, or thought leadership around mitigating specific cyber or supply chain risks your prospects are facing. Once those articles are placed, integrate them into your lead nurture strategy and analyze how often prospects engage. Typically, we’ve found that B2B prospects are much more likely to click or respond when a sales rep sends them an article in a credible third-party outlet, vs. promoting another webinar or sponsored report.
- Bottom of Funnel (Decision): Differentiation and validation are everything when buyers are comparing SaaS solutions. PR campaigns that highlight competitive advantages and adoption, such as performance benchmarks and customer success, can push prospects over the line. Awards, third-party review sites and analyst recommendations also play a role.
2. Precision Targeting for Niche Personas
Unlike B2C marketing, where reach and frequency dominate, B2B technology PR requires precision. You’re not speaking to everyone—you’re speaking to a select group of decision-makers, from CIOs and procurement officers to CFOs and CISOs.
Reaching these niche personas demands a nuanced approach. For instance, a high-profile mention in a general business outlet like Forbes will certainly raise broad awareness, but a detailed technical feature in an industry-specific trade can carry far more weight with your target audience, and often reach more of your ICP.
It’s also imperative to go beyond traditional media. Where are your prospects living online? The answer likely spans podcasts, social communities, Substacks, newsletters and more.
Success in niche targeting can be measured by analyzing engagement and reach across specific personas. Look at your total PR output and break it down by personas reached to ensure you are getting in front of – and influencing – key decision makers. In addition, tier the most important media and communities by persona, and keep score to ensure your brand is living where your prospects live. Look at your persona targeting scores quarterly and adjust your strategy as needed.
3. Competitive Share of Voice: A Strategic Perspective
Competitive share of voice (SOV) is often treated as a quantitative metric—how often your brand is mentioned compared to your competitors. But the real value lies in a qualitative analysis of those mentions.
- Context Matters: Are you leading the conversation on transformative industry trends, or are you relegated to reactive comments on competitors’ announcements?
- Message Dominance: Are your competitors driving narratives that you should own? If you’re a SaaS startup pioneering AI for supply chain management, does the media associate you with other “AI supply chain solution companies” or is that space being dominated by rivals?
- Paid vs. Earned: Any tech company can buy share of voice. Make sure our PR agency measures earned coverage, which is what really matters. You can also break it down by looking at SOV across the publications your buyers actually read, which is a much better gauge compared to measuring total SOV.
4. The Hidden Power of Message Penetration
Message penetration goes beyond counting media hits—it measures how well your core narratives are landing in the marketplace.
For example, if your company positions itself as the leader in “supply chain ESG ratings,” but media coverage consistently describes you as a generic “sustainability tech company,” your PR isn’t delivering. A high message penetration score means your PR efforts are effectively shaping public perception, ensuring your differentiated value propositions come through loud and clear.
Measuring this requires qualitative analysis of coverage. Are reporters and analysts using your language? Are influencers amplifying your narratives? Over time, this metric becomes a leading indicator of market traction.
The end goal: you start to see RFPs built in your image and language – which of course, makes them easier to win.
5. Market Creation for Startups
The most ambitious PR strategies don’t just capture existing demand—they create entirely new markets. This is how B2B PR agencies shine within the tech startup landscape.
Market creation can be measured through:
- The emergence of your terminology in analyst reports and competitor messaging.
- Growth in inbound inquiries referencing your unique positioning.
- Shifts in sentiment or perception among key stakeholders, as reflected in media and analyst commentary.
- RFPs built with your language and approach
- New category entrants and an increase in VC funding and acquisitions
- Increasing topical coverage across relevant event agenda and editorial calendars
Category creation is the holy grail of startup PR because it transforms your company from a participant in the market to the market itself.
6. Differentiation: The Ultimate Metric
In crowded B2B technology sectors, standing out isn’t optional—it’s existential. Your public relations agency should be your differentiation engine, highlighting what makes your company uniquely valuable (and better than the rest).
Strategic differentiation involves more than touting features. It’s about owning a point of view that no one else has.
Metrics for differentiation include shifts in analyst rankings, sentiment in competitive media coverage, and increased win rates in head-to-head sales scenarios.
A Smarter Approach to Measuring PR Impact
The era of public relations as an unmeasurable art is over. Today, the best B2B PR firms leverage sophisticated analytics and buyer-centric strategies to tie efforts to business outcomes.
The real magic lies in choosing the right firm. B2B PR agencies with specialized expertise in tech understand how to translate complex value propositions into compelling narratives, ensuring PR delivers tangible business impact. The best agencies have stopped reporting on vanity metrics – such as media reach or ad value equivalent – and instead, focus on what really matters to your business.
It’s time to rethink PR—not as an intangible investment, but as a core driver of sales, differentiation, growth and market leadership. The metrics and strategies are there; the only question is whether you’re working with a partner that gets it.
If you want to dive deeper, here’s what to look for when hiring a B2B tech PR agency and how to find the best PR firms.
