Appeared in the July 2001 issue of The Professional Journal

By Alan B. Isacson, President, ABI Inc.

Before executing public relations programs, advertising campaigns, direct mail efforts, Web site designs, and other communication tactics to promote advanced technology, it is imperative to clearly identify your audience.

This simple rule is typically not followed when promoting new technologies. In fact, “high tech public relations” or “high tech advertising” is often the source of unsuccessful communications programs for technology products and services because communications are routinely directed to, and written for, information experts.

The problem with this tactic is that many business decision makers are not information experts. Instead, these high-level executives’ eyes glaze when technical jargon is used. Yet their attention becomes unwavering when real-world, business benefi ts of new technologies are clearly outlined and defined.

For example, hot technology topics today include wireless and PDA products and services. Promoting wireless technologies to top executives who are not information savvy will garner little interest. In fact, advanced technology is often viewed as a huge capital expense, rather than a value-added solution. However, by explaining that the benefits of wireless technology can shorten sales cycles, enhance productivity, and significantly reduce overhead, business managers will want to learn more.

First, determine who in the business organization is responsible for operations that would best gain from applying your technology. If the key benefits are reduced sales cycles and increased sales, then marketing managers would be prime targets. If a significant reduction in corporate overhead is the benefit, then set your sights on CFOs, COOs and other operation/finance managers.

Too often, technology companies assume that information experts are the key people they need to communicate with to sell their products and services. Yet, in many cases IT managers implement programs specified by business executives responsible for essential corporate functions such as marketing, sales, research and development, production, engineering, quality assurance and finance.

Dual Communications Strategy

A successful communications strategy convinces key specifiers of the benefits they can gain by applying your technology. The message should clearly emphasize, without complicated industry terminology, your technology’s return on investment. This approach will stimulate interest and generate leads from key business managers who make the ultimate buying decisions.

In addition, it is important to make information and technology experts aware of the benefits and features of your products and services. This will accelerate your sales efforts because an interested key specifier, such as a vice president of marketing or CFO, will undoubtedly seek counsel from an information specialist or engineering manager. It would certainly fuel this interest if information and engineering experts acknowledge that they are aware of your technology and have also read about successful field applications.

Benefits Ahead of Features

When communicating to IT managers, explain how your technology can give their companies a competitive advantage. This approach will differentiate your programs, as well as help IT and engineering specialists explain the business value of your technology to top executives.

Communicate features in the context of support for specific benefits. For example, note that by deploying PDA’s across the entire enterprise, sales people will be able to rapidly access customer profiles from the corporate database so that they can quickly obtain the information they need during presentations to close deals faster.”

Avoid developing high tech press releases and advertisements that simply list technology features and specifications without any mention of benefits and potential applications.

Also, use creativity and design strategically in advertisements and sales literature to enhance the major benefit key specifiers can expect to gain from your product or service. Many ads fail because they employ a powerful image that is completely unrelated to the business solution offered by the advertised technology.

In summary, focus your marketing and sales efforts on key specifiers and make them realize, in simple language, how your technology will give them the competitive edge. In addition, make IT managers understand how the features of your technology will benefit specifi c business operations. They can then explain the value of your products and services more effectively to top-level managers.

This focused, two-tiered marketing public relations approach will help reduce your sales cycle and accelerate closures.

For more information, contact Alan Isacson, ABI, Inc., 29 Broadway, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10006; Telephone: (212) 529-4500; Fax: (212) 529-4442; E-mail: jzann@abipr.com.