Dana Kohut is the founder of The first-class displaya podcast featuring video interviews with leading business and technology leaders.
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Early in my career, I remember writing blog posts to promote the expertise of the technology company I worked for. I’d spice them up with case studies to prove our domain expertise, but most newsletters with these blog posts still ended up in the “spam” folder.
Now, as a marketing strategist in technology, I can’t believe these ineffective communication channels have persisted for decades. Even now, marketers expect this strategy to attract customers and build trust. But modern customers don’t want your newsletters and cold emails in their face.
Instead of the aggressive push marketing, try to get them through customer-facing communication channels that they like to communicate with. These are the approaches tech companies can use to craft messages that build trust, foster thought leadership, and stand out.
Extended Reality
The best way to convey the value of your brand to customers is to let them experience it first hand. You can make this possible with extended reality (XR) – a collective term for immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). With XR, you can bring the virtual try-before-you-buy experience into people’s homes. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not just for fashion and home decor companies.
Apple, first, AR used Quick Look to showcase its new iPhone or iMac models during the pandemic. People could experience the latest gadgets without hitting the stores, which was crucial at the time.
The spotlight is currently on Metaverse, a virtual reality space referred to by many as the next phase of the internet. Metaverse related companies knew more than . in 2021 $10 billion in venture capital. So if you’re considering using XR in your communications strategy, it’s time to jump on that bandwagon.
Brand podcasts and videos
In the world of chatbots and 3D avatars, human connections still stand out. I find that people want to do business with people, so giving your tech brand a voice (literally) can make a difference.
Enter podcasting. Loved for lively conversations, insights and storytelling, this medium is growing in popularity—in 2021, 28% of US citizens listened to podcasts on a weekly basis. That is 17% more than in 2020.
Engaging podcasts can run for an hour without putting listeners to sleep. They’re a great way to present elongated content that promotes thought leadership and tells your brand story (and outdoes the long-winded blog posts!). dubbed “the ads people really want to listen to”, brand podcasts are particularly good at explaining the merits of your brand. But I don’t recommend a hard sell: Podcasters focus on covering interesting topics and only casually mention recommended brands.
Yes, videos can do all this and more. However, podcasts can get into the busy schedules of executives and decision makers. Listeners can tune in even when they’re commuting, jogging, or running errands.
However, you don’t have to cancel one for the other – not when there are platforms that allow you to capture the best of both worlds. For example, My Podcast offers video and audio formats for its podcasts.
Telling data-driven stories
Communication is a two-way street. You have to listen as much as you talk. For many technology companies, collecting and studying data is the best way to listen and get to know your audience. This way, you can gain insights that will help you craft a story that really resonates with your customers.
Airbnb uses data to develop a nuanced understanding of its customers. This helps create content that cultivates trust, which has been essential to their success as a brand. After all, how can you stay in an apartment if you don’t trust the host? The company provides hyper-personalized and real-time recommendations that shape a traveler’s experience. They also spotlight hosts with profiles that tell their stories.
The right communication strategy can make your technology business the next success story, because ultimately I believe that what people want is emotion. You can set your eyes on immersive technologies that captivate potential customers, making them specifically want to work with you. Or you can leverage big data analytics to create a compelling, relatable story that sets you apart. You can also have enlightening, face-to-face conversations that effectively demonstrate the value of your business.
You have to pronounce it anyway. Get creative so your target audience can hear you amid the noise.
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