Category: News

In this blog, Hugh Cadman, Senior Content Creator, shares his thoughts on:

  • The role of case studies in establishing a brand’s credibility
  • Why they’re the gift that keeps on giving
  • The different formats case studies can take

 

Few pieces of content have the electro-magnetic power of a case study. If expertly written, case studies bring solutions to life and establish credibility, describing how a tech business solved a significant challenge for a customer, achieving real, measurable results.

In the B2B tech market, a single case study published on a website or in a top-tier publication can have the power equivalent to hundreds of five-star customer reviews in the consumer sector. For companies that need to grow fast, a case study gives substance to the claims on their website or their marketing materials.

By detailing first-hand the challenges customers or clients were facing, and providing stats and proof-points, a case study strikes an immediate chord with the right audience segment. Potential customers get a clear picture of how a solution or service works and the ROI it provides.

It’s worth the effort – case studies have a long shelf-life

It is true that for many companies, persuading clients to take part in case studies can be tortuous. For tech companies scaling up, their big-name customers carry huge value but are often reluctant. Much can hang on personal relationships.

It is, however, worth investing time in case studies because they have multiple uses and a long shelf-life. They feed into many other types of public relations and marketing content. Reshaped and reworked, the information and endorsements flourish in social media posts, in blogs, as well as in articles in respected target publications.

They can provide the rocket-fuel for award entries and give an eye-catching focus to discussions or round-table events with journalists and analysts. At conferences and events, a snappy presentation based on a case study has genuine impact.

Podcasts and videos

A case study is also ideal material for podcasts and videos. Short-form videos hosted on a company’s website can act as quick introductions to the challenge, how the company solved it and the results achieved.

A podcast can explore the topic at greater length in a conversational manner. This is engaging, easily-digested content that matches the different needs of audiences.

Shout about your customer success stories

In many sectors, such as cyber security, case studies are not so much gold dust as solid nuggets. Quite understandably, major companies are sometimes uneasy talking about their cyber security set-ups and how a solution has transformed their protection.

But if any tech business struggling to get noticed has a customer willing to endorse it in a case study, it should be ready to shout about it as loud as possible. In areas like data management, analytics, AI and managed services, a tech company’s customers can often see the value to their own reputations in a case study. It will demonstrate their commitment to superior service, greater efficiency or customer-focused innovation. It tells investors they are committed to expansion or greater profitability or have made an important strategic shift.

Writing case studies is an art

It is essential, however, that any case study is drafted by people with experience. In some industries, such as telecommunications, lengthy and technical case studies are highly valued. Prospects always want to see the detail. But many audiences now want to get to the point very quickly before making a decision about whether to invest more time exploring the detail to see if it applies to their own business.

Case studies are truly evergreen content, reaching new audiences across numerous channels to establish a business as an expert in its field. Any opportunity to create one should be seized with both hands.

To find out more about how we can support you to develop attention-grabbing case studies, contact the Whiteoaks team today.

In this blog, Hannah Buckley, Head of Content and Service Development, explores:

  • The role of leadership visibility in building credibility for businesses
  • The growing influence and reach of personal LinkedIn profiles
  • How executive visibility programmes help extend the reach of B2B PR campaigns

 

“People buy from people” is something we hear a lot in B2B, and it definitely rings true. Today, people don’t just buy from companies, they buy from the people behind the brand. Whether it’s a prospect checking LinkedIn before a meeting, a journalist looking for an expert source or a potential hire deciding where to work, they want to see the people behind the brand.

All this makes it even more important that business leaders and executives are visible. For brands to cut through the noise and make an impression with decision-makers, they must ensure the human voices behind the business are seen, heard and trusted.

When senior figures are visible, they bring authority and authenticity that brand channels alone can’t replicate. They become trusted sources of industry insight, ambassadors for company culture and better able to forge stronger connections. This visibility is what turns awareness into trust and, ultimately, it’s that trust that will drive action.

Trust becomes a competitive advantage

In markets crowded with similar products, services and claims, trust is often the deciding factor. Decision-makers want reassurance that the people they’ll be working with are credible, informed and engaged. When leaders share their expertise and perspective publicly, whether on LinkedIn or in the media, they make that trust easier to build and it then becomes harder for competitors to undermine.

Opportunities start to find you

Media interviews, panel invitations, industry awards, even judging awards are all opportunities that don’t just happen by chance. They’re often the result of being visible and active in the right places. Journalists and event organisers look for experts who are already demonstrating thought leadership and authority in their field

Visibility strengthens your talent pipeline

Top talent wants to work for leaders they admire. When executives are known for their expertise and values, they naturally attract candidates who share those values. This not only helps to improve the quality of new hires, but also reinforces your company culture from the top down.

It amplifies the brand work you’re already doing

Brand PR, marketing campaigns and corporate messaging are vital in building visibility, but are even more effective when they’re supported by strong personal voices from within the business. Leadership visibility adds a human layer that helps brand messages resonate and inspire action.

Why Now?

The digital landscape is noisier than ever as AI-generated content continues to flood feeds, making it harder for generic corporate messages to stand out. Meanwhile, LinkedIn’s algorithms continue to give individual profiles more organic reach than company pages and as has long been the case, journalists look for credible individuals to quote rather than anonymous brand statements.

For B2B organisations, this has created a window of opportunity. Companies with visible, trusted leaders will set themselves apart in every possible way: awareness, influence and impact.

Taking the Next Step

Consistent, strategic leadership visibility doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a plan, the right positioning and content that’s authentic to the individual while aligned with the business.

That’s why we offer the Executive Visibility Programme – a structured, fully managed way to help leaders and executives strengthen their presence on LinkedIn, in the media and in the market, without adding to their already overloaded schedules.

If you’d like to understand how visible your leadership team is right now and where the opportunities lie for both them and your brand, get in touch.

In this blog, Richard Peters, Senior Content Creator at Whiteoaks, discusses:

  • How Performance PR powers inbound lead generation by building visibility and trust
  • Tactics for earning influence through media coverage, peer advocacy and search-optimised content
  • Practical steps to turn thought leadership, case studies and employee-generated social posts into qualified leads

 

Outbound methods of driving leads are under the spotlight. Smarter spam filters and the influx of AI-generated sales emails are pushing cold email strategies to become irrelevant, and even encouraging organisations to go back to cold calling in some cases.

The ongoing expansion of privacy regulations means that buying lists now carries genuine legal and reputational risk, while with today’s tougher email authentication rules, just a few spam complaints can cause every message from a domain to land in recipients’ junk folders.

As outbound strategies face an uncertain future, inbound strategies are coming to the fore. It is an approach that makes perfect sense when you consider that potential future customers often encounter a brand or visit its website before that business proactively contacts them.

In fact, according to 6sense, 69% of the purchase process happens before B2B buyers engage with sellers. So, it is imperative that businesses can draw these prospects in by ensuring that when they get in touch they get a good impression of the organisation and what it does.

The inbound methodology focuses partly on attracting potential customers with relevant content, but it is also, more broadly, about building reputation and influence. Performance PR plays a crucial role across all these areas by building trust with target audiences.

The inbound advantage

Part of this is via secured media engagements. Dedicated teams of B2B media relations specialists leverage their relationships with key journalists, analysts and influencers to secure content placements and opportunities.

Experienced and expert content creators profile executives within an organisation and elevate brands in industry leading publications, through in-depth thought leadership articles, client case studies and whitepapers.

However, inbound lead generation extends beyond media relations and the formal press environment. It’s about finding ways to shape a business’s reputation. At its root, reputation is a collective perception that is made up from a combination of image and reality.

Businesses that want to create a positive impression need to score highly on several key criteria: being seen and understood, establishing points of differentiation, and perhaps most important of all, being well trusted.

Over the past few years, trust has migrated away from institutions and towards a wide range of other audience groups: customers, colleagues, analysts, niche influencers and user communities.

These peer groups play an increasingly important role in inbound lead generation.

Trust-building tactics that work

There are a wide range of PR tactics that could be deployed to harness these groups to help businesses improve their reputation and begin to exert more influence over prospects.

They include everything from encouraging staff to generate their own content on product launches or industry trends on platforms like LinkedIn and Stack; to building video or written case studies for social right through to encouraging users to deliver positive feedback on review platforms.

Performance PR campaigns also focus on enhancing content for search engines with keyword optimised content and relevant backlinks to boost domain authority.

This makes it more likely for target audiences to see expert articles, bold commentary and informative case studies from the brand when searching for a topic or solution online.

Woven together, these elements create a cycle of visibility and trust that guides potential customers from first glance to genuine interest, often before the sales team is aware of them, or even before they first reach the company website.

Ready to let your expertise do the talking? Speak to the Whiteoaks team today.

In this blog, we discuss:

  • Why AI tools are changing how B2B tech brands are discovered online
  • How PR activity influences the sources that shape AI-generated brand summaries
  • Why consistent, structured content is becoming more important for visibility, accuracy, and trust

 

Ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity about a brand, and you’ll likely get a concise, confident answer, complete with summaries, comparisons and source references. But here’s a couple of questions more B2B tech businesses need to be asking:

Where is that information coming from?

How much control do I have over AI’s responses?

AI tools are now key players in how tech brands are discovered online. Brand visibility is no longer just about publishing great content on your website or being featured in well-known industry publications. Businesses also need to ensure their content is being picked up in an increasingly digital, algorithm-driven space.

In many cases, buyers engage with AI-surfaced brand summaries long before they reach your website or speak to a sales representative. If your PR strategy isn’t influencing how AI algorithms present your brand, it’s missing a growing part of the visibility equation.

What’s feeding AI and why it matters

Behind every AI-generated answer is a set of data points. For brand-related queries, most of those points come from PR-influenced sources: press releases, thought leadership articles in reputable media outlets, owned research reports, social media posts and structured content on company websites.

The things you say and where you say them determine how AI platforms represent your business. It matters more than ever that brands show up accurately, consistently and in the right context.

B2B buyers are increasingly using AI tools to shortcut research, validate vendors and compare solutions. AI-generated responses are often a buyer’s first impression of your brand.

So, if your business isn’t being mentioned, or worse – if it’s being misrepresented – you can lose visibility and control at a crucial stage of the decision-making process. And because AI pulls from existing online sources, these gaps can quickly worsen and become harder to fix.

What AI visibility looks like in practice

AI platforms weigh certain content types and sources more heavily than others. These include:

  • Media coverage: Trusted media outlets carry weight in how your brand is positioned. Trade media and vertical-specific publications are particularly influential in B2B tech because they signal authority and relevance to both human readers and algorithms.
  • Owned content: Well-written, clearly structured website content is more likely to be included in AI responses, especially when it’s tied to specific use cases, customer outcomes or sector-specific language. This kind of content helps AI models build an accurate, contextual picture of what your business does and who it’s for.
  • Social media: Commentary and engagement on platforms like Reddit, X or YouTube often inform how AI tools describe your brand. Sometimes more than formal messaging does. That means employee posts, user feedback and influencer mentions can all contribute to shaping AI-generated narratives.
  • Data structure: AI tools prioritise clean, consistent content. Website elements like metadata, tagging, SEO keywords and formatting help models correctly identify and categorise information. Even small technical and content changes can influence whether your brand is seen as a leading voice or left out altogether.

Why B2B tech brands can’t afford to ignore this

How your brand is summarised, compared and ranked by AI tools affects perception and buyer behaviour. Unlike B2C, B2B tech decisions are rarely made on impulse and are often high-stakes, high-value and high-consideration, involving multiple stakeholders.

Buyers have always relied on third-party validation and thought leadership content to inform their thinking. What’s changed is where that validation comes from, as it’s increasingly filtered through the lens of AI.

When a prospect uses a tool like ChatGPT to research suppliers, validate claims or compare features, they’re relying on whatever data the model can access and stitch together. That includes media coverage, website content, analyst commentary, social posts and industry conversations, all of which sit squarely within the remit of PR.

If your PR efforts aren’t feeding those inputs, or if the messaging across them is inconsistent, you’re not just missing visibility. You’re missing influence, accuracy and relevance at a point where they matter most. You’re also leaving your brand open to misinterpretation.

The value of investing in PR in the AI era

This is where the role of PR becomes more critical, not less. A strong content strategy ensures your brand is present in the sources AI models use to generate responses. But more than that, it helps shape how your brand is understood and interpreted by both people and machines.

An experienced PR agency can help B2B tech brands take control of how they appear in AI-generated content by securing authoritative media coverage in the right national and trade titles, reinforcing the credibility signals that AI tools prioritise.

By drawing on the expertise of skilled content writers, a PR agency can also create structured, searchable content that clearly communicates your key messages and use cases, making it easier for AI systems to interpret and surface the right information.

Just as importantly, a strong PR partner is there to ensure consistency across earned, owned and shared channels, helping brands avoid fragmented or conflicting narratives. And as AI tools evolve, PR specialists can monitor how a brand is being presented and adapt messaging strategies to maintain visibility and relevance over time.

As AI-generated research becomes a standard part of how decisions are made, PR becomes essential for brand visibility, differentiation and trust. If your PR strategy isn’t supporting how your brand appears across AI tools, get in touch with us. And learn how Visibility+, our digital PR service, can help you get seen where it matters most.

In this blog, Tara Williams, HR Director, explores:

  • The relationship between performance and engagement
  • How to keep the spark alive for high performance teams
  • What Whiteoaks does to keep employees engaged

 

When it comes to B2B PR, the pressure to deliver results is real. Tight deadlines, demanding clients and a rapidly evolving media landscape all come with the territory. But amidst the drive for performance, it’s easy to overlook the fuel that powers it all: an engaged team.

At Whiteoaks, we know that performance and engagement aren’t separate goals – they’re intrinsically linked. When your team feels valued, connected and clear on their purpose, they don’t just show up – they show up with intent, energy and commitment.

Here are a few ways we focus on keeping our team engaged and performing at their best:

Clarity first, always

Confusion kills motivation. We’re big on setting clear expectations, goals and priorities. Whether it’s a campaign objective or personal development goal, we ensure everyone knows the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

Our behaviours and values adorn the office walls, acting as a reminder of what’s important.

Career conversations that count

We hold regular, meaningful career conversations to help our people see a future with us – not just a role. When individuals can map their growth to business goals, performance becomes personal.

With team members having been with the company for up to 28 years, the proof is in the pudding!

Celebrating the wins – big and small

Recognition is a powerful motivator, so we ensure we celebrate success. Whether it’s a game-changing campaign result, a new business win or someone simply stepping up when it counts, a well-timed shout-out can go a long way.

We champion each other and shout about each other’s successes, with our reward and recognition schemes celebrating individuals who go above and beyond. And for team and company-wide successes?

Flexibility and belonging

We’ve recently made changes to our in-office days to bring people together more often. In a hybrid world, face time still matters, not for presenteeism, but for connection, collaboration and culture.

We balance this with flexible working hours, allowing our team to strike a work-life balance that suits them.

Listening, then acting

Engagement isn’t a one-way street. We actively listen to feedback through surveys, one-to-ones and informal check-ins. More importantly, we act on what we hear because listening without action breeds cynicism.

As an employee-owned business, we ensure the mechanisms are in place to allow everyone within the agency to have a voice, with our Employee Council taking the lead on driving changes our employees want to see. So far, that’s resulted in enhancements to our maternity and paternity leave packages, increased holiday allowance and social events ranging from the Crystal Maze to curry nights that bring us all together.

The bottom line?

Engaged teams deliver better results. They’re more resilient, creative and invested in outcomes. At Whiteoaks, we don’t just aim for performance – we aim for sustainable performance, powered by people who feel seen, supported and inspired.

Want to join the Whiteoaks team? Take a look at our latest vacancies or learn more about our team.

In this blog, Richard Peters, Senior Content Creator at Whiteoaks, discusses:

  • Why customer-centred storytelling helps B2B tech brands cut through feature-driven noise
  • How to shape narratives around real-world outcomes, proof points and human insight
  • Practical ways to extend one strong story across channels while supporting wider business goals

 

In a technology market crowded with ‘feeds and speeds’, and lengthy lists of features that look and sound much the same, a compelling story can act as the lever that enables your brand to stand out from the crowd and help you connect with your target audience.

For decades, the importance of storytelling in tech PR has been demonstrated by brands using the approach to foster stronger emotional connections with their customers, build trust and ultimately drive sales.

But it’s the nature of the story they are telling that really makes a difference. For B2B technology companies, successful storytelling is never about simply broadcasting product specs or boasting about speed to market. Instead, the focus should be on weaving narratives that resonate with decision-makers and spark conversations that convert interest into contract wins.

That strong engagement with the end audience is key to successful storytelling, of course. B2B businesses, after all, frequently convince themselves that they have a compelling story to tell but in reality, these stories often struggle to excite external targets.

The launch of a new company website, for example, may seem big news to the business concerned but customers, prospects and partners are likely to be left cold. That’s because, when told straight, the story lacks the “so what?” factor that can translate an internal narrative into a proposition that addresses industry pain points and can make stakeholders across a target market sit up and pay attention.

That doesn’t mean that the story itself has no value but rather that the business needs to find a new angle.


Framing the narrative in a different way

Successful storytelling depends not just on the story but the way that story is told. That’s true even in the case of the new website. It is a dry narrative, if told straight, but shift the angle to the customer benefit: faster self-service, a refreshed knowledge base and improved uptime for support and the same announcement starts to matter.

The most effective examples of storytelling also have a human element. Tech solutions often sound abstract: algorithms, machine learning models, API cycles. Without context, they remain just words on a spec sheet. Good storytelling brings those concepts to life.

By framing your innovation around a customer challenge – whether that’s reducing supply-chain bottlenecks, or powering next-generation healthcare analytics, you highlight tangible outcomes and engage your end audience.

When prospects hear about how a manufacturing firm has reduced downtime by 30% or how a hospital has cut waiting times by 20%, they don’t just see dry statistics, they see real world benefits they can potentially tap into.

This kind of third party endorsement proves that the story the business is telling, and the benefits they are talking about, are true. Audiences are much more likely to start caring about the solution as a result.

                                                                                                     

Building credibility and trust

Trust is earned, not assumed. Peer validation, case studies, testimonials, analyst endorsements play a central role in B2B tech buying decisions. A story rich with credible data points and authentic voices invites readers to believe in your brand.

Openly sharing the challenges that your product team faced and explaining how they subsequently overcame them to develop an innovative new solution, shows transparency. It reassures stakeholders that you understand the market’s demands and have the expertise to deliver.

 

Aligning with business objectives

Effective B2B PR doesn’t exist in a silo. Organisations must always ensure that they clearly align their storytelling efforts with the broader commercial and strategic goals of the business, whether that’s a new product launch, a funding round, or the opening of a new international office.

A well-timed narrative around your latest platform upgrade, for example, has the potential to support investor communications, social media campaigns, keynote presentations and sales collateral in unison. This consistency amplifies impact, ensuring every channel delivers a cohesive message.

 

Engaging through multiple channels

Quality narratives can, and should also have a long shelf life. A single, well-crafted story can fuel diverse content assets: press releases, by-lined articles, multimedia case studies, podcasts and social media posts. B2B tech businesses can, for example, transform a customer success story into a short video that highlights client testimonials, then distil key statistics into an infographic.

By repackaging the core narrative across formats and sharing across owned and earned media, businesses can meet their audience where they consume information, enhancing reach and engagement, and ensuring that the story keeps delivering benefits for them over the longer term.

 

Measuring impact

Storytelling effectiveness can also be measured. Organisations can track media pickup, share of voice, social engagement rates and website traffic to relevant content.

You can even supplement these metrics with qualitative feedback from analysts, messages from prospects or anecdotal evidence from their team. When you see a spike in inbound demo requests following a high-profile thought leadership piece, you know your story has had genuine traction.

For B2B tech companies, storytelling is a strategic imperative. Narratives that humanise technology, reinforce credibility and differentiate your brand can accelerate media coverage, fuel demand generation and strengthen customer relationships.

By consistently applying storytelling best practices across channels and aligning them with business objectives, tech PR teams can turn abstract innovation into compelling reasons for audiences to listen, engage and ultimately act.

Ready to get your tech story heard? Speak to the Whiteoaks team today.

In this blog by Sophie King, Associate Director, we look at:

  • Why owned research is valuable for B2B tech brands
  • Maximising research’s reach
  • Three ways to ensure research produces tangible results

 

In the competitive world of B2B technology, establishing thought leadership and standing out from the crowd is essential. One powerful tool for achieving this is owned research, designed to generate original thought leadership on topics that matter to your audience. It offers brands an opportunity to deliver unique content that resonates, helps build credibility and drives PR efforts.

However, to maximise the impact of owned research, it should be integrated into a wider marketing strategy, and not just seen as a one-off PR exercise. Here’s how B2B technology brands can use owned research effectively and amplify it across their marketing channels.

Why Owned Research is Valuable for B2B Tech Brands

At its core, owned research refers to custom data gathered through a survey, study or report commissioned by your company. Unlike secondary research, owned research allows brands to address specific challenges or trends relevant to their audience, producing data-driven insights that can be used to generate compelling narratives and content that can be used in all manner of different ways.

For B2B tech companies, owned research is a chance to move beyond general industry reports and provide something new that positions you as a thought leader. But while research is a powerful tool, its success depends on how well it’s integrated into your broader marketing strategy. To achieve maximum impact, the findings can underpin everything from press releases to social media campaigns, ensuring your brand is recognised as a credible, authoritative source in its sector.

Here’s our top tips on how to maximise its reach:

  • Repurpose Content Across Platforms: Don’t limit the research to one format. While the classic eBook format has its place as a hero asset within a lead-gen campaign, there’s value in repurposing key findings into blog posts, videos or even podcast episodes. Each channel reaches a different segment of your audience, ensuring your research has broader visibility.
  • Coordinate with PR Outreach: Use the research as a hook for your PR campaigns. Pitch findings to relevant media outlets and industry publications, offering them exclusive insights or commentary on the results. This creates the opportunity for earned media coverage and can establish your brand as an authority.
  • Align with your Event Calendar: Research insights can form the basis of event concepts and messaging, providing you with an powerful differentiator against a sea of other attendees. The data from surveys can be used to fuel panel discussions or speaker slots, letting you engage directly with your audience while reinforcing your thought leadership position.
  • Engage with Influencers: Industry influencers or thought leaders can help amplify your research. Collaborate with them to share the results on social platforms, extending your reach to their networks.

Starting a research project from scratch can feel daunting, so to ensure your research produces tangible results, keep these tips in mind:

1) Plan for Headlines from the Start
It’s important to start the research process with a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Think about the key insights or headlines you want the media to pick up. Without a clear focus, you might end up with a report full of generic data that doesn’t provide value. Consider what your audience cares about and what gaps exist in the industry. This will guide the creation of meaningful research that generates buzz.

2) Get Senior Stakeholder Buy-In Early
Research projects require a significant investment of time and resources. To ensure alignment with broader company objectives, it’s crucial to get buy-in from senior stakeholders early on. Their involvement helps shape the research and ensures that the findings are closely aligned with your strategic goals, increasing the likelihood of long-term impact.

3) Define Success Metrics
Before the research kicks off, define what success looks like. Will you measure media coverage, social media engagement or lead generation? Setting clear KPIs upfront will allow you to track the effectiveness of your research and optimise for better results. For example, metrics like press coverage, social shares or eBook downloads can indicate how well your content is resonating with the target audience.

Turning Research into Results

Owned research is a valuable tool for any B2B technology brand looking to differentiate itself in a crowded market. However, it’s not solely about the research itself – it’s about how you use it. By integrating it into your broader marketing strategy, from PR content and social media posts to hero eBooks and event collateral, you can maximise its impact and create a strong foundation for long-term thought leadership.

By following best practices and setting clear goals from the outset, B2B tech brands can leverage owned research to build credibility, generate PR narratives and drive engagement across multiple touchpoints.

Find out more about some of our work in this area for clients, including a cybersecurity industry report for Bridewell, which saw us generate 697 pieces of coverage, or our integrated research campaign activity for InterSystems, which saw us deliver a full suite of creative assets.

In this blog, we explore:

  • The communications challenges SaaS brands need to consider when expanding into new markets
  • How Performance PR can help build visibility, credibility and demand internationally
  • How to measure the impact of PR activity across different regions

 

You’re a SaaS brand and you’ve set your eyes on expansion. You’re now weighing up the risks.

Is this the right time?

Will the move accelerate your brand?

How can you replicate the successes of your initial launch in regions which you are entirely unfamiliar with? 

Well let us reassure you, SaaS growth is on the up and is globally forecast to grow nearly 20% between now and 2032.

India’s market is projected to reach $9.22 billion by 2029, growing at 25% annually and outpacing both the US and Europe. Germany’s sector is expected to hit €16.3 billion this year, building on five years of strong momentum. 

North America still holds the lion’s share, but as you can see from the stats above, the rest of the world is opening up. If overseas expansion is part of your roadmap, then there’s no better time than now, provided it’s done with clarity and conviction.

And luckily, Performance PR can help you do that. 

The challenges of global expansion for B2B SaaS brands

Expanding internationally demands more than switching languages or updating your pricing page. It’s a shift which will reshape how your software is seen, understood and trusted in an entirely new context.

For SaaS brands, this challenge is magnified. You’re often selling a product which relies heavily on perceived value before anyone even sees a demo. 

For starters, there are local expectations to consider. What feels normal and trustworthy in one region might fall flat – or worse – feel tone deaf in another. Buyers want to know what you offer, yes, but they also want to feel like you understand their challenges and realities.

There’s also the balancing act of staying true to your brand. As you adapt your messaging, how do you make sure you don’t lose the distinctive voice and values which set you apart? Compromise too much, and your identity starts to blur. Too little, and you risk coming across as out of touch.

Language is only the beginning. Cultural nuance, preferred channels of communication and even the pace of engagement vary wildly from one market to the next. Content which performs well in the UK might land differently in Germany, and miss the mark entirely in India.

You also need to think about who holds influence – because for software brands like yourself, visibility without credibility means nada. Industry analysts? Media outlets? Events, thought leaders? They aren’t usually the same from region to region. If you don’t know who they are or how to reach them, your story risks going unheard, and no-one taking you seriously.

If these challenges aren’t tackled deliberately, the result is slower traction and weaker impact. The momentum you were counting on never quite materialises. And, once you’ve launched without it, it’s much harder to recover.

This is where a strong Performance PR campaign can give your SaaS brand the edge. It can help you land the launches and enter the markets you’re aiming for with confidence and credibility.

Launching your SaaS brand in new markets 

When you’re entering a new market, it’s easy to focus on the mechanics such as press releases, landing pages and maybe a few events. But step back for a moment and ask: what are we really trying to achieve here?

A successful PR launch should create visibility among the right people. You also want to build credibility with them quickly and speak to them in a way which lands.

Generating attention is great, but your PR should also drive engagement and impact – this could be in the form of traffic, leads, interest from analysts or conversations sparked with future partners. 

However, all of that doesn’t happen by accident.

How Performance PR can help

It starts by understanding exactly what success looks like, and then it builds towards that. 

Every activity is measurable through KPIs – tied to the activities in the campaign – which are aligned with your business goals from day one. 

So therefore every headline, every byline or LinkedIn post should have a clear purpose. The integrated nature of modern PR (which includes media relations, social media, content and creative) amplifies every part of a campaign making it far more likely you’ll hit the business goals.

There’s usually a lot riding on launching into a new market. You want to make sure your spend is actually doing what it should do and giving you a return on investment. 

Fortunately Whiteoaks’ commitment to ‘fixed fees for fixed outcomes’ supports this. We work closely with clients to agree to targets which connect with your overall business objectives and we guarantee that if those agreed targets are not met, you get your money back.

It gives you peace of mind when you’re expected to build recognition fast, win trust in unfamiliar territory and spark demand without the luxury of time.

It also keeps us accountable.

How we measure success of market expansion 

Metrics we’d use to measure market expansion could include: 

  • Growing your share of voice against regional competitors
  • Securing coverage in trusted, influential tech and business media
  • Driving high-quality traffic to localised landing pages
  • Increasing branded search in new geographies
  • Encouraging trials, sign-ups or subscriptions through integrated PR and content touchpoints

 

The Whiteoaks way

As a B2B tech PR agency, we’re part of an international network of trusted partners. This allows us to bring reach and regional insight to your campaigns through specialists who know the nuance of their markets inside out.

Our local partners open doors to analysts, media, events and conversations wherever you’re expanding to. They can help refining tone, reworking content, or selecting the right local channels so your story gets told in the right way but still making sure your brand still feels like your brand.

You’ve no need to handle the coordination across regions. We operate as your lead agency and your one point of contact.  

Every region is measured and tracked, so you know exactly what’s working, where and why.

If you’re a SaaS brand looking to go global, we’ll help you break boundaries, cross borders and land with impact. Find out how we can help. 

In this blog, Hannah Buckley, Head of Content and Service Development, explains:

  • What digital PR is and how it differs from traditional PR
  • The fundamentals of digital PR strategy
  • How digital PR helps B2B tech businesses become discoverable, including in AI-generated search results

 

What is digital PR?

Digital PR has become a core part of how B2B tech brands build visibility and credibility online. But what exactly is it, and how does it differ from traditional PR?

In short, digital PR is the practice of gaining online coverage, backlinks and engagement through content, media relations and digital-first outreach strategies. It combines the goals of traditional PR, including building brand reputation, trust and awareness, with the tactics of SEO and digital marketing like keyword research, search intent and earned media that doubles as authoritative backlinks.

The result is campaigns that not only increase brand awareness but also improve search performance and drive relevant traffic to your website. Along the way, digital PR naturally builds up the entities search engines associate with your brand: domain authority, earned media and topical relevance in your sector.

Ultimately, digital PR is an essential part of creating sustainable online growth while ensuring your expertise is visible where your audience is actively searching.

What does digital PR involve?

An effective digital PR strategy combines content marketing, media relations and SEO tactics to maximise online visibility. As with traditional PR, the focus of digital PR is on quality, relevance and outcomes rather than volume alone.

Typical activities include:

  • Creating thought leadership content that appeals to your desired target audience
  • Developing blogs and website content to target high-value keywords
  • Pitching stories and insights to online media outlets and journalists
  • Securing media coverage with backlinks on high-authority websites
  • Engaging with relevant online communities and industry influencers. In a B2B context, this means analysts, journalists and association leaders, not consumer social media personalities
  • Amplifying earned media through digital channels, including social media and email campaigns

Digital PR vs traditional PR

At this point, you may be wondering how digital PR differs from traditional PR. While traditional PR spans print, broadcast and online media, digital PR is entirely geared towards online platforms.

The tactics behind traditional and digital PR are similar and must include strong storytelling, relevant outreach and a clear understanding of your target audience.

At Whiteoaks, we see digital PR as part of an integrated PR programme, not competing with it. What differs is intent, methodology and measurement.

  • Primary goal: Traditional PR centres on improving brand awareness and strengthening brand reputation. Digital PR focuses on improving search visibility and referral traffic.
  • Channels: Traditional PR works across print, television, radio and online media. Digital PR works across online publications, backlinks and digital channels like blogs, email and social media.
  • Approach: Traditional PR is underpinned by compelling storytelling and strong media relationships. Digital PR is built on keyword research and gap analysis.
  • How it’s measured: Traditional PR is often measured by coverage volume, sentiment and publications’ reach. Digital PR is measured by backlink quality, increases in search engine rankings and web traffic.

Why is digital PR important for B2B technology companies?

B2B buyers often begin their purchasing journey through search engines, and, increasingly, through AI-powered search experiences. Research from Forrester has found that B2B buyers complete a majority of their research independently before ever speaking to a salesperson, and that share has grown as self-serve and AI-assisted research have become the norm.

For B2B tech brands, digital PR plays a key role in building trust and authority in that self-directed research phase. At the heart of it is ensuring that when your audience searches for solutions, your brand is both discoverable and credible.

While integrated PR programmes do a lot of the groundwork in building reputation and credibility, digital PR is what makes that reputation discoverable.

By creating keyword-optimised content and earning domain-authority-boosting backlinks, digital PR strategies improve online visibility and direct potential customers to your site, connecting your expertise with the people actively looking for it.

How digital PR supports SEO

Digital PR strengthens SEO in a few concrete ways, including earning high-quality backlinks, increasing domain authority, generating referral traffic and creating content aligned with what your audience is actually searching for.

Backlinks remain one of the clearest, most researched ranking signals.

Backlinko and Ahrefs’ analysis of 11.8 million Google search results found that the number one organic search result carries an average of 3.8 times more backlinks than pages in positions two to ten, and that a site’s overall link authority (domain rating) correlates strongly with higher rankings.

The same study also found that around 95% of pages have zero backlinks at all, which is exactly why the rare, high-authority ones earned through digital PR carry so much weight. Most content never earns a single link, so the pieces that do, stand out disproportionately.

Investing in digital PR is also increasingly the most effective way to earn those links.

Editorial.Link’s 2025 survey of 518 SEO professionals found digital PR was rated the most effective link-building tactic by 48.6% of respondents. That’s exactly where a strong digital PR programme earns its keep: newsworthy, research-led content that journalists and publications want to cover, and link to, on its own merits.

Digital PR and AI search visibility

As AI-powered search engines increasingly summarise content from authoritative sources, digital PR plays an important role in building the credibility and topical authority needed for AI visibility.

Behind every AI-generated answer sits a set of inputs the model is drawing on, and for B2B brands, those are usually exactly what a good digital PR programme already produces: press releases, thought leadership articles, owned research and clearly structured content.

That’s not a coincidence, and it’s not really a new discipline either. GEO and AEO get talked about as if they’re a separate skill B2B brands now need to bolt on. In practice, they reward the same fundamentals PR has always been built on: credible third-party coverage, consistent messaging and content that spells out what a business does and who it’s for.

The brands showing up well in AI-generated answers tend to be the ones already doing this properly, not the ones chasing a new set of tactics.

The stakes are higher than they were even a year ago, simply because so much research now happens inside an AI conversation rather than on a search results page.

If your brand isn’t part of what those tools have learned to draw on, or worse, if what’s out there about you is insufficient or inconsistent, you’re not just missing a ranking opportunity. You’re missing a say in how you get described to a buyer who may never visit your site at all.

We’ve written about this shift in more depth in the blog titled Why your next PR strategy needs to account for AI-generated brand visibility, which looks at exactly what AI platforms weigh most heavily and what that means for how B2B tech brands should be investing their PR effort.

Why choose Whiteoaks for digital PR

When combined with our Performance PR approach, digital PR extends your reach, reinforces your messaging and delivers measurable results across platforms, making it an effective, integrated B2B PR programme.

Whiteoaks combines digital PR, Performance PR and SEO-aware content to deliver measurable business outcomes. Our deliberately different approach, backed by 30+ years of B2B tech PR experience and a fixed fee for fixed outcomes with a money-back guaranteed model, helps technology companies increase online visibility, improve search performance, build authority and generate meaningful commercial results. You can see the approach in action across our client case studies.

Want to start seeing improvements in rankings and referral traffic to your website? Get in touch to find out how our digital PR services can help or explore how it fits alongside Performance PR for a fully integrated approach.

 

FAQs

What is digital PR?

Digital PR is the practice of improving online visibility through content marketing, media outreach, backlinks and digital-first PR strategies that support both brand awareness and SEO.

How does digital PR improve SEO?

Digital PR improves SEO by earning authoritative backlinks, increasing domain authority, generating referral traffic and creating content aligned with search intent, helping websites rank higher and appear more often in relevant search results.

What is the difference between digital PR and traditional PR?

Traditional PR focuses primarily on brand awareness through media coverage across print, broadcast and online. Digital PR aims to improve online discoverability, search rankings and website performance using SEO-focused strategies and backlink acquisition.

Why is digital PR important for B2B businesses?

Digital PR helps B2B businesses build trust, increase online visibility, generate qualified website traffic and establish authority within competitive markets where buyers do most of their research online before ever contacting a vendor.

Can digital PR improve AI search visibility?

Yes. High-quality content, authoritative backlinks and trusted media coverage help build the expertise and credibility that AI-powered search engines use when selecting reliable sources for AI-generated answers and overviews.

In this blog by Hayley Goff, CEO, and Sophie King, Associate Director, Whiteoaks, we talk about the key takeways from our recent webinar, including:

  • The importance of tying PR to business objectives
  • How integrated campaigns deliver stronger impact
  • Why measurement should focus on outcomes, not just outputs

 

PR often gets tarnished with the “fluffy” brush. 61% of PR professionals struggle to link PR to business goals, driving the perception that campaigns fail to demonstrate clear, measurable value.

And it’s unfortunately been a very real past experience for some of our clients. We hear of experiences with previous agencies where contracted hours have been used up halfway through a month with little to show for it, with activity then put on pause until the following month. This serves to not only create questions about an agency’s accountability, but about such models themselves.

With mounting pressure on B2B tech brands to prove the impact of every marketing investment, PR needs to connect the dots between activity and outcomes.

In our recent webinar, “If it’s not measurable, it’s meaningless: How to use PR for B2B tech”, Whiteoaks CEO Hayley Goff and Associate Director Sophie King explained how businesses can turn PR into a strategic, measurable asset. Here are some of the key takeaways:

PR with purpose

PR isn’t just how many times the name of a company or spokesperson appears in different media; it has a much greater purpose.

Coverage views on an article are great, but they don’t tell businesses if they’re making any measurable progress towards real outcomes. For example, if the objective of PR activity is to drive consideration for a product launch, supporting content needs to encourage engagement from potential buyers.

Effective measurement begins with clear objectives, whether that’s driving brand awareness, breaking into a new market or even supporting recruitment efforts. And different objectives may have different target audiences, such as customers, investors, analysts or future hires.

That’s why when we embark on a project with a new client, one of the first things we do is connect PR to these business priorities. We then show how our strategy links to those objectives and report back against them, proving our accountability to our clients.

Reaching audiences in different ways

So, what does a measurable campaign look like? Today’s best ones aren’t run in siloes. Whiteoaks’ Performance PR model brings together media relations, content, social and creative in one package.

A B2B tech brand might have a strong news story to share with the press, but it could actually be more impactful if it’s also repurposed on LinkedIn, for example. Shared on a social media platform, it can be backed by a visual campaign, supported by thought leadership content and amplified by colleagues on their personal profiles.

It’s about creating the opportunities for audiences to engage in different ways via a mix of touchpoints.

Audience-centric measurement

Audience-centric measurement is vital to gauge the effectiveness of campaigns, this can include metrics that align with visibility, engagement and impact.

Impact is often considered the holy grail of audience measurement, as it reflects how PR activity has influenced an audience’s perceptions or actions. Impact can be seen in a few different ways, such as changes in brand consideration, reputation, lead generation or new partnerships.

The old perceptions of PR as being based on vanity metrics or impossible to measure are outdated. Proving the business value of PR is entirely possible, with the right strategy behind it. By setting clear objectives from the outset, aligning activity to strategic priorities and measuring what really matters, PR can become a critical part of a brand’s growth story.

When campaigns are integrated, purposeful and designed with impact in mind, they deliver far more than coverage stats. They deliver tangible outcomes.

Want to find out more about how to turn PR into a strategic, measurable asset for your business? Download the full webinar to hear more from Hayley and Sophie.