Thought Leadership Archives

As we come to the end of the year, it feels like the right moment to look ahead at what 2026 might bring for B2B tech and PR. As you might expect, AI does make a few appearances in this year’s predictions, but it’s far from the whole story. We asked a few of our team members to share the trends they think will matter most – and if you fancy seeing how last year’s forecasts held up, you can take a look at them here.

Trend one: Businesses can no longer afford to ignore AI search

Hannah Buckley, Head of Content and Service Development

“2025 has been the year when more and more B2B companies have begun to take notice of AI-driven search,” says Hannah.

“2026 will be the year when they begin to take it seriously.”

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, are fundamentally designed for content generation, not information retrieval. However, more and more people are using them for recommendations and to answer everyday questions, sometimes bypassing traditional search engines altogether.

ChatGPT traffic is up 4.9% month-on-month, while Google’s fell 2.8% marking a sustained shift in user discovery habits. Even with a modest 0.24% traffic share, the growth rate signals behavioural change: more people are beginning their searches in AI platforms, especially in content-heavy industries like finance, news and tech.

“AI search isn’t going anywhere, if anything it’s just going to get more and more powerful in the coming years so now’s the opportunity for B2B companies to capitalise on it, waiting another year could be a costly mistake,” says Hannah.

“Businesses can’t afford to ignore the AI-search opportunity, it has completely changed how people access information, both personally and professionally, and failing to embrace this change in search behaviour will mean their competitors will begin appearing in their place.”

The shift won’t kill traditional SEO, but it will fragment it. Audiences are redistributing across Google, Bing and AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity – meaning brands must adapt their PR and content to be found across all of them.

LLMs prioritise rich, expert-led sources, making earned media and owned thought leadership essential inputs for AI discoverability. Every credible article or citation now doubles as training data for tomorrow’s AI search.

Finally, Hannah says: “Businesses that fail to factor this into their plans will begin to lose out as decision-makers increasingly turn to ChatGPT, AI Overviews and other LLMs to do the bulk of the due diligence for them.”

Trend two: Visible leaders will drive LLM visibility

Sophie King, Associate Director

As AI search reshapes how information is found and trusted, it’s not just brand content that will matter – but who’s behind it. LLMs will increasingly summarise and surface expert voices, and as a result (and not without irony), credibility will need to be demonstrably human again. The names and profiles of founders, CEOs and senior leaders are now key inputs in how both people and algorithms decide who to believe.

“As LLMs become core to research and product discovery, brands need identifiable human voices to build trust and visibility,” says Sophie.

“This is placing even more importance on executive profiling, positioning founders and senior leaders as credible authorities. Executives are no longer just spokespeople; they’re part of a brand’s discoverability infrastructure across platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini.”

To influence both buyers and LLMs, B2B tech brands need to treat their senior leaders as strategic visibility assets. What does that look like in the real world? It means developing media-ready profiles, giving executives clear thought leadership pillars which support commercial priorities and ensuring they are contributing expert commentary to trusted industry outlets.

Brands with leaders who are regularly quoted, searchable and associated with specific areas of expertise will be more discoverable across AI platforms – and will also be more credible to human audiences.

Trend three: Engagement beyond your feed will fuel LinkedIn growth

Natalia Kaczmarek, Digital Content Manager

In 2026, LinkedIn will really put the ‘engage’ back into engagement. Posting consistently used to be the main driver of profile growth, but as the algorithm shifts away from passive signals such as likes and posting frequency, more weight will sit with those who actively participate. For brands, this means thinking beyond what goes on your own feed and developing a clear approach for how you interact with others.

“Thoughtful comments that go beyond polite nods, and reposts that add a clear point of view, will travel further than a simple ‘like’,” says Natalia.

With organic reach from company pages continuing to decline, growth will come from joining key discussions early, whether that’s with customers, partners or recognised industry voices.

“Brands should treat comments as content in their own right, not as housekeeping, and make them useful enough that others want to respond or reference them,” says Natalia.

Natalia explains that a simple daily routine is the most effective way to build consistent visibility. Start by identifying active threads where your expertise can add something useful or constructively provocative. Contribute there first, then publish your own post once you’ve already shown up in the conversation. This creates momentum and gives your posts a better chance of being seen.

Teams should also monitor the metrics LinkedIn now provides for comments, such as impressions and replies sparked, and link these to the profile visits and new followers driven by comment activity.

Meaningful, authentic interaction runs through all of these trends, so it’s no surprise that low-effort or AI-generated responses will be the first to have their reach limited.

Trend four: PR will become the starting point for your strategy

Hayley Goff, Chief Executive Officer

In 2026, PR will become the starting point for all campaigns – shaping the direction, narrative and creative ideas that everything else builds from.

“It’s no longer just about securing coverage, it’s about setting the tone for everything else,” Hayley says.

“PR defines the positioning, shapes the messaging and helps craft the creative ideas that carry across every channel, from media placements to blogs and digital advertising. It’s the glue that holds a campaign together.”

This shift mirrors a theme we’ve explored throughout our Silo Series: campaigns only work when PR, content, SEO, social and creative all move in the same direction. When those disciplines operate separately, the narrative becomes fragmented. When PR leads the thinking, those silos break down. The insight, message and creative direction are aligned from the outset, giving every channel the same foundation to build on.

Around 70% of B2B buyers now engage with video during their purchasing journey, which is why Hayley expects PR to take on a much larger role in multimedia storytelling. As audiences spend more time with video, animation and interactive content, PR will need to shape narratives that work across these formats too.

Trend five: Authentic video will rise above the noise

Mark Wilson, Creative Director

More than half of B2B marketers report that video generates the highest ROI. At the same time, AI-generated content is filling feeds, and viewers are becoming wary of anything which feels too slick. That combination puts real weight behind honest, human-led video.

Whiteoaks Creative Director Mark Wilson says brands shouldn’t worry too much about imperfect lighting or framing – those details can actually signal authenticity. The real opportunity lies in showing what AI can’t replicate: genuine people, unscripted moments and spontaneous, human-led content.

“This shift will increase the need for businesses to create relevant, authentic and real video content, as people still buy from people,” he says. If you prioritise honest, human-led video, you’ll build more trust and stand out in a sea of synthetic content.

What do you make of our team’s predictions? If you’re a B2B tech brand, how do these trends line up with your view of PR and your goals for 2026? If any of them reflect where you want to go next, we’d be happy to talk about how we can help you put them into action.

New eBook!

When PR campaigns begin to stall, budgets get squeezed or goals shift, the answer isn’t “do more”. It’s to pause and reset. A deliberate reset helps clarify what’s working, what isn’t and where to focus so you can move forward with direction, rebuild and kickstart your PR into a high-performing trajectory.

Our new eBook, “Hit the button: The big PR reset”, is a practical guide to resetting and realigning PR with business priorities to deliver measurable results. Bringing together expertise from across our Senior Leadership Team, it covers everything from refreshing strategy and messaging, and resetting KPIs to securing leadership and finance buy-in.

Read the full eBook to:

Diagnose where PR is under-performing and, importantly, why
Learn how to integrate digital PR and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) to build visibility
Turn owned data into stories that resonate
Prove impact with clear KPIs and CFO-friendly reporting

Ready to hit reset? Get in touch for personalised recommendations on how a Performance PR approach can help you align goals, prove impact and deliver lasting results.

In this blog, Tara Williams, HR Director at Whiteoaks, considers:

Where internal comms goes wrong
The consequences for engagement and motivation
Why this is the best time of year to put it right with expert help

Sharp, up-to-date and eye-catching internal communications are vital to motivate your employees, align them with your business aims and nurture the right culture that aids growth.

But are you sure your social media content, welcome packs, newsletters, training videos or handbooks are up to the job? Many communications teams keep putting off the task of updating their employee-focused content and the result is the HR equivalent of stale turkey sandwiches after Christmas.

Out-of-date, tired and repetitive – it may have been snapped up eagerly once but now gives everyone the impression the business is low on energy or lacks strong direction. Employees lose focus and trust drains away.

For many businesses (certainly not for all) the run-up to Christmas can be a period of lower intensity when there is time for HR or comms teams to take a fresh look at the content on all their internal channels.

Research shows internal comms need attention

Why? Well, the Institute of Internal Communication’s 2025 Index, surveyed almost 5,000 UK employees and found only 13% were prepared to award their organisation ten-out-of-ten for the way it communicates with them.

About a quarter (26%) of employees gave responses indicating they were “deeply disconnected” from the organisation and its leadership and 13% “wanted more”, some of them feeling their organisation’s leaders were unspontaneous and always scripted in their communications. The report emphasises the effectiveness of communications when employees feel they are genuinely from the CEO or departmental heads – especially when it comes to explaining strategy.

There is clearly work to be done on workforce engagement. This year’s Gallup State of the Global Workplace report found that only 10% of UK employees regard themselves as “engaged”. Of course, it is easy to find people willing to be negative, but these figures are too low for comfort and lead to poor retention. Three-in-ten UK employees told Gallup they were watching for or actively seeking a new job.

The after-effects of stale internal comms

The fact is – many internal comms materials are under-performing.

Badly-crafted internal coms make it more likely employees will rely on the internal rumour mill and their colleagues for up-to-date information. But there is a more deep-seated problem with loss of trust in everything from the HR department to the leadership. Employees may feel their leaders are ducking the real issues, such as AI and how it will affect their work.

On a purely practical level, out-of-date internal comms also increase business risk when employees are left in the dark about important changes to working practices, regulation or new initiatives.

Why now is the right time to collaborate on new content

The run-up to the festive season is a good time to overhaul internal comms if there is a slight drop-off in intensity, making it easier for comms professionals and HR to get senior leadership attention.

Working with people who are experts in content and know how to join all the dots together right across every channel, teams can start creating training videos that are more relevant. They can use senior executive input to sharpen up internal messaging on strategy. The aim is to craft content that is pin-sharp, up-to-date, captivating and motivating.

Perhaps the entire employee value proposition is overdue a serious refresh. Whatever it is, your internal comms will benefit from external, objective expertise in messaging and design.

Get everyone focused on the right things

With new ideas, the whole organisation will feel fully connected, with everyone working to the same goals and more aware of how they achieve them. If you work in HR, you won’t be scratching your head about why so many employees never seem on-message.

If November and December are quieter times in your business, now is the time to do it. Don’t be left with internal comms materials that are the equivalent of stale turkey sandwiches.

To find out more about how Whiteoaks can help transform your internal communications across social media, video, onboarding packages, HR policy audits, handbooks and the refreshing of your employee value proposition, book a meeting with me or with our creative director Mark Wilson.

In this blog we discuss:

How AI-powered search is changing visibility
Why GEO complements SEO, and how PR builds the credibility, authority and consistency AI systems rely on
Practical ways to measure AI visibility using citations, quality coverage, sentiment and domain authority

“Search engines are dead!”

It’s the kind of bold claim marketers love to throw around whenever something new comes along and shakes things up. But this time, there’s almost certainly a real shift. Since Google’s global rollout of AI Overviews in 2024, users are now getting more instant answers – created by artificial intelligence – in the SERPS than lists of links.

And it’s not just Google’s AI Overviews, other AI-powered engines are also being adopted more widely; ChatGPT now sees around 700 million weekly users, up from 350 million at the start of the year. Google’s AI Overview reaches two billion monthly users and Microsoft Copilot has surpassed 100 million monthly activities.

This matters because AI is changing how people search, discover and make decisions. Instead of browsing pages, users are now increasingly relying on AI-generated answers that pull together information for them. That means fewer clicks through to websites and less visibility for brands focused only on traditional search. To stay visible, brands need to make sure their content and reputation feed the information AI tools use to create those answers.

What determines visibility in AI search?

In the past, the goal was to get your web pages to rank for key phrases. Now, the goal has shifted from ranking to inclusion: being cited or referenced within AI-generated responses. To achieve that, your brand needs to be recognised as a reliable source the AI can draw from when forming its answers. That’s what we call AI visibility – how often your brand, products or content are mentioned or referenced in AI-powered tools like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT or Perplexity.

SEO vs. GEO

As AI changes how people discover information, the race for rankings is giving way to a new goal – inclusion. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is emerging as the way to help content appear in AI-generated answers and summaries. If you’re a B2B tech brand, you might be thinking: we’ve spent years on SEO – creating content, earning backlinks and targeting keywords – and now we need to learn GEO too? The short answer is yes, but if you’re already investing in PR, especially digital PR, you’re ahead of the curve.

AI systems are trained to identify credible voices and surface reliable sources. Brands featured in reputable publications, backed by expert commentary and linked to by authoritative domains are more likely to be included in AI-generated results. And those are exactly the outcomes strong PR delivers.

Why PR and GEO belong together

So if PR can shape the datasets which AI uses to define authority, then really we shouldn’t be thinking about them as two separate disciplines at all. They’re two parts of the same engine driving how your brand gets seen and trusted online. As we’ve been exploring through the Silo Series, we need to start breaking down barriers between how we think of PR and other channels. In the series we’ve already talked about how PR fuels pipelines and now it’s obvious that we should also be thinking of AI-powered search in the same way.

How your PR engine can power AI visibility

It creates the credible content AI wants to feature: Authoritative, well-placed PR stories make your brand more likely to be cited as a trusted source because AI systems look for these kinds of voices when generating answers. Thought leadership, expert commentary and original research from PR offers that credibility.
PR builds the digital signals AI recognises as authority: Media coverage, podcasts and interviews across respected outlets create the consistent signals AI models use to decide who to trust. The more visible your brand, the more likely AI is to include it.
PR helps your brand’s long-term visibility: As AI search favours evergreen, informative content over fleeting news, any PR which focuses on analysis, advice and insight will be more likely to be included in AI summaries.
Good PR builds trust: Accuracy and transparency are core to PR and essential to AI visibility. Fact-checked stories, reliable messaging and credible coverage help ensure your brand is surfaced in AI results.

The above fundamentals – credibility, authority, consistency and sentiment – sit at the heart of everything PR already does. They also happen to be the same signals AI uses to decide which brands to feature and trust. That means if you’re already investing in PR, you’re going to be in a good position for AI visibility. And as we’ve said throughout the Silo Series, that’s proof that PR, SEO and AI visibility aren’t separate disciplines.

These factors also align closely with Google’s E-E-A-T model – experience, expertise, authority and trust – which still shapes how brands are recognised and represented online. And, just to add, it is thought that backlinks from respected domains remain one of the strongest signals of reliability. So all that SEO work that you’ve done over the years wasn’t in vain!

Measuring AI visibility

So, how do you track and measure your AI visibility in LLMs in a world of endless prompts and AI-generated responses?

Third-party AI visibility platforms are starting to make this possible, promising to help brands track and improve their presence. Most are still in their early stages, and some perform better than others.

Even without these tools, you can measure the signals that build AI visibility. Track where your brand is mentioned, the quality of coverage and the backlinks it earns. Monitor sentiment, message pull-through and domain authority to gauge credibility and trust. Share of voice and engagement show how visible and relevant your brand is across channels. These are the same indicators AI uses to assess authority, so strengthening them through PR already improves your standing in AI search.

If you want your brand to appear where your audiences are searching – in AI-generated overviews and search engines – talk to us about Visibility+. It’s our integrated PR and GEO service for B2B tech brands, designed to align your content with what AI tools and search engines prioritise.

In this blog we discuss:

How silos between PR, content marketing and sales cost leads and revenue
How PR sparks angles which fuel integrated campaigns and drive prospects through the funnel
How to measure PR’s value in engagement, leads and deals

Imagine you are a B2B buyer. You spot a headline that grabs your attention – wow! It really speaks to the challenges you’re facing right now and makes you want to find out more. A sales rep follows up, but the message feels different and it’s thrown you off. By the time an email arrives, it has shifted again.

Each touchpoint is well-intentioned, but instead of reinforcing your interest, the inconsistencies make you wonder: do they really understand my problem? Can I trust what they’re saying? At that point, your attention drifts and you’re already considering another supplier.

This might sound like an extreme example, but it reflects a wider reality. Data shows 52% of sales professionals say misalignment costs revenue, yet only 23% believe their sales and marketing are strongly aligned.

The PR, content and sales silo

But how can PR help with sales? Surely PR is PR, and sales is just sales? It’s going to take more than a headline to nurture interest and bring a lead closer to conversion. The problem is that we tend to think of PR, content marketing and sales as three separate functions, each working in its own silo.

Joining the dots with Performance PR

This is where Performance PR comes in. Unlike traditional PR, Performance PR encompasses not only media relations, but also social media, creative and content marketing. And that’s really interesting because it is often content which is crucial for connecting the spark of a story with the detail of a sales conversation.

In Performance PR, content marketing is built in. The stories created through PR are developed into content, which explore topics in greater depth, then shared through the right channels so it reaches the right people. And rather than being judged solely on coverage as a traditional PR campaign would be, the impact is measured by what really matters to the business: engagement, qualified leads and deals moving through the pipeline.

PR as the spark

PR is often where many of the best ideas begin. The angles and stories it generates can be fed into wider marketing and lead generation campaigns, providing the material which can help engage buyers.

Take our work with cyber security company Bridewell. Together, we spotted a gap in the market; there was no authoritative research into the state of cyber security across critical national infrastructure. So we commissioned and developed their annual report which became a credible, newsworthy story which our media team placed in top-tier media. But it did much more than win headlines. It became a barometer for the industry which could be repurposed, quoted and shared, extending its value far beyond launch day. The report also provided the foundation for a whole range of content, such as blogs and articles, social campaigns and sales materials.

Subsequent to the campaign with Bridewell, research among 600 UK cyber security leaders showed the company had risen from ninth place in 2023 to the top five for unprompted consideration. In plain terms, more buyers thought of the company first, as a result of our work.

How PR helps feed the funnel

In Performance PR, content marketing and campaigns work as one connected effort to move prospects through the funnel, with the angles from media stories as the spark which starts it all.

Top of the funnel: PR creates awareness

A strong piece of research, a news angle or thought leadership in the media puts your brand in front of new audiences. When it appears in respected outlets or speaks to a genuine gap in the conversation, it carries more weight than marketing copy, because the credibility is earned rather than manufactured.

Middle of the funnel: PR themes fuel content marketing

The stories PR generates give marketing teams a foundation to create material which goes deeper into the topics. Imagine the media team commissions research which shows, for example, that ‘70% of finance leaders feel unprepared for upcoming regulatory changes’. That headline lands in the trade press and gets significant eyeballs as well as people talking.

From there, the marketing team can build the topics out into their campaigns. The research becomes a blog post which explains the specific challenges finance leaders face. It develops into a practical guide which explores the implications of non-compliance and eventually into a case study showing how one of your clients successfully navigated the same issue with your support.

This is the middle of the funnel at work. Prospects who were curious when they saw the headline now have the chance to dig deeper, test your expertise and understand more about what you do and why it matters to them.

Across the funnel: PR stories carried through campaigns

The value of that initial PR grows even more when it’s repurposed and delivered directly to target audiences. Coverage and research insights can be turned into nurture emails, promoted LinkedIn posts or the hook for an event. We often support clients in doing exactly this, ensuring each reuse keeps the authority of the original PR story while reinforcing the message through different channels. All the while, it helps prospects move closer to a decision.

By the time a sales conversation starts, the prospect has seen the story in the media, engaged with explanatory content and received campaigns which connect directly to their challenges.

Alignment drives stronger leads and engagement

When there’s alignment between PR, content marketing and sales, prospects already understand the issues you solve and have engaged with credible content along the way.

That depth of interaction shows up in the numbers: longer time spent on your site, higher click-through rates, more relevant email responses. When it comes to onboarding new business, it translates into fewer dead-end conversations and more prospects who are genuinely interested. It also shortens the sales cycle; the groundwork has already been laid, so sales can focus on building the relationship and closing the deal.

Measuring PR’s impact on pipeline

Traditional PR measurement has often stopped at coverage volume or impressions – how many articles appeared and how many people might have seen them. But of course with Performance PR, it’s all connected back to business outcomes, and therein the value lies. So when we want to know how PR and the resulting content has made an impact, helped move prospects down the pipeline and been a contributing factor to sales, this is what we measure:

How much traffic has PR-inspired blogs, guides or case studies driven to websites? How much engagement and action have they inspired on social media?
How many downloads or sign-ups has content generated? That could be from whitepapers, guides, webinars or events.
How many marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) interacted with those assets along their journey?

Where did PR-driven content or coverage play a role in moving a prospect closer to becoming a customer?

The results speak for themselves when you can show the direct link between an earned story and a measurable outcome – a form filled in, a guide downloaded, a meeting booked or a deal closed. Performance PR can help you achieve this, but only if you stop thinking of it, along with content marketing and sales, in a silo. When all work as one, that’s what really feeds the pipeline.

If driving new business is a challenge for your B2B tech brand, learn how we can support your lead generation efforts. Speak to one of our team, or find out more.

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

How B2B tech firms can take a braver, more strategic approach to communications, even in a cautious economic climate
How generic content is eroding trust and engagement
How thought leadership delivered as part of a Performance PR approach can build visibility and credibility for the brand

Many B2B technology businesses today are feeling the pressure of an economy that is both tight and in flux. In the UK, 44% of CFOs rate external uncertainty as high or very high, and the outlook for capital expenditure, discretionary spending and hiring remains subdued.

This economic backdrop is reshaping how decisions are made. With borrowing costs still elevated, organisations are taking longer to commit and every line of spend is under sharper scrutiny. Securing buy-in from senior stakeholders has become more challenging, as proposals must now demonstrate a clear link to visibility, efficiency or commercial impact.

At the same time, competitive intensity is rising. More vendors are targeting the same audiences, and digital channels are increasingly saturated. Exacerbating the challenge, buyers are increasingly time-poor and expectation-rich. They’re looking for content that speaks directly to their challenges, offers genuine insight and helps them make informed decisions.

The cost of playing it safe

When messaging defaults to vague value propositions or recycled industry jargon, it fails to engage and often also ends up actively eroding trust. That’s a growing problem, with 51% of B2B buyers saying content was too generic and irrelevant in 2024, up from 38% in 2023. This signals a growing disconnect between what businesses are putting out and what their audiences actually need.

To address this problem effectively and ensure they ‘stand out’, firms require not just a differentiated offer but a smarter, more strategic approach to engagement. Organisations are beginning to realise that to raise their brand visibility, they will need to be braver in their communications: more targeted, more nuanced and more reflective of the real-world challenges their audiences face.

How firms can be bold and deliver content that cuts through

To achieve the cut through they are looking for, B2B tech firms should lead with expertise and focus on developing thought leadership that earns attention in busy channels and builds authority and trust with buyers and influencers alike.

That means being willing to reflect the nuance of their audience’s world: addressing real issues and offering meaningful perspectives, even if they challenge conventional thinking.

Against this backdrop, bold thought leadership can provide just that. As part of a performance-led approach, bold thought leadership, supported by strong media relations and consistent, engaging, social builds credibility, sustains depth and allows for measurement against clear KPIs.

As evidence of the impact of bold thought leadership builds through transparent reporting, stakeholder confidence grows and braver positioning becomes easier to back. This approach helps build brand awareness and supports pipeline, helps attract channel and alliance partners and strengthens long-term value.

Being bold doesn’t mean being loud, it means being clear, credible and relevant. For B2B tech firms, that often involves stepping away from generic messaging and leaning into expertise that genuinely helps buyers navigate complexity.

A Performance PR approach can support this shift by tying bold ideas to measurable outcomes, helping build trust and visibility over time.

By reporting transparently and aligning with real audience needs, businesses can gradually build the confidence to communicate with more clarity and conviction, even when budgets are tight.

It helps you win mindshare today and deals tomorrow. Clear, evidence-led stories make it easier for buyers to choose you and for partners to justify joint activity.

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

In this blog, Whiteoaks’ Finance Director, Adam George shares his insights about how to ensure your PR investments keep your CFO happy, including:

Ensuring campaigns are built around business objectives
Setting out clear performance metrics
Finding a consistent partner

Like many services, PR can often have an intangible quality that is difficult to reconcile for finance leaders. The tendency to lean upon paid marketing where results can be measured and return on investment (ROI) established is a tempting alternative to appeal to the CFO mindset. That’s why if you want your CFO to back your PR spend, you need to position it not as a creative expense, but as the strategic, measurable business investment it is.

Here are some of the ways to make your PR investment CFO-friendly:

Fixed fees for fixed deliverables

It sounds obvious, right? Traditionally, PR has used the retainer model, but this promotes uncertainty and often results in mounting costs without a clearly defined return. Why not seek out an agency offering a fixed cost for clearly defined deliverables? By eliminating the budgetary uncertainty, PR can be factored into annual budgets with certainty, helping your finance leader plan with confidence.

Business-aligned planning

It can sometimes feel difficult to cut through the jargon and waffle associated with marketing and PR. CFOs are driven by the commercial results, not lip-service and hot air. The agency you partner with should build its strategies around your commercial goals – market expansion, growth in share-of-voice, talent acquisition or any other outcomes your business desires. By aligning PR with business strategy, you give your CFO the confidence that every pound spent is tied to measurable commercial objectives – not vanity metrics or vague brand goals.

Clear KPIs and performance reporting

This leads us on to measurement. It’s the bread and butter of any senior finance professional. The inability to measure the success of any spend means it becomes more difficult to justify. With clear KPIs agreed up-front, and concise reporting throughout a campaign, your PR spend ceases to be deemed a money pit from which results are difficult to define. Instead, it becomes a clear, measurable service aligned with your business goals.

Whether it’s share of voice, media coverage, engagement metrics or influence on pipeline, everything is benchmarked and tracked.

ROI accountability – even a money-back guarantee

‘Money back’ is a phrase you will rarely encounter in the PR world. But without this guarantee, value for money and, crucially, accountability, can often be diminished. Contrast this with clear ROI that is reinforced by a money-back guarantee. This gives your CFO peace of mind that their commercial goals are matched by the desire of the agency you engage.

Consistency that protects long-term value

Unlike paid media, your PR agency should be your partner when it comes to building and protecting your brand. PR isn’t a tap you turn on and off. Stop-start campaigns waste money and erode brand equity. If your agency adopts an ‘always-on’ approach, it becomes easier for your CFO to calculate the benefits and long-term growth provided by consistent and long-term partnerships.

PR as something finance can believe in

To keep your CFO happy with your investment, treat PR like a long-term, strategic asset – not a discretionary spend. Build your case around cost-certainty, commercial alignment and measurable impact. When you speak the CFO’s language – outcomes, risk-management, and value – you turn PR into something finance can believe in.

Get in touch to learn more about how we deliver PR campaigns that keep your CFO happy.

In this blog we’ll:

Introduce our new blog series
Explore what we mean by silos in marketing and PR
Show how Performance PR integrates with paid social, content marketing and SEO
And explain how it breaks down silos to deliver greater impact

When Phil S. Ensor, the former director of Goodyear, coined the term “silo syndrome” back in 1988, he was obviously onto something.

“People across the organization do not share common goals…communication is heavily top-down, on the vertical axis. Little is shared on the horizontal axis.”

The metaphor stuck; rows of imposing grain stores – tall, parallel and sealed off. It’s become shorthand for the way departments in a business often operate: isolated, inward-looking and disconnected from the rest. Maybe it’s been overused to the point of cliché (although it’s still got nothing on blue sky thinking), ‘silo’ now gets tossed around to describe anything remotely uncollaborative. Still, the problem it points to is very real, and in marketing, the silo effect is still holding teams back, especially when it comes to PR.

But fortunately, we bear good news! Silo season is officially over!

The lonely PR silo

If the SEO agency is chasing rankings, the in-house social team is focused on engagement, the PPC freelancer is driving clicks, then the PR agency’s job is just to secure coverage, right?

When most people think of PR, they picture media coverage: perhaps a feature in a trade publication and set of KPIs focused on visibility. When PR is thought of like that, its value and role in the wider marketing mix gets overlooked.

While visibility is still valuable, in modern PR it isn’t the only measurement which coverage counts for.

PR’s modern glow up

Today PR, and more specifically Performance PR, goes beyond traditional media relations. It encompasses social media, digital PR, content marketing and creative campaigns.

Digital PR and SEO: PR stories landing in online publications earn high-authority backlinks and brand mentions which lift search rankings and boost organic traffic.
Content marketing: Original research, compelling narratives and thought leadership become versatile assets, ready to be reshaped into blogs, guides, webinars or email campaigns.
Social media: Coverage, podcasts or key messages transform into LinkedIn carousels, short-form videos and social-first activations.
Paid social media: Standout PR content is a perfect candidate for targeted paid campaigns, amplifying reach and engagement with precision.

How PR is breaking down silos

And it’s not just that PR overlaps with these disciplines, indeed it has become many of them. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

SEO and online visibility: Earned digital PR coverage with backlinks and brand mentions helps a brand rank for high-intent search terms, driving organic traffic.
Web traffic: A tech influencer’s review of a SaaS product sends targeted visitors straight to a key landing page.
Lead generation: A whitepaper addressing buyer pain points delivers 100 qualified email leads, later nurtured through a paid social retargeting campaign.
Social media engagement: A blog post reimagined as a LinkedIn carousel becomes a high-performing post, sparking a conversation with a prospect.
Organic social media: A podcast interview is clipped and syndicated across multiple social channels, multiplying touchpoints.
Paid social media: Standout coverage is boosted to a targeted audience, increasing reach and engagement.

What happens when you keep PR in a silo

When PR is thought about as a silo, you miss the potentially powerful influences across the marketing and sales mix. Investing in PR isn’t just investing in coverage – it’s an investment in your whole funnel. Not only that, it makes the impact of all your activities much greater and your money goes further. Keep PR, social, SEO and paid social media in separate boxes, and you pay the price: underperforming channels, fragmented messaging and missed opportunities.

Your buyers don’t think in silos. They experience your brand as one story. And while the buyer’s journey may be fragmented, it’s also interconnected. They might spot your name in a trade headline, hear your spokesperson on a podcast, scroll past a LinkedIn carousel, dive into a blog, watch an explainer video or see you appear in an AI Overview, with each touchpoint building on the last.

The stronger and more consistent that story, the more likely you are to stay top of mind. That only happens when your channels work in harmony, not in isolation.

Silo season is over!

This is why we’re calling time on silo season and why this series is dedicated to showing what happens when PR works in sync with the rest of your marketing.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore how Performance PR can:

drive content marketing
create demand generation and nurture pipelines
boost visibility and authority in the SERPs
integrate with paid social

We’ll also show how to track and measure PR’s impact – proving its value and ROI – and why it matters to work with a team that knows how to integrate channels from day one.

In the meantime if your B2B tech brand is looking for help breaking down barriers, get in touch with our team of experts to see how our integrated PR approach can turn your campaigns into a success story.

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, 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.