Our PR focus

Public relations for

ITC & Industry

Content for

Press releases and interviews
Technical and reference articles
Trend and white paper

Content Distribution

rbt:PublicRelations specializes in public relations for high-tech companies in ICT and industry.

Our consultants and editors have many years of experience in the presentation of complex technologies and applications as well as the systematic addressing of target groups and target markets. Experienced writing, a high level of creativity as well as proven and reliable editorial contacts guarantee you tailor-made public relations with strategically optimized placement of your messages.

Markets are conversations, trust is the basis for opinion leadership. For this reason, modern public relations is not limited to operational and strategic marketing measures. Rather, it also includes serious public relations work that generates trust in a company and its products and services.

rbt:PublicRelations positions your company as a trustworthy partner and opinion leader in market discussions. We ensure your continuous and successful participation in the process of shaping public opinion by providing factual information with professional depth and by constantly maintaining editorial contacts. To this end, we use all available public relations tools and serve both the relevant target media and the agency’s own information channels such as the rbt:PressRoom.

The overriding principles of our public relations are professionalism, a sense of responsibility and loyalty. The company-wide principles of corporate communications are taken into account in all announcements. Sophisticated communication concepts, targeted topic planning and a high degree of creativity in textual and visual presentation guarantee your success in public relations.

rbt:PublicRelations stands for professionally profound and intelligent communication – at all levels of public relations.

rbt:PR & Communications

Communication concepts

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The basis of any form of public relations for technology companies is a viable communications concept.

It contains the objectives of the planned public relations and the central core statements. In addition, target groups are identified together with the PR agency, communication measures are determined and the appropriate PR tools and target media are defined.

The starting point for rbt:PublicRelations’ conceptual work is always a detailed strategic PR consultation. This serves the communicative orientation of the company and, in addition to market and technology-related recommendations, also includes a precise review of existing public relations activities. The consultation leads to the formulation of central PR messages as well as basic topic planning.
On the basis of strategic PR consulting, rbt:PublicRelations works with its clients to develop a package of measures that is precisely tailored to the company’s PR work. The instruments of company-specific and technical public relations are selected in relation to the target groups of the communication and the group of media and editorial offices to be addressed is profiled. The concrete implementation of the measures, the appropriateness of the topic planning and the sustainability of the overall concept are regularly put to the test as part of the strategic PR consultancy.
Public relations for information technology, telecommunications and consumer electronics as well as communication services for providers of hardware and software, IT infrastructure and industrial companies in the high-tech sector are our main focus.

rbt:PR & Communications

PR tools

1/Press releases

In the competition for editorial attention and lasting media presence, regular press releases are a must. Whether it’s about new products and services or company developments – it’s press releases that set the flow of information in motion and keep a company in the news.

Even if not every press release is published: Press releases and product announcements play a crucial role in anchoring a company and its achievements in the minds of editors.
When planning press releases, it should not be overlooked that not everything is worth reporting: trivial or all-too-often read information does not stick in editorial offices and, in the worst case, can even damage a company’s image. Press releases should therefore always be designed by the PR agency in such a way that they differentiate a company from the competition. They should position the company as a leading provider, emphasize its innovative strength and highlight the special features of its products and services.
However, the ideal press release is not only powerful in terms of content, but also takes into account the fact that editors’ time is extremely limited. The headline and subtitle alone should make it clear what the press release is about. And since editors often have to shorten texts for reasons of space, the following applies: don’t put the most important information at the end, but right at the beginning. This gives you the best chance of being noticed and published.

2/Technical articles

While press releases are the mandatory part, journalistically sophisticated technical articles with technological and professional depth are the freestyle of content creation. Hardly any other means of PR work is better suited to image cultivation.

Technology PR at eye level with editorial offices and journalists turns companies into opinion leaders in the market – they initiate debates, address current technological issues and at the same time emphasize their innovative strength.

Technical articles are in high demand in editorial offices; they are therefore also a proven tool for technology PR to consolidate contacts with the trade press. A prerequisite for publication is high quality content, combined with a presentation that motivates readers. Advertising slogans are therefore out of place. What is needed instead is neutral expertise with demonstrable reader benefit. This is the only way to build customer trust and recommend the company as a competent partner.

For corporate communications, this means that content creation must not bypass the market, but must meet the needs and technical language of the respective industries as precisely as possible. In order to achieve this, close cooperation between the PR agency and the client’s project manager or technical engineer is required – as well as trusting contact with the trade press and technical editorial offices.

3/Reference reports (case studies)

Reference reports offer companies the opportunity to use case studies to underpin the practical suitability of their products and services. While the advertising claims of marketing departments are usually difficult to verify, case studies from a professional PR agency provide verifiable facts.

They are therefore particularly suitable as PR tools: reference reports are credible with high utility value for the reader and thus create transparency and trust. If they also document cooperation with renowned B2B partners, they can even have an excellent image-promoting effect.

Due to their high practical relevance, selected reference reports are also popular with editors. They make the abstract tangible and complex relationships easier to understand. By clearly distinguishing them from promotional forms of presentation and including critical details and problems, they also meet the criteria of serious reporting.

In order for the reader to gain a memorable impression of the company’s services, a case study must clearly illustrate how a product came into play as a solution to a problem. The original problem must be just as comprehensible as the reasons for the decision in favor of the product. The case study is then rounded off with a description of the course of the project and, if possible, various original statements from the partners and customers involved.

4/Interviews

The strategic interview ranks high on the readers’ popularity scale. Accordingly, print and online media like to make use of this form of presentation.

Creating an interview opens up excellent opportunities for companies. If you want to present your employees and products, your strategies and working methods or even the special features of your technical solutions in the right light, you are always well advised to present yourself in an interesting dialog.

For the editor, however, the interview is by far the most demanding text form. It has to be entertaining and informative in order to grab hold of the reader – even complex issues should be presented in an exciting way and with a personal touch. Such a text is difficult to produce. Detailed preparation of the conversation is just as important when creating an interview as the skillful realization of the spoken word. In addition, the interviewee usually requests changes before the interview is released. In view of limited personnel resources, this repeatedly pushes editorial teams to their limits.

Competent PR agencies know how to take the needs of both sides into account. Their approach: so-called “cold interviews”. The content and course of the interview are determined in advance and authorized by the interview partners. Both the companies and the editorial teams appreciate this solution: On the one hand, there is no need for time-consuming correction runs, and on the other, a constructed article often gets to the heart of the matter. This serves everyone – and the reader as well.

5/Editorial tours & press conferences

One of the best ways to position a company as particularly trustworthy and interesting in the context of media relations is personal contact with journalists and editorial offices.

The easiest way to do this is through editorial tours and press conferences: Innovative products and technologies, as well as the latest information on the company’s development, can be presented in direct talks, and specific questions can be discussed in personal meetings or a general Q&A session.

Which of the two communication tools is more suitable for creating a press dialog depends on the target media and the thematic focus of the messages. If the information is of more general interest, as is particularly relevant for the daily and business press, the press conference is the right forum. Examples here are press conferences on financial statements or crisis PR. Background discussions are an exception to this rule. These should be held either as part of a closed discussion round or as part of an editorial tour.

The editorial tour is also recommended for information on products and services that typically go to the trade press and industry media. On the one hand, it saves the editorial offices there, which are often suffering from a lack of personnel and financial resources, the time-consuming and costly journey to a press conference. Secondly, technical details in particular can often be explained much better on a smaller scale.

6/Corporate publishing

Corporate messages do not always have to go through the established media:

Creating a customer or employee magazine can also be a target-oriented method of communication. Corporate publishing is the magic word, and there are no limits to the imagination: classic customer and employee magazines, newsletters and team blogs or even the company’s own online video channels – in principle, all of these are available to convey important messages to customers or employees.

Corporate publishing is generally of great value when it comes to cultivating a company’s image. While traditional public relations work is always tied to the specifications of the target media, corporate publications offer the opportunity to realize your own ideas. The most important success factor here is a professional design: it increases the credibility of the messages and at the same time underlines the creative potential of the company. Varied and entertaining texts are just as essential for this as a contemporary and attractive visual language.

But customer magazines not only have high requirements in terms of professionalism in text and images – the sender and addressee of the messages must also be reflected in the concept of the medium: The magazine or blog should reach its target group, but it must also fit the company. This is where the expertise of experienced PR agencies is required: they integrate target group expectations and corporate image into a high-quality journalistic publication concept.

7/White Paper & Trend Paper

White papers and trend papers are also very effective and increasingly frequently used PR agency tools. They communicate information about current technical developments and always have the problem-specific benefit of the reader in mind.

They offer the company the opportunity to present itself at the cutting edge with high-quality content and, in particular, to emphasize its problem-solving expertise.

By dispensing with promotional formulas and instead focusing on objectivity and neutrality, white papers and trend papers are similar to specialist articles. However, they differ from them in terms of scope and publication method: Trend papers are usually not published in an editorial environment, but are predominantly offered for free download on the company’s own website. They are also usually much more extensive than technical articles. In this way, they offer far greater scope for a detailed presentation and critical discussion of new technical solutions, which further increases the credibility of the information provided.

An increasingly important aspect of white and trend papers is lead generation as part of a content marketing campaign: in this case, the only condition for a free download is the provision of contact details. If the interested party responds, contact is established with a potential customer who is demonstrably interested in solving the problem.

8/PR for Start-Up Companies

Every start-up needs to become recognized. And that’s why every start-up requires PR. Especially for young companies, public relations and social media relations are of great importance if they want to draw attention to their naturally still unknown products and services.

Hardly any other tool is able to draw the attention of relevant target groups to a company and its offerings so quickly and efficiently.

It is important that an agency understands the world of start-ups, their business plans and strategies. It is also essential that an agency analyzes the target groups and business model of a start-up in order to create a communication strategy on this basis. This is the only way to ensure targeted communication that supports cash flow in the interests of founders and investors.

9/The riba:businesstalk start-up package

Get to know us and benefit from the know-how of an agency that has been on the market for more than ten years. From an agency whose employees are very familiar with the world of start-ups, young and dynamic founders, start-up networks, incubators and accelerators. Not least because some of them have already worked there themselves.

To make your entry into the world of public relations and social media communication as easy as possible, we have put together a special PR start-up package:

As good PR requires good content, because “content is king”, we work with you to develop a PR guideline and research relevant topics. In a second step, we identify the media relevant to your company, relevant social media platforms and the contacts there. We also prepare you for the right way to deal with the press before things get serious and the first press appointments are scheduled. And of course, as an external press office, we also support you in the operational implementation of all communication and marketing measures. All this within a framework that exactly matches your budget. Talk to us and find out more about our start-up package without obligation!

10/Online-PR

Sold by some as a universal remedy, punished with contempt by others – online PR continues to divide the communications industry.

As so often, the truth lies in the middle: the instrument should be underestimated as little as it should be overrated. Because even under the conditions of Web 2.0, PR work does not have to be reinvented. However, it would be negligent not to use the new possibilities, and not just because of the manageable costs.
In both the B2B and B2C sectors, online PR is the only communication channel that reaches a target group without wastage. This is because the World Wide Web is a pull medium: the user searches specifically for information or opportunities for interaction and deliberately navigates to the relevant pages. This applies to online editions of print media as well as online magazines and blogs or company websites and social media profiles. This constellation can of course also be used for push effects through mailings to “likes” or “followers”, newsletters or search engine optimization.

Mastering the art of online PR requires skill, however, as there are even more pitfalls here than in traditional communication. Not only inadequately prepared or untrustworthy information can lead to irritation on the part of the target group, but also an unwanted flow of information or the refusal of genuine interaction. Once the “shitstorm” has broken out, the situation quickly becomes uncontrollable. Anyone using online PR must therefore be particularly careful in their choice of means. After all, trust is lost faster than it is won, especially in the online world.

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rbt:PR & Communications

Target media

Daily and financial press

The general press is fundamentally aimed at a broad readership.

Consequently, the work of its editorial teams is consistently geared towards reaching the widest possible readership. For PR work, this means that only information of general or economic interest has a serious chance of being published. In-depth technical or commercial details hardly find a place in the daily and business press and instead belong in the relevant specialist media.

Where corporate communications are aimed at the daily and business press, it is also important to note that these media never accept unfiltered information. Rather, it is a matter of course for the editorial teams of both media groups to always conduct their own research and comprehensively edit submitted articles. Critical, consistently scrutinizing reporting is therefore to be expected.

Against this background, it is very important for PR agencies to be regarded as serious partners by the editorial offices of the general press. The corporate communications for which they are responsible must therefore convey a high degree of credibility. Experienced PR agencies therefore attach great importance to a strictly truth-oriented information policy that also includes self-criticism. Only under these conditions will the company and its business activities be perceived as trustworthy by the public.

Specialised media

rbt:PR & Communications

magazine

In contrast to daily newspapers and business media, both of which are aimed at a general audience, technology PR is primarily aimed at a clearly defined target group of readers with a technical interest.

Depending on the orientation, the focus of reporting in the trade press is on entire economic sectors, individual professional groups or even narrowly defined production areas.

In the context of corporate communications, trade media are the natural addressees of product and technology PR, but also of more general company information such as personnel reports. Press releases and technical articles as well as strategic interviews are often the easiest to find coverage here. However, the prerequisite for this is always a clear thematic focus appropriate to the target medium and appropriate journalistic quality of the articles.

For PR agencies who want to place texts in the individual specialist media, it is also essential to establish trusting and reliable contacts in the editorial offices in addition to the thematic and qualitative aspects. Such contacts not only facilitate the placement of articles: If a PR agency is known for high-quality copywriting, it can also expect to be regularly asked by editorial offices for technical articles or interviews if it has a good editorial network.

Sector media

Sector media are media that are dedicated to current developments in a clearly defined economic sector – whether this is IT trade, mechanical engineering or the packaging industry.

There is at least one special medium for each sector; however, the majority of sectors are covered by several media at the same time. Vertical media are all B2B media, meaning that they are aimed exclusively at industry representatives. The thematic spectrum ranges from the current economic situation to various technological innovations and the latest company news.

For companies whose activities focus on specific business areas, sector media are the first target group for PR work. In addition, these media offer excellent opportunities to reach the respective target group without major scattering losses, especially where small and medium-sized companies are to be addressed. This is because the decision-making level in companies of this size is identical to the management level. As a rule, however, highly specialized trade journals are not read there, only sector media.

Many sector titles have small but very active editorial teams that see themselves as genuine information brokers and take great care when selecting articles. Placing texts in the context of technical PR is therefore not easy. It is therefore essential for a successful PR agency to build partnerships with editorial offices and to take the fundamental interests of the sector and editorial topic plans into account from the outset when planning articles.

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online

Public relations and online media

With the triumph of the World Wide Web, another indispensable communication channel for modern public relations has emerged alongside print, radio and TV: online media:

On the one hand, these are online offerings from established magazines, while on the other, dedicated online portals and blogs as well as special video channels have also emerged, some of which enjoy great popularity. And then, of course, there is the much-noticed group of social media platforms such as Facebook, X or LinkedIn.

Communicating information via online media often requires far less effort than with traditional media – but in some cases it also generates less response. Numerous online media can be served via special PR portals without an intermediate editorial step, but they are hardly noticed. Posting information on social media is also possible, but involves a number of pitfalls.

Placing information in the online editions of print and digital media, on the other hand, involves greater effort for a PR agency. Ultimately, the same requirements apply here for successful corporate communication as in the classic print media: a suitable thematic focus, high journalistic quality and, last but not least, reliable editorial contacts. What does not make it into the print edition can often be placed flexibly in the online edition and thus generate the desired response.

Our PR focus

Public relations for

Content for

Content Distribution

rbt:PublicRelations specializes in public relations for high-tech companies in ICT and industry.

Communication concepts

The basis of any form of public relations for technology companies is a viable communications concept.

It contains the objectives of the planned public relations and the central core statements. In addition, target groups are identified together with the PR agency, communication measures are determined and the appropriate PR tools and target media are defined.

PR tools

1/Press releases

In the competition for editorial attention and lasting media presence, regular press releases are a must. Whether it’s about new products and services or company developments – it’s press releases that set the flow of information in motion and keep a company in the news.

2/Technical articles

While press releases are the mandatory part, journalistically sophisticated technical articles with technological and professional depth are the freestyle of content creation. Hardly any other means of PR work is better suited to image cultivation.

3/Reference reports (case studies)

Reference reports offer companies the opportunity to use case studies to underpin the practical suitability of their products and services. While the advertising claims of marketing departments are usually difficult to verify, case studies from a professional PR agency provide verifiable facts.

4/Interviews

The strategic interview ranks high on the readers’ popularity scale. Accordingly, print and online media like to make use of this form of presentation.

5/Editorial tours & press conferences

One of the best ways to position a company as particularly trustworthy and interesting in the context of media relations is personal contact with journalists and editorial offices.

6/Corporate publishing

Corporate messages do not always have to go through the established media:

7/White Paper & Trend Paper

White papers and trend papers are also very effective and increasingly frequently used PR agency tools. They communicate information about current technical developments and always have the problem-specific benefit of the reader in mind.

8/PR for Start-Up Companies

Every start-up needs to become recognized. And that’s why every start-up requires PR. Especially for young companies, public relations and social media relations are of great importance if they want to draw attention to their naturally still unknown products and services.

9/The riba:businesstalk start-up package

10/Online-PR

Sold by some as a universal remedy, punished with contempt by others – online PR continues to divide the communications industry.

Target media

Daily and financial press

The general press is fundamentally aimed at a broad readership.

Specialised media

In contrast to daily newspapers and business media, both of which are aimed at a general audience, technology PR is primarily aimed at a clearly defined target group of readers with a technical interest.

Sector media

Sector media are media that are dedicated to current developments in a clearly defined economic sector – whether this is IT trade, mechanical engineering or the packaging industry.

Public relations and online media

With the triumph of the World Wide Web, another indispensable communication channel for modern public relations has emerged alongside print, radio and TV: online media:

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