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Has Your B2B Marketing Strategy Lost That Loving Feeling?

Christina on February 24, 2026

Valentine’s season is a useful reminder that most marketing and communications strategies don’t fail dramatically, they quietly stop evolving. If your plan for 2026 still looks like a checklist of more channels, more content, and more cadence, you may be optimizing for effort, not outcomes.

The B2B tech teams pulling ahead this year won’t simply be the loudest ones in the room. Momentum will come from pairing strong messaging with something hard to replicate: credibility, consistency, and a presence that both people and algorithms can trust and verify.

Your Buyers Have a New AI Research Assistant. Does Your Strategy Keep the Magic Alive?

Buying groups have grown larger and slower, with typical purchases involving ten or more stakeholders and taking close to a year to close. At the same time, AI tools are becoming a standard part of how buyers research their options. IDC expects ~70% of U.S. B2B tech buyers will rely on AI during their buying journey by 2028. These two trends reframe the question entirely. It’s not about whether you’re showing up in the right places. It’s now about whether you’re consistently visible and credible in the places buyers (and the tools they’re leaning on) are already looking long before you ever get a seat at the table.

PR That Sends the Right Signals

Credibility that is earned and not assumed
The strongest B2B brands know that making specific claims and backing them up with meaningful proof is the way to standout. It’s important to carry messaging consistently across every place your buyers come into contact with the brand. When your story is the same everywhere and holds up to scrutiny, that consistency becomes a competitive asset itself. That’s also where integrated strategy matters as the same proof should power your highest-intent assets, e.g., website and landing pages, paid creative, and sales enablement, so credibility and conversion stay in lockstep.

Attracting Buyers Where They Search
AI visibility is a genuine opportunity. 94% of business buyers now use AI in their purchasing process (Forrester Research), with many ranking GenAI and conversational search above traditional sources. The teams getting this right are building content designed to be retrieved and cited, by humans and machines alike, not simply optimized for search ranking. That is a meaningful shift in how you think about what you publish and why. An integrated approach is to pair that visibility with capture with paid search around category/competitor intent, plus retargeting that reinforces proof (not just claims), so discovery turns into pipeline. This approach also opens up new ways to reach buyers you might never have reached before.

Earning media visibility in the right places at the right time
Earning coverage in the right publications signal that your story holds up to editorial scrutiny and that has real reputational value. An interesting question to ask when approaching media coverage is ‘where do technology buyers actually go for deep analysis, peer validation, and honest takes?’ They trust industry trades, independent newsletters penned by experts, communities and forums, and podcasts that get into the real (and sometimes future) technical challenges buyers face. Undervaluing these channels because national headlines feel more impressive is an easy mistake to make. The visibility that moves deals forward is often quieter, more specific, consistent and found in exactly the places your buyers already trust. And when you earn those signals, integrated teams don’t leave them in PR, they repackage them across LinkedIn, newsletters, paid amplification, and nurture campaigns, so one credible moment shows up everywhere the buyer looks.

A Strategy Worth Committing To
Some strategies fade. The right one compounds. The best relationships are built on trust, and the same is true of the marketing efforts that actually move buyers. Purchasing decisions are taking longer, involving more stakeholders, and starting in places most brands still aren’t watching. Volume doesn’t solve that. Consistency and credibility do and that means showing up in the right places, with a story that holds up, long before a buyer ever reaches out.

That’s the work Karbo was built for. If your 2026 strategy could use a sharper edge, we’d like to hear what you’re up against. Get in touch.

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Tech PR in 2026: The Patterns Are Clear and the Stakes Are Higher

Christina on January 21, 2026

Each January, our industry releases predictions. 

This year, clear patterns are emerging in tech PR, indicating a change in how influence is earned, trust is measured, and reputations are built and maintained.

A single theme connects these changes. PR continues to move beyond storytelling and media to become essential infrastructure.

In 2026, this infrastructure must be resilient under pressure.

 

The big themes being repeated 

 

AI visibility is now essential for communications. Brands must be machine-cited, not just searchable. GEO/AEO is a leadership requirement, as buyers, journalists, analysts, and employees depend more on systems that reward credibility, consistency, and evidence. Vague or unsubstantiated narratives are disregarded by these systems. We see this shift in our own pipeline, with more prospects citing LLM search as their introduction to us. IDC predicts that by 2028, 70% of U.S. B2B buyers will use genAI tools throughout their buying process.

The media landscape is fragmenting, but relationships remain indispensable. Attention is shifting to micro-media such as niche newsletters, Substack writers, podcasts, and community channels with very specific expertise. While distribution methods are changing, the fundamentals persist: relationships build over time, credibility endures, and professionals remember who was accurate, helpful, and responsive. The channel mix is evolving, yet authentic engagements continue to drive outcomes.

During a recent client launch, we spent months building credibility with consistent briefings, thoughtful sourcing, and making it easy for niche writers and podcast hosts to understand the “why” behind the story. That groundwork paid off when it mattered, the right community-driven outlets and industry voices covered the launch quickly, and those early wins helped spark inbound interest and partnership conversations almost immediately.

Crisis is now always-on. Deepfakes, disinformation, synthetic screenshots, and false impersonation are no longer rare. Crisis management has shifted from occasional events to a baseline operating condition. In 2026, preparation will require practiced leadership, rapid approval processes, aligned internal communications, and organized facts. The next incident may start with virality, not truth.

Precision now outweighs volume, and operational planning is the key differentiator. Successful teams are deliberate, not just loud. Precision means fewer messages, clearer proof points, better timing, and strong follow-through supported by operational rigor, including decision rights, messaging frameworks, editorial cadence, and meaningful measurement. In short, strategy must be actionable.

 

The quiet shifts more teams should be watching

 

These are not trends, but structural changes that often get overlooked until they have already established a new normal.

PR is increasingly serving as training data for large language models. Your narrative now influences both people and the datasets that shape future information environments. Coverage, bylines, podcasts, transcripts, panels, and quotes all contribute to these models. Inconsistency is costly, and delaying improvements can have compounding effects.

OpenAI notes that its core models are developed using publicly available information on the internet, and many generative experiences are retrieved from the public web and grounded with citations back to source pages.

Pay-to-play AI answers are becoming a real scenario. We’ve already watched paid placement reshape traditional search and social. It’s not hard to envision a reality where “answers” carry commercial incentives, whether direct or indirect, making organic authority even more valuable. The brands that have earned credibility will still show up when buyers are looking for signals they can trust.

Validated review ecosystems are regaining importance, and platform dynamics are increasingly influential. Validated review sites, community-driven decisions, and platform rules now significantly affect visibility. Trusted gatekeepers such as Reddit vendor bans, community self-regulation, and ‘no self-promo’ policies do not respond to press releases. In 2026, reputation is distributed, but it can be restricted by a single platform.

Ahead of their acquisition by Twilio, we worked with Stytch to intentionally stack credibility where technical buyers actually validate decisions with developer outlets plus sustained analyst briefings. These third-party inclusions became reusable proof points with the potential to show up later in sales conversations, and to help shorten trust-building and more. 

Internal communications and employee endorsement are emerging as strategic priorities. Employee trust and alignment are now competitive advantages, not just cultural initiatives. Content shared by employees typically achieves twice the click-through rate compared to company-shared content. Employees are often the most credible channel and the quickest early-warning system. In a crisis, internal communications should serve as an important control center. Teams that give importance to internal communications as a strategic function respond more effectively and with less disruption.

 

Additional predictions I believe will matter this year

 

AI agents are becoming a critical audience. In many sectors, procurement and security copilots will pre-screen vendors before any human interaction. Communications must therefore address both machine evaluation and human persuasion. This requires:

  • Clear, specific claims (not vague “platform” language)
  • Verifiable proof (customer outcomes, benchmarks, certifications)
  • Consistent language across channels (site, press, decks, analyst briefs)
  • Accessible documentation (easy to find, easy to parse)
  • Transparent positioning (what you do, how you’re differentiated, who you’re for, what you’re not)

If an AI agent cannot validate your information, your organization may not be considered.

AI’s persistent memory will increase transparency. Product claims, outages, pricing statements, executive quotes, and past events will become more searchable, enduring, and easier to connect over time. Leaders should respond with discipline, not hesitation:

  • Say what you can support
  • Document what you mean
  • Align internally and with your agency partners before you amplify

Human interaction is becoming more valuable. As synthetic content increases, authentic people and live experiences are the most trusted forms of media. Greater value will be placed on:

  • Executives who can speak transparently and naturally
  • Customers willing to attach their name to outcomes
  • Communities where real dialogue happens
  • Events that create a feeling of unity 

In an environment of limitless content, authenticity is rare and highly valuable.

Live experiences continue to receive a significant share of marketing budgets. Brands invest in these experiences because they champion trust, momentum, and lasting impressions that digital channels commonly cannot achieve. Forrester’s 2026 budget planning report notes that ‘programs’ remain the largest B2B marketing budget category at 42% on average. Other surveys indicate that 55% of marketers allocate over 20% to events, and 26% allocate 11-30% to experiential marketing. The key insight is that real connection continues to justify investment.

We must anticipate these shifts rather than react to them. The objective is not simply more PR, but lasting influence.

Want to explore how these shifts could impact your strategy? Learn more about Karbo or reach out here: https://bit.ly/3NJs10b 

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How Strategic Tech PR Opens the 2026 Funding Window

Christina on July 7, 2025

Quick-Read Highlights

  • US venture funding is warming fast: Investors poured $91.5 billion across 3,003 US deals in Q1 2025, the strongest quarter in three years.
  • IPO “waiting room” is crowded: EY’s Global IPO Trends Q1 2025 finds many companies that planned 2025 debuts have already pushed offerings into late-2025 or early 2026 amid volatility.
  • Narrative is leverage: Founders who treat PR like product-market fit raise faster and price higher when the window reopens.
  • Five comms plays that win VC confidence: Own the macro thesis, upgrade customer proof, publish proprietary data, dominate LLM search, and run 90-day “mini-earnings.”

When capital tightens for most founders, the instinct is to suppress PR, precisely when narrative arbitrage is cheapest. KPMG Venture Pulse shows US venture investment rebounded to $91.5 billion in Q1 2025, its strongest quarter in three years, fueled by mega-rounds in AI and defense. But that surge hides a sharp divide: for the vast majority of startups, checks are smaller and slower; for a select few that already look public-ready, capital is pouring in. EY Global IPO Trends warns many companies that expected to list in 2025 have pushed plans to late 2025 or even early 2026 because market volatility hasn’t let up. In this environment, repeatable metrics, a differentiated story, and credible third-party validation determine who gets funded which makes high-impact PR the decisive lever over the next 18 months.

 

How Venture Partners Really Use Your Story

Think of a VC as part signal amplifier, part network router, part governance coach, and all three roles feed on crisp communication. When your updates arm VC partners with quotable proof points, they can justify bigger follow-ons, open doors to customers and talent, and pressure-test messaging long before analysts comb through an S-1. A simple flywheel emerges: strong narrative – stronger VC belief – better capital terms – milestones worth publicizing – an even stronger narrative.

Three Costly Anti-Patterns to Dodge

  1. Stealth-Mode Messaging: Holding traction back until “we’re bigger” cedes category ownership to louder rivals.
  2. Vanity-Metric Spinning: Count growth and conference trophies don’t tighten term sheets; pipeline speed and net-revenue retention do.
  3. Disconnected Storylines: Gartner’s CMO Leadership Vision 2025 finds that 58% of consumers feel brands don’t understand their needs, and 24% of marketing leaders say campaigns often or always fail to justify their investment – clear proof that muddled messaging drags down deal momentum and chops valuations.

Five Communications Plays to Deepen VC Confidence

  1. Own the Macro Thesis: Publish a sharp POV on the exact macro trend your investors chase, e.g., AI inference costs, DoD zero-trust mandates, SEC climate rules. When partners draft LP letters, your quote lands at the top.
  2. Turn Customers into Proof: Case studies are good; 60-second video snippets of quantified ROI are better. Give partners assets they can drop into diligence data rooms or funding decks.
  3. Release Proprietary Benchmarks: Original and unique data earns far more tier-one coverage than opinion. A quarterly usage index or flash survey keeps you in headlines and gives investors  sharable stats.
  4. Design for LLM Search: Seed your POV wherever large-language models hunt for authority (earned media, YouTube explainers, niche newsletters, and relevant Reddit threads) to own the AI-search answer box. First-person posts in key subreddits shape how ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI frame your brand’s credibility, use cases, and competitive set.
  5. Adopt Mini-Earnings Discipline: Every 90 days, publish a metrics-plus-milestones post (growth, retention, roadmap proof). Investors appreciate the transparency, and your team builds IPO-ready muscle memory.

Measurement Stack That Matters

Correlate PR pushes with tangible funding signals: spikes in inbound VC meetings, faster diligence cycles, or term-sheet velocity. Track branded searches and AI-search citations to confirm narrative control, and benchmark results against peer companies each quarter to prove you’re winning mindshare and not merely making noise.

In August 2021, Databricks raised $1.6 billion at a $38 billion valuation and then largely disappeared from the news cycle while peers like Stripe and Klarna saw painful markdowns. Instead of trimming growth plans, the company spent 2023 flooding the market with an AI-first story, open-sourcing its Dolly LLM, buying MosaicML, and blanketing analyst briefings with “lakehouse” positioning. Six quarters later, Databricks’ September 2023 round came in at $43 billion, up $5 billion while most late-stage tech valuations were still contracting. The momentum snowballed: by December 2024 a $10 billion mega-round catapulted the price tag to $62 billion. 

Investors were pricing the story of Databricks as the neutral “AI lakehouse” backbone – proof that sustained, data-rich PR plus timely product signals can generate double-digit-billion upside in a lukewarm IPO market.

The Takeaway

Capital may loosen by 2026, but attention is being allocated right now. Nail your narrative while mindshare is economic, and enter the next round or roadshow with leverage instead of luck.

Curious how your comms stack up? Book a no-cost ‘Narrative Stress Test’ and contact us here.

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Debunking the Top 5 Tech PR Myths Startups Still Believe

Christina on May 6, 2025

Tech public relations can be one of the most misunderstood functions in a company’s growth strategy — especially for early-stage startups. When budgets are tight and the pressure to deliver results is high, it’s tempting to see PR as either a magic bullet or a strategy reserved for more mature companies. The truth is, effective PR is neither. It’s an investment that, when done right, can shape market perception, build credibility, and contribute to the bottom line.

At Karbo, we work with companies at every stage of growth, and we’ve heard just about every tech PR myth out there. Let’s break down five of the most common misconceptions we encounter and what startups should understand instead.

 

Myth #1: “All you need is one TechCrunch story to help you succeed overnight.” Yes, we’ve placed many TechCrunch features that result in a major surge of website traffic and solid sales leads. Many times TechCrunch is a key component of our press strategy because it reaches the right people at the right time and its credibility and reach are stellar. But solid marketing and PR strategy is based on short and long term components, not a one trick pony. Long term growth requires long term strategies and programs. For example, there’s been an emergence of niche publications that are impactful and should be a part of many efforts.

 

Myth #2: “We only need PR when we have news.” If you’re only engaging in PR when you’re launching a product or raising a round, you’re missing out on real value. Consistent storytelling keeps your company relevant and top-of-mind for your key audiences — media, customers, investors, and even future employees. Thought leadership, data storytelling, and rapid response commentary are just a few ways to keep momentum going between official announcements.

 

Myth #3: “PR is just for big budgets or late-stage companies.” Actually, early-stage PR can be a secret weapon. At seed and Series A, your story is still being written. That makes it the perfect time to shape the narrative around your mission, your founders, and your market vision. Plus, a well-placed story or compelling thought leadership piece can go a long way in building credibility with investors, customers, and recruits.

 

Myth #4: “Any coverage is good coverage.” More isn’t always better. Getting your name in a dozen outlets that don’t reach your target audience or misrepresent your value prop can actually set you back. Strategic PR is about securing the right coverage in the right places — the kind that speaks to your buyers, potential partners and investors, or future hires.

 

Myth #5: “We can just pitch the product.” Unless you’ve got something truly revolutionary, most reporters won’t bite on a feature list alone. Reporters want stories on market trends, founder journeys, solutions to customer pain points, and real-world impact. Effective PR is about crafting a narrative that shows how your product fits into something bigger — a shift in the industry, a pain point you’re solving, or a better way of doing things.

 

The Bottom Line 

Effective tech PR is about building credibility that compounds over time. The startups that get the most out of it are the ones that understand how and when to invest, and who treat their PR partners as a strategic extension of their marketing team.

At Karbo, we specialize in helping companies build meaningful, measurable PR programs that align with their growth stage, goals and vision. Ready to move beyond the myths? Let’s talk.

 

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Four Steps to Creating Data Reports that Capture Media Attention

Christina on December 2, 2024

Data reports, when created well and released at the right time, are a great tool to educate the public and key stakeholders about anything from complex industry issues, market dynamics, or a technology’s larger impact. They provide objective, factual information that can support a company’s messaging and help increase credibility. They serve as evidence of the company’s achievements, successes, or the impact of its products or services, building good trust with key audiences. Data reports have been especially effective in the SaaS, security, fintech, and biotech/pharma/healthcare spaces recently.

Reports are also a strong tool across marketing. Journalists frequently seek strong data to inform their reporting, and 68% want to see original research and trend data when pitched a story. Having the right report with strong insights can lead to increased media coverage and positive press. Furthermore, data reports can be repurposed into content for various channels, including blog posts, infographics, social media updates, and videos. This helps disseminate the information to a wider audience. Here are four steps to creating a strong report:

 

Choose a report focus and collect relevant data 

In narrowing your report focus, consider the type of insight that would be most compelling to your target audience. Are there new trends you are seeing with customer needs, or how customers are using your technology? Could this speak to a wider shift in your industry? Choosing a report focus will help you determine what type of data you will need to gather. It’s always a great idea to use relevant, proprietary data if you have access to it. You can also create an original survey that looks at market insights and predictions, product usage statistics, or any other information that explores your technology’s strengths. To make sure the data is accurate, up-to-date, and reliable, use reputable tools and work with your tech PR team to ensure the methodology and data sourcing is sound.

 

Analyze and interpret the data

Once you have the raw data related to your report focus, see where the most meaningful insights and trends sit by noting where there are the most unexpected or extreme data points, as well as the strongest correlations. Understand what the data is saying and how it reflects on your company. Your tech PR team will advise on how to translate and package the most compelling raw data for the public to easily understand. This will take into consideration:

  • Communicating the data in a way that resonates with your target audience
  • Creating top narratives that highlight key takeaways and the significance of the data
  • The best storytelling techniques to make the data relatable and memorable. This could include real-world examples from client surveys or case studies illustrating the impact of the data

The best tech PR teams will also understand the best channels to deliver and amplify your data report, and what custom content should be created for each. This could include press releases, social media posts, blogs, webinars, or even thought leadership/speaking engagements. Work with PR to determine what are the best channels for reaching your target audience with your data and tailoring your message respectively. For example, a press release focusing on key numbers and statistics might be best for some stakeholders, while a client blog post that goes deeper into the story behind the data might be better suited for your prospective customers. Tech PR teams can also provide guidance to the best visual tools to help present the data in easy-to-understand and easy-to-amplify ways like infographics, charts, videos, or interactive content. 

 

Leverage media relations and engage with your audience

With your key narratives and final report package ready, your tech PR team is armed to reach relevant media outlets and journalists who cover your industry and provide them with the data along with a compelling story. They can further tailor outreach to specific journalists or outlets, highlighting why your data is relevant to their specific audience.This will encourage interaction and discussion around your data. Social media content and other online forums are great ways to extend the dialogue around your report and the story you’re telling. Your tech PR team will help guide you with how to respond to comments, answer questions, and how to navigate feedback, if necessary.

 

Measure your report’s impact

Track the performance of your data by noting three key areas: the demand for the full report, the influx of leads in the weeks and months after the data is made available, and any change in the duration of individual sales cycles. By showcasing that you understand the current industry, understand your customers, are a thought leader and are transparent, a strong data report campaign can make a positive difference in the three aforementioned areas that impact your company’s bottom line.

PR efforts can also be measured by monitoring metrics like brand awareness, website traffic, social media engagement, press coverage, and sentiment analysis to understand the impact of your data-driven PR work. These insights can be used to refine your approach and continue to improve your PR efforts.

If you want to build on the success of a first report, consider becoming an authority on the survey topic with an ongoing report schedule that looks at how the data shifts in the quarters and years to come, or even expand the report topic to include other relevant data analyzes with tangential focuses in an ongoing report series.

 

Surveys and reports can be a critical component of a well-rounded tech PR and marketing strategy. They can help provide a foundation of credibility and objectivity that supports the messages most important for your audiences to hear .Using data and reports for public relations efforts can be a powerful way to enhance your brand’s awareness, showcase achievements, and enforce your team’s standing as thought leaders and subject matter experts. Remember, transparency and authenticity are key when using company data, and a great tech PR partner will help ensure that the data is presented honestly and accurately, and be prepared to address any questions or concerns that may arise. If you’re interested in learning more about the best ways to use data in your tech PR strategy, let us know at info@karbocom.com.