Dan GarzaDan Garza

Before social media, technology byline articles were a main tool in the PR pro’s quiver. Trade press publications were then and are now eager to receive and publish good quality tech byline pieces for their readership. Byline pieces provide tech companies with the right vehicle to build market awareness and customer credibility and help get technology and product stories to their customer base.

Entrepreneur magazine endorsed that by saying in it’s The Art of the Bylined Article:

“A bylined article is one of the most effective tools available for establishing credibility with a target audience because it showcases you as a thought leader in your field. And in doing so, the article draws attention to the stature and strength of your company and helps differentiate it from competitors.”

A number of Silicon Valley giants earlier built their powerful technology brands thanks in large part to publishing sustained programs of byline articles in the trade press.

But, these days, tech PR interest in byline articles is waning. Many tech PR pros entering the field don’t understand their value and think of byline articles solely as highly technical papers without PR value. Instead, they focus primarily on news release and social media routes.

Plus, some are intimidated by technology and stay away from considering byline articles as much as possible. Instead, considerable attention is given to social media as an easier way to publicize tech products.

However, experienced PR pros know that published byline articles and social media can complement each other to create a powerful strategy and achieve greater marketing results.

This article is featured in O'Dwyer's Nov. Technology PR Magazine

They’re fully aware that published byline article content can be leveraged for social media stories. The major and strategic benefit is furthering the main storylines from the byline pieces.

However, it’s the steady cadence of byline articles that drives the PR engine and the strategy. Why? Because there are several inherent benefits associated with published byline articles. First off, tech companies running those byline pieces get a third-party tacit endorsement from the trade press publishing them. What could be better?

The reader fully knows he or she is reading valuable information in a highly credible and leading industry magazine. Immediately, the byline piece is useful and answers critical questions about technology products or systems their companies are developing.

Other benefits include company credibility and customer trust. Tech companies’ reputations are significantly improved. Those companies also create a perception of industry authority and technology leadership. Plus, those published byline pieces have a high probability of going viral via search engines and providing the business press and market analysts much-needed up-to-date technology trends data.

But it must be the right article

Simply put, tech byline articles have to be editorially acceptable. That means they have to be free of product or company promotion and hyperbole. In short, they cannot be advertisements. Otherwise, they’re immediately rejected and, in turn, the submitting PR pro figuratively gets a black eye from an editorial staff for doing so.

So-called “shopping” a byline article is also considered poor practice among trade press editors. This means a PR pro distributes a byline piece among various competitive trade publications to see which one takes it. Again, editors loathe this type of PR because a submitted byline piece isn’t tailored to meet a given magazine’s editorial needs.

Conversely, the trade press seeks out experts whose byline articles can elaborate on issues and solutions that its readerships find valuable. Types of acceptable articles fall into the how-to, problem/solution and tutorial categories.

But it’s always wise to check out a publication’s latest issues and editorial calendars to determine the topics of utmost importance. Then, the PR pro can begin to plan the topics he or she can pursue with their marketing and engineering people to start crafting those byline pieces.

Most trade magazines suggest creating a short article outline with about three bullet points and then submitting it as a proposed byline article to the editor.

Getting started and working with SMEs

For the PR pro ghostwriter, selecting and organizing technology SMEs plays a critical role in the success or failure of a byline article program.

These are the individuals you interview so that you get the critical content needed for ghostwriting your byline articles. Here, you should carefully work with each selected SME so that you’re confident you’re getting the correct content.

However, there are certain types to avoid and or be wary of. For example, there’s the product promoter, who knows little of the technology, but only knows to hype the product, which editors deplore in a submitted byline article.

Another is never happy with your ghostwriting and worries about the copy to the point the article is never returned—in effect, going into a black hole.

A third is the SME who is unsure of his or her technology know-how. During the approval cycle, that SME passes his or her ghostwritten article around to colleagues to critique it and/or get a consensus on certain portions. However, in effect, they’re delaying the article and possibly damaging it with technology-inaccurate or extraneous content.

A fourth one is the classic researcher, who is steeped in his or her company projects. The best SME is one who provides you both technology and customer issues information. The classic researcher, on the other hand, lives in the research world and focuses solely on certain in-house technology projects.

Taking the right steps

It’s best to take a strategic approach, rather than adopting random topics as the basis for your byline article program. This means collaborating with marketing, sales and even with executives to map out strategic topics to formulate your plan.

At this point, you’ll be getting a number of opinions about which products and technologies to prioritize and which to dismiss. This is especially true at larger tech companies, which produce a number of different products and technologies.

In instances like these, it’s always a great idea to partner closely with your chief marketing officer or marketing vice president. Let them play a big hand in refereeing and deciding which products and technologies take priority.

Not only can they help you this way, but they can also be SMEs for a robust thought leadership byline article to get your program underway.

Once a consensus is reached on the right topics, the next step is assigning your selected SME to each topic and conducting individual meetings with those SMEs. During those discussions, the PR pro briefs each one on what is expected and how to proceed in providing the right level of information for each byline article.

From this point onward, you are on your way toward driving your PR engine with successive byline articles being published. That’s when you’ll receive plaudits from your marketing and top management, as well as encouragement to further build your successful PR work.

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Dan Garza is a marketing PR professional and veteran observer of Silicon Valley PR.