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Speaking the Developers’ Language: A Tech PR Guide to What’s on Dev Teams’ Minds in 2025

sian@karbocom.com on March 5, 2025

Developers and engineers are at the forefront of innovation, creating the technologies that shape our world. To connect with them through PR, communication must be authentic, technically accurate, and relevant to their priorities.

As we move through 2025, here are key developer trends that are top of mind for developers and how PR professionals can engage with them effectively.

1. The Build vs. Buy Debate will Always be Relevant

The “build vs. buy” debate is shifting towards hybrid approaches, where companies integrate modular components to balance customization with convenience. Cost concerns, particularly subscription fatigue, are driving some businesses to reconsider in-house development for greater financial control. The decision often hinges on whether the software is core to the company’s differentiation—critical functions may justify building, while non-core needs can be met with third-party solutions. Resource availability also plays a role; organizations with strong development teams may build, while those lacking expertise lean towards buying. Additionally, time-to-market is a crucial factor—purchasing software enables rapid deployment, whereas custom development requires longer lead times. Ultimately, companies are moving away from a binary choice and instead adopting flexible strategies that optimize costs, align with business goals, and ensure long-term scalability.

In showcasing software solutions targeted for developers and engineers, work with your tech PR team to determine how to best amplify the message of your product’s total cost of ownership. Developer and engineering teams want to understand how your technology will increase their productivity, and allow them to focus building in areas that propel their businesses forward.

2. AI Powers Everything, Good and Bad

AI isn’t just about automation anymore—it’s changing the game for developers, from how they write code to how they debug and streamline workflows. These teams are also rapidly adapting to the explosion of agentic AI technology including building in ways that give end users a great experience, and securing their technology against nefarious AI agents. Tools such as GitHub Copilot, AI-driven testing, and smarter DevOps are making things faster and easier, but they’re also sparking big conversations about ethics and the future of coding jobs. PR pros need to recognize both the excitement and the concerns, making sure their messaging feels real, highlight security-first approaches, and is relevant to what developers actually care about.

3. Refined Messages Around Data Protection

Companies are not only producing data at record volumes now, they are also dependent on the same data sets as its biggest users. Developers are not just builders but stewards of this critical resource for companies. They play a crucial role in building and maintaining data pipelines, ensuring that data is efficiently collected, processed, and stored. With increasing concerns over data breaches and corruption, they also must implement robust backup, recovery, and security mechanisms. Developers aren’t just coding—they’re solving real business problems. Understanding data as a critical business asset helps developers align their work with organizational goals, whether by improving analytics, enhancing customer experiences, or streamlining operations. Marketing to developers about data management has to always be practical, technical, and value-driven while avoiding hype.

Navigating the evolving developer landscape? Let’s talk about how PR can help your brand stay ahead.

4. Open Source, Community, and Trust

Open-source software remains a cornerstone of innovation, fostering collaboration and accelerating technological advancements. However, security concerns persist, as transparency can expose vulnerabilities, necessitating responsible development practices. The rise of open-source AI models has sparked debate, balancing innovation with risks of misuse. Companies like DeepSeek have leveraged open-source strategies to achieve rapid AI adoption, highlighting its competitive advantages. Meanwhile, regulatory measures like the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act raise concerns about potential burdens on open source developers and the broader impact on digital sovereignty. Despite challenges, open-source continues to drive progress, and developers rightly care about transparency and community-driven projects. If brands want to connect with them, they need to join open-source conversations in a real way, contribute value beyond promotion, and build trust through meaningful engagement rather than overt marketing as ongoing discussions about balancing openness, security, and regulation in the evolving tech landscape will remain topical.

Conclusion

One of the most effective ways to build trust with the developer community is by amplifying developer voices. Whether through webinars, Slack communities, technical blogs, AMAs, or open-source contributions, giving engineers a platform to share insights makes messaging more genuine and impactful.

Effective PR also means meeting developers on their terms—through authenticity, technical credibility, and real engagement. Whether it’s AI, cloud-native development, open-source collaboration, or security concerns, understanding what matters to dev teams is key to building trust. By amplifying developer voices and focusing on real value over marketing hype, PR professionals can create meaningful connections that resonate in 2025 and beyond.

Want to build a PR strategy that speaks developers’ language? Subscribe to our newsletter for expert insights.

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Adapting External Communications Strategies Amid Economic Uncertainty

sian@karbocom.com on February 20, 2025

Economic uncertainty can arise from several factors, including inflationary pressures, global supply chain disruptions, geopolitical instability, financial market volatility, and workforce transformations. These factors present both challenges and opportunities for companies who continue to focus on growth. In times like these, how companies communicate with customers, investors, and employees matters more than ever. People want honesty, reassurance, and a sense that businesses are in control, even when the economy isn’t. That’s why adapting external communications isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must for maintaining trust and staying competitive.

Shifting Technology Communications Priorities

In uncertain times, tech businesses especially need to rethink how they communicate. First, transparency is key—customers and stakeholders appreciate honesty about challenges and how the company is handling them. Trying to disguise bad news or stay silent only fuels doubt. Instead, brands should focus on customer-centric messaging that addresses real pain points, showing how their products or services can help people navigate tough times. That means shifting from overly promotional language to content that highlights benefits like cost savings, efficiency, and long-term value.

More than ever, businesses have to meet their audiences where they already are—whether that’s social media, email, or webinars. It’s not enough to simply push messages out; companies need to actively listen to these channels for feedback, monitor shifting audience preferences, and adjust their messaging in real time. Showcasing tangible value is essential. Customers want to see clear evidence of ROI before making purchasing decisions, so businesses should lean into case studies, cost or ROI calculators, and real-world success stories, and strategic advantages.

Advice for Creating a New Strategy

To realign external communications strategies with these new priorities, messaging should directly address customer pain points. It’s not enough to promote a product or service—companies need to frame their offerings as essential tools for overcoming financial and operational challenges. This means positioning the brand as a trusted partner rather than just a vendor. Press releases/strategic announcements, thought leadership pieces, and media outreach should focus on real-world solutions that improve efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.

Credibility is everything during uncertain times. Leveraging data, industry insights, and proven success stories is key for an effective, updated strategy. By publishing case studies, whitepapers, and market reports that highlight measurable ROI, businesses can demonstrate their impact in a way that resonates with budget-conscious customers. Working with a tech PR agency or team to secure media placements for these insights builds credibility and keeps the business’s brand top-of-mind.

Thought leadership plays a crucial role in maintaining a strong brand presence. Executives and subject matter experts should actively participate in industry discussions through active LinkedIn communications, keynote speeches, webinars, and guest articles. By sharing their perspectives on resilience strategies, market trends, and business best practices, companies can reinforce their expertise and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders.

Effective content development is key to further maximizing the impact of thought leadership work. Businesses should create editorial calendars to align with industry conferences, product launches, and the market trends that are most relevant for their customers. While forms of content should be varied to target multiple audiences (blogs, infographics, videos, reports), consistency in the messages amplified and the publishing cadence is critical for any brand to stay top of mind with their audiences, without over-saturating attention spans.

PR efforts should be highly targeted. While broad media outreach is always good for awareness, businesses should focus on industry-specific publications and niche platforms where their audiences are most engaged. Developing strong relationships with journalists and editors in these spaces allows companies to offer tailored insights that are relevant to their industry and customer base.

Reputation management is another vital component. In times of crisis—whether it’s layoffs, supply chain disruptions, or shifting market conditions—businesses need to communicate proactively and transparently. Having a crisis communication plan in place ensures that companies can address concerns head-on and respond to misinformation.

Looking to the Future

Economic uncertainty presents challenges but it’s also a chance for businesses to build trust, highlight their value, and stand out as leaders. By adapting external communications to focus on transparency, address customer needs with cost-effective solutions, and leverage digital tools, companies can foster lasting relationships. Thought leadership, data-driven storytelling, and proactive reputation management will distinguish businesses and set the stage for long-term success. Effective communication boosts confidence, strengthens relationships, and keeps businesses agile in a rapidly changing economic landscape. Companies that adapt now will not only survive economic changes but set themselves up for future growth.

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Karbo’s Innovative Services and Expert Team Drove Triple-Digit Client Growth Across AI, SaaS, Security, and Healthcare in 2024

sian@karbocom.com on January 29, 2025

As a leading technology PR, content, and digital marketing agency, Karbo achieved remarkable business growth in 2024. We doubled customer acquisitions compared to 2023, grew healthcare and pharmaceutical clients’ signings by 300%, and generated significant client wins across the AI, SaaS, infrastructure, and security sectors.

Reflecting on the year, we understand that technology companies face increasingly crowded markets, challenges reaching their target audiences and limitations around producing high-quality content that grows awareness and inspires purchasing decisions. To best meet the evolving needs of our clients and deliver measurable business impact, we’ve leveraged decades of rich technology communications experience into innovative service offerings:

Karbo’s Rapid Results Method focuses on securing meaningful media placements, creating compelling content and producing memorable digital marketing programs that drive brand awareness, customer acquisition, funding, partnerships, and more.

Karbo’s AI Practice expanded this year and caps over 25 years of experience working with AI companies. Whether an AI startup, a company integrating AI into their product line, or a multi-billion-dollar brand acquiring or building AI solutions, Karbo offers a unique mix of deep AI knowledge, experience in communicating AI technology and benefits with the current AI tools and perspective.

Karbo’s PowerStart Package democratizes startup access to PR and marketing programs and content to give pre-Series A technology companies access to top-flight services at an affordable price.

We take an ROI-focused approach to consistently deliver impactful outcomes and remain committed to fast-tracking our clients to market leadership and success. If you’d like to meet our team of experts to learn how we can help, please visit: https://karbocom.com/

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Maximizing Impact: Strategies for Social Engagement and Thought Leadership at Industry Events

sian@karbocom.com on September 24, 2024

As we know, social media is not only an outlet for sharing information – both personal, professional and everything in between – but it’s also a strategic tool to drive engagement between vendors and users. A few months ago we shared 4 ways to use social media to garner media attention in 2024. Today, our counsel is geared toward driving impactful engagement at conferences using hashtags and executives’ thought leadership.

Hashtags are strategic conference assets

Hashtags are a versatile tool that can enhance brand awareness, discoverability, engagement, organization, and more. Leveraging conference hashtags, or creating your own, can help drive:

Increased visibility: With hashtags your conference-related post automatically becomes discoverable to users following that hashtag, expanding your audience beyond your networked followers. This is especially keen for industry events, as conference-goers look to hashtags to help find relevant talks, booths, and more. For example, longtime Karbo client Penguin Solutions leveraged a unique hashtag (#HPCeveryone) on branded Penguin plushies at a large industry conference and received close to 100 entries from social media alone.
Enhanced Engagement: Posts that include relevant hashtags usually have the most engagement. They attract interested audiences (and potential customers), which leads to more likes, comments, and most importantly, shares—expanding influence and reach.
Targeted marketing for brand awareness: Hashtags enable executives and businesses to foster a sense of community by reaching specific audiences that are interested in more niche content and topics. Leveraging unique hashtags can drive user-generated content and broaden awareness for your personal and professional brand.

Being a thought leader rather than a thought follower

Industry events are the perfect place to display unique thoughts that inspire new opportunities, drive audience engagement, capture lead generation, and display your company’s breadth of knowledge at crowded industry events. Ensuring your executive or business’ social media aligns with what you’re messaging and offering at the event helps accrue an engaging audience. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Talk titles: Consider amplifying unique thoughts with catchy talk titles that spark immediate interest and go against the grain. Attendees are usually given an agenda with all presentations, having a title that stands out will likely leave an impression on the busy conference-goer.
Live social broadcasting from the show floor: This tactic has helped Karbo clients dramatically increase followers and engagement. Report from booths, ask questions of attendees and publish their answers, be that man or woman on ‘the street’ that’s providing interesting timely news from the show floor. Consider using an engaging platform (i.e., X, Reddit, etc.) to invite post-conference thoughts.
Amplify via Social Media: Up the volume on your booth happenings, your executive’s views and speaking with hashtags and unique offerings, such as a raffle or giveaways (using a hashtag) or one-of-a-kind photo opportunities that are sure to resonate with your brand.

Being a thought leader rather than a thought follower captivates an audience that drives engagement and awareness on social media. From harnessing the power and value of industry events to optimizing tools, impactful ROI is exemplified by the countless clients we’ve supported in gathering record-breaking attendance, social media engagement via optimal hashtags, and results that are proven to drive sales.

We’ve seen firsthand from the countless clients we’ve supported how effective strategies, such as creative social programs, using the right hashtags, and other tactics can lead to impressive results, from increased attendance at events to heightened engagement online to sales leads.

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The Role of PR in Launching a New Product: Best Practices and Strategies

sian@karbocom.com on August 22, 2024

Launching a new product is an exciting yet challenging endeavor for any company. The success of your launch hinges not just on how well you can create buzz, but engage with your target audience and differentiate your product from the competition. A thoughtful and well-executed PR strategy is crucial to achieving these goals and ultimately, can be the sales driver for your brand. In this guide, we’ll outline best practices and strategies for leveraging PR in the pre-launch, launch and post-launch phases to ensure your company breaks through the noise, attracts potential customers and establishes brand credibility.

The Planning Phase: Building Out a Product Launch PR Strategy

As you get ready to launch your new product, the planning phase is arguably the most important phase of your PR strategy. A strategic PR plan doesn’t happen overnight – ideally, this process begins at least 6-8 weeks before your target launch date. So, what do you tackle first? Figuring out what your narrative will be. Developing a compelling narrative that highlights your product’s unique value proposition is key to breaking through the noise. Your narrative should be focused on how this product solves a bigger market challenge or need in a way that your competitors don’t. Addressing your audience’s pain points with clear and concise messaging ensures that your story resonates not just with your target audience, but with the reporters who cover your industry. Articulate why this news matters now and how your product solves challenges for your customers in a way that competing products can’t.

It’s critical to establish clear launch objectives before you dive into your specific tactics. This can include building and strengthening relationships with target journalists and analysts and generating media coverage, driving sales interest by positioning your product as a differentiated and preferred solution, and driving traffic to your website. Once you’ve determined your overarching objectives, it’s important to then set quantifiable, measurable KPIs that map back to them — this can include KPIs like the number of press mentions secured, press interviews held, tone of coverage and how well your product messaging is reflected in your launch coverage.

Engaging with Media to Build Buzz

Once your messaging is finalized, it’s time to pinpoint the media outlets, journalists and influencers who are most relevant to your industry and target audience. This launch media outreach list is the backbone of your PR success. The best way to find targets? Read, read, read. Figure out what journalists have covered your competitors, similar products or topics. Study their coverage to figure out the broader industry themes and trends that are most important to them. Crafting personalized pitches is key in media engagement – at Karbo, we always tell our clients that we don’t believe in a ‘spray n’ pray’ outreach approach. Reporters are receiving hundreds (if not thousands) of product pitches every day. The biggest mistake people make is making a pitch too promotional or self-serving. Demonstrate that you have read a journalist’s work and clearly outline how your product fits into the larger industry landscape they cover to increase the likelihood of your story getting picked up.

Do everything in your power to make it as easy as possible for a reporter to cover. Consider offering embargoes to journalists 2-3 weeks before your launch date to give them ample time to meet with your executives and prepare their stories.

Post-Launch: Measuring the Impact of Your Campaign

Post-launch, it’s essential to measure the impact of your PR efforts to understand what worked and what can be improved. Start by evaluating the quantitative metrics you set during the planning phase. Media monitoring services like MuckRack, Google Analytics and social media analytics platforms can help track these metrics.

When analyzing the volume and quality of media coverage, it’s important to look at the tone and sentiment of the articles to determine if your key messages were communicated effectively. Analyzing the depth of the coverage can provide insights into how well journalists understood and conveyed your product’s unique value proposition. When evaluating website traffic, it’s always helpful to correlate traffic spikes with specific media placements to better understand what publications and stories are resonating most with your target audience.

Partnering with an experienced PR agency makes all the difference in successfully launching a new product. Interested in learning how Karbo can help? Get in touch with our team at info@karbocom.com.