Firstly, I’d like to personally clear up a certain rumor that PR is dead. It’s very much alive and kicking. The truth, however, is that PR is shapeshifting. It’s evolving in unprecedented ways to meet people where they are, in ways they value most. Simply put, PR is what you make it to be, especially in the SaaS world. Here’s the catch: you can only get creative with PR if you’re willing to suspend the shyness around trying things that are not traditionally “PR” – in terms of channels, formats, spokespeople, you name it.
The good news is that people today actually look forward to newness, which makes experimentation not just possible, but encouraged. We wouldn’t be seeing brand and product stories landing on a Substack email drop if someone hadn’t dared to try it first, even when nobody else was doing it. If your brand decides it will thrive on a Discord channel, it just might, because people are ready to meet authenticity wherever it shows up.
One of the biggest opportunities SaaS companies have now is to make their offerings as human as possible. This might sound ironic when AI is changing how content is created and consumed. But there’s also a consequent shift happening – people are gravitating more and more towards authenticity. They are, in fact, hungry for it.
Credibility, connection and community, in that order
Audiences are drawn to curations, personal experiences and lessons. Genuine connections and community matter to them, evidently. They’re also more skeptical about the constant gusts of information that seem to surround them at all times. They want to learn something today that they didn’t know yesterday. They want to be informed, but also entertained. They seek perspective and welcome having their existing views challenged.
If your product occupies a space that you’ve paved on your own, there must be some notions or existing existing systems you challenged to make a place for it. You have the opportunity to spotlight the link between your product and its unique context. And context is everything.
If your competition is getting a lot of media attention, pay attention as to why. Is it that their product is superior, or is the story more compelling? If you feel that they latched on to something you could have, but you didn’t think much of it, this is a nice time to remember that it’s extremely important to think out loud with your PR team. There’s a phrase: write first, then edit. Similarly, discuss first before dismissing something. Your biggest dreams for a certain launch. Your worst fears. What went into the making of it. What you wish you could have done. How you want the readers to feel and react when they read about it. What you feel you cannot do. Your product specs make for proof points but the story is what makes it special.
I say discuss with your PR team, because they’d only know about your product and your thoughts behind something as much as you tell them. What you may miss, they might see. Without a great tune, even the best lyrics might never get to see the world as we know it, right?
There’s never been a better time to be fabulously candid
Sometimes, the best parts of your story never make it into a press release – the failed prototypes, the late-night debates, or that one what if idea that sparked the whole thing. Those moments are gold, but they need the right home. The next time you feel there’s nothing interesting to share about your new feature, pick your own brain a little, and your team’s too. You’ll be surprised by all that pops from the archives (of your consciousness, I mean). Dropping a little “behind the making of” note on Discord: a messy screenshot, a funny blooper, or an existential question you wrestled with while building. The same story will start looking a lot more colourful, and alive.
The trick is not to repeat yourself everywhere or to forcefit the “fun stuff” just to seem cool – it’s to decide what belongs where. Trade media might want a serious take, niche newsletter readers will appreciate the more nuanced angle, and Reddit is a whole different ball game. That platform helps you put yourself in front of a community that will eagerly hear from you, answer you, challenge you, validate you and bring a multitude of unique perspectives to your attention. It also implies that you’re brave, confident and authentic to put yourself out there. And that makes space for trust to grow; loyalty will follow. That’s how your story grows legs in different directions.
Audiences today, most of them hyper aware, approach PR stories with a certain resistance – I know you’re trying to sell something. If you try hard to convince otherwise, it might just make it look like rehearsed sincerity. That’s where vulnerability can lend you the understated strength of being real. It’s a great time to show your human side.
The AI saturation has made humaneness extremely valuable. Especially in SaaS, where products can often feel abstract, being a little selfless in your story telling helps. Let me explain. For instance, when you put out a piece of content, you certainly would want more traffic to your website, more conversions, more sign-ups – but not everyone will be ready to buy. In fact, according to the 95-5 heuristic, only around 5% of your potential customers are actively in the market at any given moment. The remaining 95% aren’t ready yet. But they’re listening, forming impressions, and deciding who they’ll trust when the time comes.
Following the AI one-size-fits-all approach for press releases might give you content, but it skips over the incredible opportunity to be remembered long after the first read and to tell your story authentically. It risks diluting your brand essence and personality, leaving your message lost in cookie-cutter impressions.
No potion works if you skip the stirring
If you know me, you’ll keep hearing me repeat (at times, almost like a broken record) that PR is a long-term game. It’s not a shortcut for visibility; it’s about shaping perception long before a purchase decision is made. What matters is what you leave your audience with – food for thought, a challenge to the status quo, or a perspective that positions your company as thoughtful, human, and worth remembering. Shared something thought provoking? A reader might share it with someone, and then someone else and it might just ultimately reach where it has to. When you do that, you carve out a small mental space that may later become a seat waiting for you and your product.
The general public’s growing openness to consume information from a wide spectrum of platforms also offers you the golden opportunity to experiment without a go-big-or-go-home bet on any single platform or format. Think of it like A/B testing your narrative: is your newsletter with tips driving sign-ups? Did more people try the demo after a Reddit thread? Did the anecdote you shared on a podcast strike a chord with your audience on social media? Each experiment gives you more insight and brings you closer to your users – both the ones you already have and the ones you hope to attract.
The point is, (as with life in general) you don’t have to shrink yourself to fit into one box. You can expand into wide open pastures, share your story on your terms, and in the process, find the people who get it. It’s also a chance to redefine your voice and archetype, to decide what persona you want to show up as. Do you want to be seen as the guide, the innovator, the problem-solver? In earlier days, businesses didn’t always have the luxury to go so granular or up close and personal with their intended audience, that too with the gift of shaping the narratives themselves. Today, they do.