The Delphi team have all worked in tech comms for 20 years or more, for global giants as well as brand new startups. We’ve seen a lot of trends come and go in that time. We think tech comms might be more challenging in 2024 than ever before – for four reasons.
First, there’s a massive focus now on tech regulation. Whether it’s misinformation, algorithmic bias, data privacy, or alleged monopolistic behaviour, there’s been a “regulatory turn” in the tech narrative and media coverage. That limits media space and audience appetite for other stories. This is a big shift away from the straightforward product news and big-picture “vision setting” of the 2010s.
Second, Big Tech is sucking up all the oxygen in the room. This is quite literal in the case of the big political summits and industry get-togethers: often only the biggest players are invited. But you see it too in media coverage that’s consistently dominated by just a handful of nation state-sized goliaths. That’s making it harder for smaller firms to cut through and get attention.
Third, the implosion of Twitter means the tech industry has lost its gathering place and single point of focus. Instead, attention is dispersed across more platforms – the new set of Twitter rivals, private messaging apps, and a resurgent LinkedIn. Reaching a big audience is getting more complicated.
Fourth, earned media continues to shrink as economic headwinds take away advertising revenue and platform shifts mean audience eyeballs go elsewhere. That raises the bar for what kind of stories get covered and limits who can successfully fight for attention (see the first two points above). Ultimately this is driving more time and energy towards owned content and channels.
We think those four factors explain a lot about the tech comms industry right now. Let us know if you agree.
