5 PR tips for startups creating a new tech product category

"If you ain't first, you're last" is a funny line from the race car comedy epic Talladega Nights. 

But there's some truth to it in business to create a first-mover advantage. First in the world. First in the sector. Even first to launch a specific feature in an industry that’s otherwise full of the ‘same’ product (I’m looking at you, SaaS productivity tools). But creating a new tech product category is an uphill climb, and most startups underestimate just how steep it is.

We recently worked with a startup that coined a new term – Visual Operations, or VisOps – to describe how companies could use digital twins in real time to make operational decisions. It was genuinely onto something, but at launch, there was one big issue: no one knew what VisOps meant.

So our job in PR wasn’t to blindly promote a shiny new acronym and hope that the media would cover it. It was to help the startup connect VisOps to trends reporters were already writing about – like AI, industrial IoT, and predictive maintenance. We didn’t lead with the category. We led with the context. ‘Digital Twins’ was an already-established tech term (and very trendy in and of itself).

Once we had attention, then we layered in the VisOps story, using the phrase in pitches, email follow-ups, etc, mixing it in organically.

That’s what category creation often looks like: not headline-grabbing buzzwords, but slow, strategic scaffolding. If you’re building a new category, your comms strategy isn’t just a support function – it’s central to whether your story lands, sticks, and scales.

Here are 5 PR tips for startups looking to generate media coverage around a new tech product category.

Anchor your new tech product category in something familiar

Most reporters – and customers – don’t care about acronyms. They care about problems. They want to understand what your product does, who it’s for, and how your new tech product category solves those problems.

When Slack came onto the scene, it didn’t try to invent new vocabulary. It just positioned itself as a better way to communicate at work. “Team collaboration software” wasn’t even a well-known category yet. 

Slack pretty much popularized it. But it only did that after capturing media coverage for what it did well (improving team productivity). The aim was to sell more, not get stuck on a particular jargon phrase that might or might not work out (In this case, it did. Team collaboration software today delivers thousands upon thousands of search results).

PR helps startups lead with what their product helps people do. Use existing language to get your foot in the door, then evolve the conversation.

Give your new tech product category a clear and sticky narrative

Category creators generate media coverage when they tell stories people remember.

Take Mark Benioff, the founder of Salesforce. He didn’t promote Salesforce as a CRM, but instead rallied against on-premise software with a simple “No software” slogan. Only then did he position Salesforce as a cloud-based platform -- a new tech product category.

Great PR simplifies your message until it clicks. Reporters are always looking for stories that don’t just speak to them, but ones that will also interest their readers. A clear narrative helps reporters quickly gauge if their audiences will understand the story. 

Watch your timing when creating a new tech product category

Being early can be just as hard as being late. Some category creators get the idea right, but the timing wrong.

Remember General Magic? I didn’t either. But it had the vision for the smartphone in the 1990s. Touchscreens, app stores, even emojis – all had their starts there. But mobile infrastructure and consumer behavior weren’t there yet. It wasn’t until Apple launched the iPhone about 15 years later that the category finally took off.

Startups creating a new tech product category can use PR to plant flags early. If the market isn’t ready yet, thought leadership and trend-based storytelling can help secure media coverage, building awareness and credibility until the world catches up.

In new tech product category creation, expect fast followers

Even if you define a new tech product category, someone else will likely come along, copy the core idea, and scale it better.

Webvan had the vision for online grocery delivery in the 1990s, during the dot-com bubble. But Instacart got the timing, model, and app right – and became the category-definer. 

If you draw the map, chances are, there’s a startup behind you with a similar product, but more research to back its launch.

In this case, startups can leverage PR to quickly associate their brand with the category-defining language. Be the name that shows up first in every explainer article. If the new tech product category must be explained, you want any media coverage to use your startup as the example.

Why PR is essential for startups creating a new tech product category

Creating a new tech product category can work. But it’s risky, expensive, and easy to get wrong – especially if your message doesn’t land. For startups looking to create a new tech product category, these 5 PR tips are a great beginning.

Now, PR can’t magically make a market, but it can give your category a fighting chance. It helps you tell a story people understand, connect to trends that matter, and earn credibility long before your competitors figure out what you’re building.

Is your startup launching something new – or redefining something familiar? If so, let's work together to broadcast your story -- contact our tech PR firm.