B2B tech teams are under immense pressure.
Budgets are tight, PR and marketing teams are stretched, and the buyer journey is more complex than ever – involving more decision-makers and extensive research long before sales have a chance to engage.
Yet despite the hours spent securing media coverage, producing thought leadership, creating eBooks and developing assets, too much valuable work still goes to waste.
Content that could convince and convert buyers is often underused, duplicated across teams, or worse – shelved after only one or two uses. According to our latest research study, Winning in the Era of Less, more than one-third (37%) of content is rarely or never repurposed beyond a single channel.
As a result, brands miss key opportunities to engage decision-makers, build trust, and drive results.
So why is this happening? The answer lies in what we call “Silo Syndrome.” In many organisations, sales, marketing and PR are still operating in silos – running parallel initiatives that rarely intersect and failing to collaborate or share resources effectively.
It’s a challenge that came through clearly in our latest research, which found that nearly 90% of sales, PR and marketing leaders believe their teams could be better aligned.
How to get teams to collaborate more effectively was a central theme in our recent on-demand webinar, where senior leaders from Coupa, Eviden, HUT 3 and Tyto shared how they’re adapting and making collaboration work in today’s tough climate.
Here are some of their key takeaways.
Speak the same language and share the wins
Carmen Overton, Global Head of Growth Marketing at Eviden (part of the Atos Group), believes one of the biggest barriers to collaboration comes down to the language different teams use to define success.
“PR talks awareness, marketing talks leads, and sales is really focused on revenue,” she explained. “We have to find common KPIs and shared language to really break that down.”
At Eviden, Carmen tackles this ‘language barrier’ by involving teams in joint campaigns, sharing results early and often, and ensuring everyone can see their role in the outcome. Securing buy-in from the start and delivering a few quick wins goes a long way in building momentum.
Use PR to build credibility with sales
Tyto’s Senior Director of Awareness2Demand™, Beth Sissons, highlighted the opportunity for PR and comms teams to contribute more directly to the sales process.
“There’s nothing like being in a top-tier title and the kudos that brings,” she said. “The credibility you get from that is something you can’t get through other channels.”
That kind of third-party endorsement helps build trust with prospects – and positions PR as a strategic lever. But first, PR teams need to make sure sales teams know the content exists and are equipped to use it in conversations with leads and prospects.
Communicate, commit and build trust
Anthony Tate, Senior Director of Segment Marketing and Communications at Coupa, stressed the importance of frequent collaboration and relationship-building across departments.
“Forget doing it annually. I would say forget doing it quarterly, even monthly. It’s as often as you possibly can,” he said, highlighting the pace of change and the need for constant alignment.
In global or remote-first teams, regular catchups and rapport-building are vital.
To reinforce this, Anthony sets a challenge for his team: be able to tell him what their key sales stakeholders enjoy doing outside work. If they can’t, it’s a sign they need to invest more in those relationships.
Align early — and don’t underestimate Marketing Ops
Andy Johnson, Tyto’s Awareness2Demand partner and founder of HUT 3, emphasised that effective integrated campaigns begin long before launch.
“We always begin with an exploration session,” he explained. “It’s a stealth way of helping internal teams come together. Sales will tell us what’s happening on the ground and what’s blocking progress. Marketing brings the value proposition – and we build the programme together.”
That shared input not only strengthens the campaign – it ensures buy-in from the start. Andy also underlined the critical role of Marketing Ops. Sitting between brand goals and sales conversion, ops teams help ensure tech, data and process are aligned across the funnel.
Communications and Collaboration is Key
As I wrote in my last blog, the Era of Less isn’t going anywhere. If anything, the pressure to deliver more with less is increasing. But this latest discussion showed how smarter collaboration, across internal teams and with agency partners, can make a real difference.
By aligning earlier, communicating better and using content more strategically, PR and marketing teams can deliver stronger outcomes, while making better use of the work they’re already doing.
Struggling with Silo Syndrome?
Watch our webinar on-demand for more insight, practical examples and actionable advice. And don’t forget to download the accompanying eBook, Winning in the Era of Less, to learn how B2B tech teams can unlock the full potential of PR and marketing assets to drive greater ROI across all stages of the funnel.
About the author
Siân Gaskell is Managing Partner at Tyto and leads the Content Studio. She was worked with countless brands including BlackBerry, Zendesk, Outbrain, and First Utility.