Venture capital is drying up. Inflation is surging. Layoffs are mounting. African startups are in survival mode, slashing marketing budgets and doubling down on sales. But here’s the irony—one of the most cost-effective growth levers is hiding in plain sight: strategic public relations (PR). At our public relations firm, we’ve observed that there are abundant market opportunities to enhance sales through strategic communication, and unfortunately, many startups fail to capitalize due to a lack of expertise and mismanaged execution.
Startups fail to communicate customer-centric value
For example, during message development sessions, we see founders obsess over their product’s innovation instead of their customer’s pain points. Users do not care if your AI-driven platform is “cutting-edge” or your fintech solution is “revolutionary.” What they want to know is: How will this product or service make my life easier? Will it reduce my customer wait times by 12%? Will it save me 10% in transaction fees?
Monthly maintenance fees have been a major pain point in Nigeria for decades. While several fintechs launched digital banking services, Kuda Bank grabbed significant market share and entered market leadership using and trumpeting the ‘no maintenance and transaction fees’ messaging for a number of years. It is interesting to note that Kuda isn’t the only digital bank that offered this value but they owned it and communicated it the loudest. The bank of the free! This is the power of strategic PR for African tech startups.
We did a market survey for a client, noted repetitive complaints from users, and used an exact phrase from two of the users in a reworked client’s messaging to communicate the problem they solved for users. The result within 6 months was a gradual rise in inquiries, inbounds, and referrals that led to a double-digit revenue jump!
When campaigns prioritize product features over customer needs, they generate poor results and squander marketing budgets. At TechPR Africa, we’ve spent entire strategy sessions convincing founders and executives to ditch the emotionally driven product hype and focus on customer-centric storytelling. It’s not about what you do—it’s about what value you bring.
The power of strategic comms in action
Effective strategic communications is rooted in thorough research and alignment with customer psychology. At its core, strategic comms involves deeply understanding the pain points, priorities, or interests of decision-makers and crafting messages that resonate with their preferences and emotions. Some time back, we had a technology client seeking to build trust with owners of traditional businesses but were releasing reports and doing media rounds as a strategy for lead generation. My question was: Will a digital report convince the street-smart Igbo owners of transport giants like Ekenedilichukwu or Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing to adopt a tech solution? These business leaders thrive on personal relationships and human interaction. Our alternative strategy involved direct networking events, referrals, and industry meetups, which proved far more effective in engaging them.
Another client, a pan-African SaaS company, discovered through our communications audit that 54% of their PR spend was allocated to promoting a low-revenue product line, while their highest-grossing service was receiving minimal exposure. This misalignment between their comms and business development teams led to missed sales opportunities and underutilized resources. After redirecting their PR efforts towards their key revenue driver, they saw over 30% increase in inbound business inquiries within four months.
Strategic comms aligns teams for greater impact
Strategic PR is not a siloed effort—it integrates with sales, marketing, and leadership objectives. When executed correctly, it impresses the target audience, simplifies the sales team’s work, and maximizes the return on investment. Public relations acts as the Air Force, softening targets with aerial strikes, while sales teams serve as ground troops, converting opportunities into wins.
By adopting strategic PR, African startups can break through competitive noise, resonate with decision-makers, and unlock untapped revenue potential. The key lies in customer-first storytelling, data-driven insights, and cross-functional collaboration—an investment that scales growth and transforms communication from a cost centre into a revenue generator.
The talent gap in African tech PR
Finally, it’s equally important for startups to invest in their communications and PR teams as they do also their development teams. Nigeria’s startup ecosystem is still young, and this has naturally created an ecosystem with a shortage of experienced PR talent. Many lead public relations and communications executives of pre-seed to growth stage companies have only held their roles for less than three years. In many cases, startups delegate PR responsibilities to Heads of Growth or Marketing, overburdening them and leading to underperformance in public relations. This reinforces the CEO myth that PR is ineffective. Yet, strategic communications is a cost-efficient discipline that drives tangible business outcomes.
Written by Adegoke Oyeniyi, co-founder of Lagos-based public relations firm TechPR and former Editor-in-Chief at TechCabal.
