How to swim in channel PR

Whether resellers, distributors or service providers, the channel is an essential part of the IT ecosystem – selling direct to customers is fantastic, but most organisations need a contact to make it happen.

Similarly, the IT channel press is a vital part of the tech PR landscape. But it has its own needs and nuances which mean that, to get the best results, a one-size-fits-all approach to PR just won’t work.

Here at Spark, we’ve been fortunate (and skilled!) enough to build great relationships with channel publications; and ensure our clients are telling the right stories to appear in (or, in 2025, on) their pages. So how do you make the most of the opportunity to swim in the channel? Let’s grease up, put on our swimming costumes, and take the plunge.

Know your audience: As always with PR, the most important factor is knowing who you’re speaking to; both journalists, and the channel audience itself. Building relationships with the journalists themselves takes time, but it’s a lot easier if you’re sharing stories that their readers want to hear.

This means understanding what will interest resellers, distributors and service providers. And knowing that their needs won’t all be the same. For instance, ultimately all sectors of the channel want to unlock new revenue streams and get the best possible support from other members of their ecosystem. But this will be different between a reseller, and a service provider who is essentially selling themselves and their expertise.

It also means understanding those more nuanced areas of the channel – for example, print service providers might seem niche, but they are still of interest to the channel readership.

Embrace channel thought: Knowing the audience is half the battle. The other half is telling them the right story. Channel-specific stories, such as a new or updated partner programme, acquisitions, new executives who will lead the relationship, or stories about service providers, are straightforward enough. But almost any news item can be made relevant, with a little thought.

For instance, will a new product or service offer the channel new opportunities? Will issues highlighted in research affect service providers? Does the channel have a chance to help its customers better prepare for new Government legislation? Can predictions apply to the channel as well as other audiences? Applying a little channel thought to a story and tweaking it for the audience can go a long way – just as with any other vertical.

The golden rule: Above all, the channel audience is like any other – they want relevant, interesting stories. There’s always going to be competition for news, so make yours stand out. Are there statistics or examples that will boost the message? Is the story relevant to a major topic that is grabbing everyone’s attention? Is there a lesson for the channel that has so far gone ignored?

This is where knowing the market, and the audience, can make all the difference: creating stories that aren’t just relevant to the channel, but to what it needs right now.

Admittedly, the right approach to the channel is often standard PR best practice. But it has enough of its own unique qualities to make taking time to know the audience and sector worthwhile. Take the right approach and you won’t just swim in the channel. You’ll find yourself (metaphorically) stepping onto a Pas-de-Calais beach.

And if you’d like to know more about how Spark can help you reach that channel audience, getting in touch is as facile as un, deux, trois.