In order to grow, your startup requires effective promotion – and there are few things that will give your company the boost it needs as effectively as press coverage. This advanced guide will show you how to get the right press coverage so that you can increase visibility and acquire more customers at a key stage in your startup’s development.
Mastering Your Story for the Media
A compelling story can alter our brain chemistry, making us more trusting and open to new ideas.
- There are several components that you need to consider in order to make your startup story worthy of media attention including: SEO, Content Marketing, Paid Media, and SEO Analytics
Find the Right Angle: Tailor Your Story to Each Journalist
Identify the right journalists
- Pick 3-5 journalists and make sure that they meet the following criteria: relevant industry, topic, and publication
- Research your targets
- Find a way to relate your story to topics that your target journalists are invested in
- Establish your newsworthy hook
- Build a reason for why they would care
Make Friends Before You Need Them
Invest in relationships early on by giving something valuable before you ask for something in return.
- Opportunities to chat about topics you both care about
- Joining relevant groups
- Taking part in social media discussions
- Having a mutual friend introduce you
- Sharing interesting work on your networks
- Attending industry events
Share Your Expertise on Non-Branded Outlets
Contributing content on industry topics for media outlets or companies can help you gain third party endorsements, build connections with thought leaders in your industry, and engage with your audience in new and exciting ways
- Host a guest post or an opinion piece on another company’s blog
Follow the 3 P’s of PR
Product: Define exactly what your product or service is and/or what it does
- Purpose: Identify your company’s “reason for being.”
- Passion: Use an enthusiastic, authentic tone that captures the passion, vision, and culture of your startup
- You want to present your story and company as human and relatable
Leverage Your Social Outlets
Social media and social bookmarking give you a huge opportunity to attract and engage with niche communities in ways that were unheard of just 10 years ago
- These social outlets can (and should) be used as a mutually reinforcing tool for your PR efforts
- Focus only on relevant outlets and dive into those communities
Think like a journalist to earn a journalist’s attention
Key elements of newsworthiness to keep in mind: Timeliness, Relevance, Novelty, and Importance
- It’s essential to develop a strong filter for what’s newsworthy in order to get coverage
Create Valuable and Consistent Content
Your brand story is part of, and can be enhanced through, every piece of content you create. It provides a unified, consistent voice across multiple digital platforms and improves your credibility.
- Branded content is also a strategic way to get the media’s attention because it instantly offers value to your shared audiences.
How to Map Out Your PR Calendar
Brainstorm ideas
- Establish emerging themes
- Develop relevant campaigns
- Invest in relationships
- Track your outreach
- Gear up for sprints
- Plan for downtime
- Test and re-assess
- Learn from mistakes and refocus your energy
PR is a Critical Component to Your Demand Marketing Mix
For a growth model that puts the customer first, you need to utilize PR in the early stages of your startup
- It will help you discover your customers, continually refine your positioning, give much-needed exposure, and inform the building of the product itself
Focus on ‘Human Relations’ for Long-Term Success
A good relationship can make all the difference to your PR efforts.
- Don’t go out and start pestering journalists with the hope that they’ll become ‘useful contacts.’
- Take an approach that’s proactive in building community.
Five Key Tactics to Follow
Always seek permission before pitching
- Keep it short, but personal
- Hone in on what’s in it for them
- Work the headline
- Back everything with facts
- Be prepared to support your pitch
- Treat a no as a future yes
Going Beyond Media Relations: How to Evolve Your PR Strategy
There’s been a steady decline in the readership of traditional media outlets, which has been balanced out by the explosion of indie publications, social outlets, mobile technologies, and a huge movement towards brand publishing.
- It’s almost impossible to not take a blended approach to your PR in order to evolve your strategy.
