Is My Tech Startup Ready for PR?. Many other good things can come from great press coverage that is widely read and shared. Related: 5 Public Relations Tips to Help You Write a Pitch Someone Will Actually Read But, getting coverage in the mainstream press isn’t as easy as some may think. That way, you can build a compelling pitch that is targeted to a specific publication and journalist who might actually write about your startup. Just pitching a meet-and-greet “executive interview” won’t work. In a BuzzSumo blog post, journalists from TechCrunch, The New York Times, Mashable, Fast Company and other publications said they receive 25 to 100 pitches a day. It could be a new product, customer, funding, executive hire, partner, location or an M&A activity. The launch is usually a success because we’re announcing hard news: their funding. But, after the launch, everything slows down because the company doesn’t have a pipeline of news. Another option is to create a research study and then launch the findings.
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“How do I get coverage in TechCrunch, the Wall Street Journal and other tech pubs?”
I literally get that question every week from founders of tech startups. They know that publicity — especially from credible, respected publications — has the potential to boost company recognition. That could lead to new customers. More funding. Candidate recruitment. Higher company morale. Strategic partnerships. Many other good things can come from great press coverage that is widely read and shared.
Related: 5 Public Relations Tips to Help You Write a Pitch Someone Will Actually Read
But, getting coverage in the mainstream press isn’t as easy as some may think. It’s more than just sending a pitch email to a reporter. Here are some things to consider before you kick off your PR program.
Know your goals.
What are your goals? More visitors to your website? Raise your personal or company profile? Attract new customers and investors? Figure this out. That way, you can build a compelling pitch that is targeted to a specific publication and journalist who might actually write about your startup.
Have something tangible to pitch.
Great ideas abound. Tech celebrities such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Larry Page can always rely on getting press attention because they are icons. They’ve built hugely successful enterprises and their companies are market makers. If you’re a startup, you likely can’t — or expect to — compete. Companies such as Facebook and Google are in the enviable position of having reporters assigned to them via “beats.” The PR teams at these companies serve more as gatekeepers, managing incoming requests from publications for interviews and comments.
There are no shortcuts.
If you’re a startup with an unknown team, however, you need to be scrappy, persistent and creative to get attention. Just pitching a meet-and-greet “executive interview” won’t work. One PR practitioner I know asked me for a “warm introduction” email to my reporter contacts with the belief that if I just introduced her, the reporter would take a meeting. In the highly competitive world of tech PR, no one takes a meeting unless you have significant news, or you’re providing access to…
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