Ask yourself one basic question. Do you need to let customers, prospective hires, partners, investors know who you are?
While time and money are challenges startup founders have to contend with, it’s often worth the investment to build a consistent flow of media coverage to establish your brand. It’s cheaper than advertising and, one would argue, more authentic. If you frame your message clearly and distinctly, prospective partners, hires, consumers, investors, advocates will remember.
Now what?…
If you’ve launched your brand with the proverbial TechCrunch story (and even if you haven’t), and you’re asking yourself, now what, consider scheduling a cadence of coverage opportunities over the next 3-6 months to give you something to talk about – your product roadmap, important deals, new hires, a data report, an interesting policy or program, a seasonal promotion, the creation of a board, new investment. Leverage your corporate news and consider offering it as an exclusive to a journalist who covers your space. Begin following those writers for an inside track into what they’re up to. Tap into industry trends and offer comment, write a blog or an essay. Create content that’s genuinely interesting, not just marketing speak, and inspire audiences to visit your website. All this will keep interest in your brand alive.
If you’re putting out press releases and getting no pickup…
It could be because it takes more than a press release to generate a meaningful story. It’s hard to capture journalists’ attention without being targeted and intentional. A custom pitch to a specific reporter with an understanding of the landscape and some familiarity with what he or she has covered in the past will help get you to the top of the pile.
The purpose of a press releases is two-fold: 1) to clarify your thinking and force you, the client and any other stakeholders to come together on “the story” 2) to codify your approach 3) to be searchable online so that your story can be found by anyone looking for it or something similar
If you’re losing out to your competitors who are getting all the attention…
It could be because you’re not doing enough to proactively infiltrate the news agenda with your own story, executive commentary, data, analysts, influencers, conferences, and more.
PR can give any company a competitive edge.
Startups (and SMBs) that include PR in their marketing mix have the upper hand because they put the brand in front of the right media and drive coverage which boosts customer acquisition and engagement.