Hack the Press: How to do PR for Startups

[Hack the Press]

[Hack the Press]

Good PR can be a powerful tool

It’s great for acquisition, BUT always a poor retention tool

How to do it right

Don’t just focus on peers and investors target users / customers!

Getting a tech blog to write about

you is important, but it’s only

the tip of the iceberg!

Write a (long) list of key publications, blogs, etc. that cover the people you want to reach.

Customize Your Pitches Take the extra time to craft custom emails for a small

list of journalists that you really want to cover your story.

Differentiate your message for each channel Your customers don’t care about funding, tell them about new product features!

Understand a journalist's coverage area & audience

Do your homework and be sure to differentiate yourself

But don’t bullshit them A lot of entrepreneurs claim to be the “only” ones doing X, Y, and Z, but it is rarely true

Know what's newsworthy

• The startup's launch

!

• The launch of a new product, feature or offering

!

• The release of a compelling study or interesting data

!

• The company's response to a current event

!

• News of a high profile partnership

Have a concise, value-driven message

!

Write a story Press releases are usually long, full of boring quotes and marketing jargon.

Access key journalists with social proof. Help them do their job & build relationships

Journalist are busy peopleWrite *short* emails and get to the point!

Have useful assets available ● A company or product description

● Photos relevant to the story

● Screenshots of the product

Send some materials (pitch deck, etc)

but don’t expect them to read it

Get them on beta / Using your product Listen to and engage on their feedback

For the best: give them exclusive (and meaningful) data

Give them an angle, interview, information, quote, infographic that no one else has

Stay in touch! Update them

Build a relationship

Follow journalists on Twitter and interact with them

Check out Muck Rack, a list of journalists on Twitter. !Use tools like HARO and NewsBasis to find and respond to reporter requests for sources

Go global! It’s never been easier to get high quality translations and to gain access to international blogs

Other languages (beyond English & French) Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Mandarin, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean & Italian

Think about time zones

Engage with people commenting on blogs, tweeting, posting on your FB page, etc

Create a list of Ambassadors: People ready to retweet, share on Facebook, leave good reviews, etc.

Get people with large twitter and FB followings!

Make it simple for them: Have sample tweets to copy & paste,

have a common hashtag for all, etc

Be a pro, have a pre-launch checklist: Embargo* / timings clear to everyone, servers ready, support team ready, etc.

* An embargo is "a request by a source that the information or news provided by that source not be published until a certain date or certain conditions have been met"

Have a Q&A ready for you and the team with key questions that will come up

Measure and improve Analyse where traffic came from and what quality that traffic had (i.e. conversion to active user, etc)

Decide whether a channel was just bad or you need to

improve how you use it

Know when to take “No” for an answer

Asking a reporter to write about the same story over and over is the best way to get ignored

Be flexible! Launch date < your story getting attention

Good reasons to change your press date: ● Surprise announcement by Apple ● Natural disaster / events with 24/7 news coverage ● Your CEO / Key contact won’t be available ● Important event in your industry

All this can be done without an agency!

TheFamily Press Hacking Framework[ CONFIDENTIAL ]

You are Welcome to Join the Adventure

apply@thefamily.co!