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[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 ]
