Andrea Sharfin Friedenson - How to Get Reporters to Cover Your Startup

How to Get Reporters to Cover Your Startup

Andrea Sharfin Friedenson@asharfin

© Halfshark Industries, 2015 www.halfsharkindustries.com

About Me


Myth #1PR comes from above for no discernable reason


Myth #2Someone else needs to punch your ticket. Press can be scary! But you don’t need to pay to play.


RealityIt’s not about divine intervention, or how much you spend. You can do a lot of this with a solid framework and a lot of heavy lifting.


You GOT this.Purpose: Why are you considering outreach?

Audience: Who are you targeting?

Content: What is your story?

Execution: Which reporters, when and how?


PurposeWhat is the purpose of your marketing activities? The purpose of marketing is to influence perception and action.

There are cases where PR is not the best tool to do that. But let’s talk about the cases where PR can be the best tool.


What Are You Trying to Achieve?Press is good for things that require a “broad and shallow” approach: ● raising money● establishing cred among sales prospects and talent you want to

recruit (first thing they do is google you)● creating awareness among an audience who you may not want to

take immediate action.PR is NOT good for closing deals, when a very small number of people need a lot of information about you. Use other channels (sales materials, etc.) for that!


Audience

Segment your audience! It’s unlikely that any one PR story is going to hit every single person you want to reach.

Your effort and time are finite resources that are much better spent on defining and prioritizing who are you need to get in front of first.

For instance, if you want to raise a round soon, talking about your momentum in TechCrunch is a great positive signal for an investor.


Content

Two aspects to creating PR content: ● Groundwork● Tactical stories


Figure Out The Components of Your Brand Story

Created by Caryn Marooney, Head of Tech Communications, Facebook

http://firstround.com/review/The-Best-PR-Advice-Youve-Never-Heard-from-Facebooks-Head-of-Tech-Communications/


Then Communicate Them in Creative Ways

Tagline Stunt “Vungle and Kamcord announce partnership for mobile video ad platform”

Attributes Trend “Video ad platform Vungle offers Bitcoin payment option”

Differentiators

In Action Flag-waving & Funding “Vungle reaches 2 billion video views milestone; raises $6.5MM Series A to help apps monetize beautifully”


Story Time!

You don’t want to be in the news just once, so put together a publicity calendar. Line your stories up with other news that might be happening at the same time, to make sure writers will have the time to cover you.

DO NOT ANNOUNCE during otherwise big news days: WWDC, GOOGLE I/O, FB/GOOGLE/ANYONE’S EARNINGS


Execution

Everything previously has been very strategic. We’re about to get SUPER tactical.


A Dead-Simple Workback Plan-3 Weeks Write press release

Identify reporters and connectionsCreate and gather assetsAsk for customer quotesPut holds on calendarsWrite pitch emailsWrite talking points (3)

-2 Weeks Send pitch emailsSchedule briefingsWrite social media content

-1 Week Hold briefingsFollow up

Launch Day Monitor storiesPut release on your blogHave everyone tweet/share

Day After Sleep inSend nice thank-yousExhaleGet ready to do it again!


What If I Don’t Know Anyone?

Go to events where reporters are likely to congregate.

TC Disrupt, big industry events like GDC, etc. Journalists will be anywhere large companies are


In Conclusion...Purpose: Why are you considering outreach?

Audience: Who are you targeting?

Content: What is your story?

Execution: Which reporters, when and how?


Thank you!

Email: [email protected]: @asharfin

mailto:[email protected]

https://twitter.com/asharfin


Resources


Books/Articles● Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others

Die● The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

● Influence (Collins Business Essentials)● The Best PR Advice You’ve Never Heard

http://amzn.to/1f2ogN9




http://amzn.to/1f2olQY

http://amzn.to/1f2olQY

http://amzn.to/1UxIPBa

http://amzn.to/1UxIPBa




Samples

● Publicity Calendar● Pitch Email● Press Release

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kzd00lvK-9eWKW6H8_x570C2yP8iB10JtHLo_AeEvhs/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kzd00lvK-9eWKW6H8_x570C2yP8iB10JtHLo_AeEvhs/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KfJkuR-sC09UIedZwQAgkVO4gPsUrdy7JVnYz0QuzNo/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KfJkuR-sC09UIedZwQAgkVO4gPsUrdy7JVnYz0QuzNo/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LCIlI352Cgg7raLZLhepTyDDZDaj8f5e3lGC0ztXkE0/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LCIlI352Cgg7raLZLhepTyDDZDaj8f5e3lGC0ztXkE0/edit?usp=sharing

Andrea Sharfin Friedenson - How to Get Reporters to Cover Your Startup

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Transcript of Andrea Sharfin Friedenson - How to Get Reporters to Cover Your Startup