Trudy Darwin, managing partner of Luminous PR, explains how you should approach journalists working in the technology sector.
No matter what sector you work in, the fundamentals of PR are always the same. It’s all about creating an authoritative reputation for your brand in the eyes of your audience.
That said, there are a few idiosyncrasies specific to tech PR. Knowing exactly what tech journalists are interested in, and how they best like to be approached, will help you maximise media coverage when launching your tech startup.
1. Tech PR is still about goals
Before you do anything, you need to get one thing straight: what are you trying to achieve with your PR?
Whatever your reason is, this will vastly shape your target audience, your target publications, and your messaging. PR can help tech startups achieve a variety of goals: more downloads, more site traffic, increase sales, build authority, or attract funding.
However, each of these goals needs a different approach. If you want to achieve more downloads for your new app, you need to be all over the media channels popular with your target audience. And of course, an app for pregnant women will have a different audience than a coding app for developers (not that the two are mutually exclusive, of course).
Likewise, if you’re seeking funding, your startup needs to get mentioned in outlets frequented by investors. And not just any investors — investors who like tech startups. You get the picture.
2. Digital media runs the show
Speaking in broad terms, the tech sector is inherently digital: everything is mobile, online, and connected to a million other things. While PR and journalism are becoming increasingly digital too, this applies to tech PR even more so.
The majority of the media channels frequented by your target audience are likely to be digital. However, you need to think a lot wider than just the online editions of newspapers or magazines.
Your tech PR outreach should also target the brains behind blogs, apps, whitepapers, vlogs, forums, podcasts, webinars, social media, online guides, websites, and more. Any digital outlet of information frequented by your target audience is an opportunity for you to get your tech brand in front of them.
Don’t get me wrong: print journalism is still an incredible powerful tool, and shouldn’t be overlooked. However, for many tech startups, it simply won’t deliver the same results as online channels. The media is changing, and this is great news for tech PR.
3. Your pitch should be digital, too
And I’m not just talking about a typed up press release attached to your email to a journalist. These writers are dealing with the hottest new developments in technology every day. You’re going to have to work a little harder to catch their attention.
Many journalists, especially tech writers, are active on Twitter, and are usually happy to respond to tweets if you have something they’re interested in. In fact, some journalists will even use Twitter to research information for stories they’re writing. Just keep an eye out for #JournoRequest.
If your tech startup has an exciting visual element, you might consider creating a short video to pitch to a journalist. This is also a great way of demonstrating your product or service in action.
However you decide to approach journalists, don’t forget the basics. Make it really clear how and why your tech startup is relevant to their readers, without being too ‘salesy’. The most important info should be at the start of your pitch, with extra detail and flourishes towards the end.
Just as tech is an incredibly broad sector, the range of tech journalists out there is incredibly diverse too. For each niche, there will be media outlets and journalists who specialise in that aspect of tech.
Make sure you take this into consideration when pitching to journalists. You could have the most exciting Internet of Things startup in the world, but if you only approach software journalists, you’re unlikely to get much coverage…
4. Tech journalists love data
All journalists love data. It helps add weight to a story, and is a great way of establishing the context or problem within a story. If you have some relevant facts or figures, always include them when pitching to a journalist.
However, tech journalists seem to love data even more. Probably because most technology is objectively measurable. If you have any figures about speed, size, cost, number of downloads, or anything like that, they can only help your pitch.
The bigger the data, the better. Most journalists will only accept research findings from a sample size of over 2,000 participants. Likewise, journalists will always prefer to use new data to research that has appeared before elsewhere.
5. Tech PR alone isn’t enough
Its good, but it’s not that good.
PR should make up just one part of your business’s integrated communications strategy. As well as this, you need to also be publishing your own regular blog content, engaging with your community on social media, and continuing with your usual marketing, branding, and sales activities as normal.
Since tech PR yields largely digital results, its scope and reach can be a lot wider than expected. While this is definitely a good thing, this does mean you should expect scrutiny of all your online channels. Make sure your website is up to scratch, and represents the brand values you’re pushing with your PR activity.
Use social media to drum up interest for your startup launch, and create a dedicated hashtag so you can keep track of who’s engaging with your launch campaign. That way, you can interact with them, too, and help cement loyalty among brand followers.
Done well, tech PR is a powerful thing. It can help elevate an emerging startup into an industry leader. Done poorly, it can leave a brand at the mercy of the social media rabble.