Why Media Coverage Matters for Your Startup

It might be easy for any determined individual to start a startup and turn dreams into reality. What matters most is how effectively and systematically startups are run to become success stories. Achieving that kind of success requires careful planning and strong execution. Recent research has revealed an alarming reality that needs to be understood: between 50 to 95 percent of start-ups fail within their first 18 months. If you want to pitch a startup to the media, this post is a great read.

The research findings show the proven reality and niche factors behind many startup failures: a lack of market presence or the wrong marketing strategies for the products or services offered. This suggests that many failed startups jumped on the startup bandwagon without doing any prior research. Do you know why media attention is valuable for startups? Media attention is valuable for startups because it quickly brings wider readership.

Social media marketing or content marketing might be at their peak nowadays, but they have not outdone the benefits you should receive from press coverage. Getting your business covered by reputable, well-known web portals, newspapers, magazines, and websites can boost your brand, build a reputation to be admired, and increase traffic, thereby improving overall rankings. Media coverage can also attract potential customers, investors, and talent, encouraging stakeholders to join hands with you.

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Whether you’re building a small startup, improving your company’s brand image, or launching a new product or service, media coverage plays a pivotal role. These strategies help you get noticed at the right time and by the right people and audiences. The other factors are also crucial and play key roles. Once you gain recognition, you can start selling your products and services, and trust builds through consistent exposure.

Do you want suitable media coverage for your brand, and are you looking for ways to get it? Have you ever sent a press release pitch to any journalist or a media house? Did you receive answers to pitches you might have sent to them? Probably not. In general, 93% of pitches don’t receive a response. You need to be a fighter in the remaining 7% to get your pitch noticed, recognized, and appreciated.

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How to Prepare Your Startup Pitches for Media?

Our experts have compiled some tips and tricks for PR pitch writing here. They will definitely help you stand out from the flood of pitches that journalists and media houses receive almost every day.

1. Pitch ideas, not your company profiles

Journalists and media houses receive countless emails every day. Chances are high that they would hardly be interested in your company profiles and/or the products/services you offer to your specific target audiences. Rather than self-eulogizing, identify the most interesting angle of your company or organization through the products/services you offer, and share it as a pitch that can be noticed and accepted.

This will definitely appeal to media houses and prompt them to at least assess your pitch. If you want an advertisement to be published in their publications, then you should opt for the best ways they have already prescribed for the said purpose. Do your research thoroughly and tell an interesting story by offering a few angles that you can develop well.

2. Keep it short & simple

Since journalists receive a large volume of emails throughout the day, they usually don’t find enough time to read out long emails. Even if you’ve developed a connection or rapport with some of them, they’ll save yours to read later. Your press release pitches should therefore remain comparatively short and scannable. You must explain why the story you have presented to them remains newsworthy and thoroughly different from the rest to be considered by them.

Keep this in mind, as it is one of the tips for pitching your startup to get the press you need.

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3. Unveil the story’s potential

Journalists and media house representatives get bored or distracted and probably won’t care much about a story you email if it lacks potential. You are advised to keep your story shorter, to the point, and, of course, to present it as a potential story to be appreciated. Once you get their attention, they’ll ask for more information, if needed. At the end of the pitch, you may provide your website URL, video, etc., so they can learn more there.

Turning media coverage into startup growth is a unique and fast way to get public attention.

4. Follow-ups

Don’t forget or assume your role ends the moment you send a pitch to journalists. Follow-ups usually ensure up to 30% more replies than first-time emails. They might forget to reply to your first email. Once they get a follow-up email from you, they start reading it, and they’ll reply. When writing follow-up emails, keep your language polite and humble to impress them and make them listen to your side of the story.

Follow-ups are also important. If you know how media exposure can accelerate startup growth, do whatever it takes to get media attention.

5. Identify your target audience

Investors always want to know what your product is and who it’s for, but they are equally interested in who will use it. Investors will be convinced that there is enough demand for your startup’s product to justify their investment if you successfully use information about your target market to portray a picture of your ideal customer.

Whether your startup focuses on a service or a product, everyone agrees you need a target audience to make money. Using demographic and psychographic data helps highlight your target audience. It will be an added benefit if you explain what makes these individuals your target audience. If you keep using relevant data points to back up your claims and show the benefits of targeting that group, you’ll create a win-win situation.

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6. Use the insight to market your startup’s societal value

Many startups have a significant social contribution, and this commitment to giving back can be a powerful driver for investors. However, while promoting social good has always been essential and valuable, you should consider your startup’s social mission when approaching investors. It should always be kept in mind not to tie your business too closely to a divisive cause, as this can be counterproductive and alienate a segment of investors.

But the power of giving back need not be underestimated. We are not living in a Neolithic or Paleolithic age; we live in an age where giving back is an important part of professional and personal life. There seems to be a sort of healthy competition among startups to embrace the power of social good by connecting with significant social or community causes.

Your product or service should directly connect to the cause you support. Maker’s Kit and Thrive Market are clear examples of giving back to causes directly tied to their work. The former supports arts programs in public schools and gives kids the supplies they need to be creative. At the same time, the latter donates $5 in groceries to low-income families for every post shared on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook with the ThriveMarket.

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7. Refine your startup pitch and presentation by hiring a professional

Expertise in one business area doesn’t automatically mean you know how to pitch your startup to investors. While you own the core business ideas, hiring a professional to systematize and better align your pitch can help you convey your business more effectively. For example, a graphic designer can help you make your pitch deck more organized and visually appealing, helping you communicate boldly and impactfully with prospective customers, and a speech coach can help you steal the limelight.

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Have Your Say – Pitch Startup to the Media

We have already discussed the most important tips that can greatly increase your chances of getting a reply to PR pitches from journalists or media house representatives. We hope you now understand how these prudent approaches can make a big difference.

What would you like to say or convey in quid pro quo now? Shouldn’t you write down in the comment box below your own thoughts or experiences on this topic? Once your PR pitch is approved, hire a reputed press release writing company to create exceptional, readable, and informative content as a final draft for submission.

Hiring a content outsourcing agency would likely meet your requirements. Besides PRs, such reputed companies can equally help you in generating content for speeches, etc.

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