PR for Startups: The 10 Step Process I Use to Get Press (2018 Update)
I can click on the lightning icon to find out the details:
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7. Improve your Pitches based on Open and Response Rates
You should start by pitching to lower traffic publications to perfect your pitch first. Continually tweak the following parts of your email:
- your subject line
- how you describe your differentiating factor
- the angle you pitch from
Tweak the email until you consistently start to get over 2 email opens from a single email pitch (it goes without saying that you should only send one pitch to each reporter).
8. Follow up with the Journalists
I’d say 90% of responses I get from journalists are to follow up emails I send.
This is the most important step in a PR program and should be part of your core press strategy.
Some journalists who are intrigued by your pitch may not act immediately. You must follow up! Check your email tracking logs. If a recipient opens your email 2-3 times, it generally means they have some interest in your pitch. In this case, send them a follow-up email 3-4 days after your initial one. Say something simple like:
“Hey
We just did [recent interesting development].
Let me know your thoughts about [our company]?”
9. Prepare your Site for Media Coverage
If you get coverage, depending on the media outlet, prepare your site for a deluge of traffic. If you have hired an agency to handle your site give them a heads up.
1. Make sure your site is hosted on a dedicated server or a cloud hosting service.
2. Use Cloudflare. Add a line of script to your site and it automatically minifies your javascript files and caches your files so your site loads a lot faster.
3. Email your host. This is one step that a lot of people don’t take. If you’re about to get hit with some serious traffic, shoot an email to your web hosts and see if they can help you at all by allotting your site more resources.
4. Minify your images. Minify all your images to its lowest possible size without severely impacting quality.
When one media outlet covers you, it not only gives you a lot of social proof but helps you be discovered by other journalists as well, kicking off a snowball effect (hopefully). Make sure you have your contact info prominently displayed on your front page so other people can easily email you.