Recent studies have found the number one reason startups fail is improper product-market fit. The second leading cause? Poor marketing strategies and execution—meaning that your brand communication strategy is a vital part of any go-to-market plan.
How you communicate with your customers, partners, and the media is crucial to establishing your brand reputation and community. For founders interested in sharing a fundraise announcement, amplifying their startup’s accomplishments, or sharing their expert opinion on a trending story, reporters are a vital part of that community.
“Phrases like ‘get us PR,’ ‘secure placement,’ or ‘place a story’ are misleading and outdated ways of thinking about the brand comms flywheel,” says M13 Partner and Head of Brand Christine Choi. “It really starts with humans and the stories that interest us. Reporters are people too—and tech media are important stakeholders to build relationships with as you build your brand.”
At our recent Ask a Reporter Anything event in New York City, Christine sat down with TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis to talk about best practices for founders interested in building relationships with reporters.
Here are some of the takeaways from the conversation—starting with some missteps to avoid.
Don't
Pitch reporters who don’t cover what you’re pitching. Before you pitch someone, you need to know what types of stories they write. A reporter who never writes funding announcements probably isn’t going to start with yours. Notably, it’s rare for reporters to cover product announcements (vs. fundraising announcements). Help the reporters in your network by only sharing relevant, newsworthy stories.
Overlook social media. Many reporters are active on social media and find sources and stories through channels like LinkedIn and Twitter. Follow reporters who cover areas relevant to you on their social platforms and engage when you see something interesting. Communicating over these platforms can also help you avoid getting lost in someone’s busy inbox (Dominic shared that she has 71,000 unread emails). And keep your own social media channels up to date—reporters will check out your product and ideas on social as part of their research.
Cross boundaries trying to get ahold of a reporter. Communication is positive; badgering is not. Don’t spam journalists with messages or reach out through inappropriate channels. “I had a founder contact my family,” says Dominic. “That’s really scary. Reporters get harassed a lot too, especially women journalists—someone will send hundreds of messages across multiple platforms. Don’t do that.”
Request headline changes or edits after publication. If you do have a reporter write a story about you, be generous about the final piece. Generally, reporters don’t write headlines; editors do—and arguing over a published headline is a waste of time. It’s also rare to update a published story unless there’s been a flagrant error, so best practice is not to bombard reporters with edit requests for a published story. “When we issue a correction, it has to be updated on news wires all over the world. Something has to be absolutely incorrect. If a story isn’t incorrect and you just don’t like it, that’s not enough to tell Apple News about.”
Do
Remember that reporters are real people. If you haven’t worked with the press before, the stereotypes around the media can be daunting—and it’s important to remember that reporters are also just regular people doing their jobs. “We treat the media as a relationship, because reporters are real humans,” says Christine. “We chose to host this event partially so founders could have the experience of meeting a real reporter who they will likely have to pitch.”
TechCrunch Reporter Dominic-Madori Davis shares her experience at M13's 'Ask a Reporter Anything' event.
Norm Ai COO Patrick Vergara with M13 Partner & Head of Brand Christine Choi at the event in NYC.
Build social relationships. You don’t need to have a fundraise to announce or story to share in order to engage with reporters; you can start these relationships just by reading their work. “A lot of the founders that I’ve taken note of weren’t pitching me—they were just people engaging naturally with my work. And when you do that over and over again, you put yourself on the radar, so when you do have a story, I want to know what it is.”
Offer to be a source. Even if a reporter passes on a pitch or can’t cover your company specifically, they’ll still often use you as a source. Offering to weigh in as an industry expert can give you a different type of coverage, while also helping out the reporter as they write their story.
Stay informed. “I like to follow what’s happening in Congress and seeing how that relates to startup founders,” says Dominic. “When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I wondered: what does that mean for women founders in certain states? Those are the stories I find interesting.” Staying on top of developing news stories and trending conversations can help you shape your own story to be timely and relevant.
Grow together. Just as your company will grow and develop over the years, reporters’ careers grow across outlets and coverage areas. It’s important to remember that these are ideally long-term relationships, not just one-story interactions. Dominic explains, “I’ve been covering one founder’s company for years now, at two outlets: Business Insider and now TechCrunch. I think that’s the best part about working with early-stage companies: you get to grow with them over the years.”
Recent studies have found the number one reason startups fail is improper product-market fit. The second leading cause? Poor marketing strategies and execution—meaning that your brand communication strategy is a vital part of any go-to-market plan.
How you communicate with your customers, partners, and the media is crucial to establishing your brand reputation and community. For founders interested in sharing a fundraise announcement, amplifying their startup’s accomplishments, or sharing their expert opinion on a trending story, reporters are a vital part of that community.
“Phrases like ‘get us PR,’ ‘secure placement,’ or ‘place a story’ are misleading and outdated ways of thinking about the brand comms flywheel,” says M13 Partner and Head of Brand Christine Choi. “It really starts with humans and the stories that interest us. Reporters are people too—and tech media are important stakeholders to build relationships with as you build your brand.”
At our recent Ask a Reporter Anything event in New York City, Christine sat down with TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis to talk about best practices for founders interested in building relationships with reporters.
Here are some of the takeaways from the conversation—starting with some missteps to avoid.
Don't
Pitch reporters who don’t cover what you’re pitching. Before you pitch someone, you need to know what types of stories they write. A reporter who never writes funding announcements probably isn’t going to start with yours. Notably, it’s rare for reporters to cover product announcements (vs. fundraising announcements). Help the reporters in your network by only sharing relevant, newsworthy stories.
Overlook social media. Many reporters are active on social media and find sources and stories through channels like LinkedIn and Twitter. Follow reporters who cover areas relevant to you on their social platforms and engage when you see something interesting. Communicating over these platforms can also help you avoid getting lost in someone’s busy inbox (Dominic shared that she has 71,000 unread emails). And keep your own social media channels up to date—reporters will check out your product and ideas on social as part of their research.
Cross boundaries trying to get ahold of a reporter. Communication is positive; badgering is not. Don’t spam journalists with messages or reach out through inappropriate channels. “I had a founder contact my family,” says Dominic. “That’s really scary. Reporters get harassed a lot too, especially women journalists—someone will send hundreds of messages across multiple platforms. Don’t do that.”
Request headline changes or edits after publication. If you do have a reporter write a story about you, be generous about the final piece. Generally, reporters don’t write headlines; editors do—and arguing over a published headline is a waste of time. It’s also rare to update a published story unless there’s been a flagrant error, so best practice is not to bombard reporters with edit requests for a published story. “When we issue a correction, it has to be updated on news wires all over the world. Something has to be absolutely incorrect. If a story isn’t incorrect and you just don’t like it, that’s not enough to tell Apple News about.”
Do
Remember that reporters are real people. If you haven’t worked with the press before, the stereotypes around the media can be daunting—and it’s important to remember that reporters are also just regular people doing their jobs. “We treat the media as a relationship, because reporters are real humans,” says Christine. “We chose to host this event partially so founders could have the experience of meeting a real reporter who they will likely have to pitch.”
TechCrunch Reporter Dominic-Madori Davis shares her experience at M13's 'Ask a Reporter Anything' event.
Norm Ai COO Patrick Vergara with M13 Partner & Head of Brand Christine Choi at the event in NYC.
Build social relationships. You don’t need to have a fundraise to announce or story to share in order to engage with reporters; you can start these relationships just by reading their work. “A lot of the founders that I’ve taken note of weren’t pitching me—they were just people engaging naturally with my work. And when you do that over and over again, you put yourself on the radar, so when you do have a story, I want to know what it is.”
Offer to be a source. Even if a reporter passes on a pitch or can’t cover your company specifically, they’ll still often use you as a source. Offering to weigh in as an industry expert can give you a different type of coverage, while also helping out the reporter as they write their story.
Stay informed. “I like to follow what’s happening in Congress and seeing how that relates to startup founders,” says Dominic. “When Roe v. Wade was overturned, I wondered: what does that mean for women founders in certain states? Those are the stories I find interesting.” Staying on top of developing news stories and trending conversations can help you shape your own story to be timely and relevant.
Grow together. Just as your company will grow and develop over the years, reporters’ careers grow across outlets and coverage areas. It’s important to remember that these are ideally long-term relationships, not just one-story interactions. Dominic explains, “I’ve been covering one founder’s company for years now, at two outlets: Business Insider and now TechCrunch. I think that’s the best part about working with early-stage companies: you get to grow with them over the years.”
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