Gaining Media Coverage & PR as a Startup - we chat to the experts

by Startacus Admin

Think your startup is ready for mainstream media coverage and PR?

Most probably and quite understandably most of us would answer this question with a resounding YES! However before you take that leap and splash the cash - read on for some handy tips. We chatted with Aylish Jarvie from Startup PR specialists, Tectonic. They’re the fab company who recently provided us with a great £125 special offer in order to help all you startups as you begin your media coverage journeys.

So if a startup believes that they are ready for high level media coverage, what core things should they first consider before going any further in terms of working with a PR consultancy?

They first question any startup needs to ask is; what are my goals? Define what success looks like to you and what you want to achieve with any PR campaign before you embark upon looking for a PR consultancy. You might want PR to raise your profile for investment or alternatively to raise mainstream awareness of your product or platform, but whatever the answer make sure you have it clearly defined before you set out.

In your experience, what are the most common mistakes that startups make in terms of marketing and PR?

One of the most common mistakes is hiring an agency or consultancy too early. Perhaps you don’t have your messaging locked down yet or you are busy iterating on your product, either way spending money on PR before you’re ready to tell the world about your product is a waste of cash. Conversely many startups also leave it too late, trying to handle all PR and comms internally until they reach tipping point. There’s a fine balance between getting an agency in too early or too late and it’s all in the timing, but get it right and you can really supercharge your PR efforts.

Pitch to us Tectonic PR - what makes you guys stand out?

A great question. I would say that our unique pricing model, which makes some of the unquantifiable elements of PR measurable, is what makes us stand out from the crowd. With both founders having come from working in startups, we understand what they need from a PR company and what extra fluff they could do without. It is this perspective that brought us to our “guaranteed coverage” approach.

Tectonic PR, two years from now - where do you see the business?

We see the business expanding to other startup hubs (Berlin, NYC) where we can work with great clients on a Global level. We would also love to have grown our team further so we can offer more complimentary services such as PPC and general Digital Marketing as well as being able to cater to our ever expanding client roster.

If you had to have dinner with three (dead or alive) entrepreneurs, who would you choose and why!?

First choice would be Guy Kawasaki as he truly understands how to build lasting businesses and how to make people fall in love with a particular product or service.

Next up would be Elon Musk. Now that is a guy with vision who will change the world in incredible ways.

Lastly would be Peter Thiel.While adding a controversial spin to the conversation I think his views on Education and the pursuit for immortality would prove fascinating.

Cheers Aylish and we look forward to hopefully chatting more over the coming weeks.

Interested in finding out more about the £125 credit offer via TECTONIC for their Startup PR services? Click Startup PR!

And if you feel that gaining mainstream TV and national / international media coverage is not currently the right plan - find out about own cost effective and super cool startup publicity programme too :)

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• #startup pr
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Published on: 8th April 2015