What do witches, vampires, ghosts, and media coverage have in common? Halloween. Halloween kicks off a hectic season for most tech startups. As the holidays and the end of the year approach, there’s a lot to cover in the tech news industry. 

For this reason, if you want to increase your startup’s chances of receiving positive media attention, there are a few things you can do to stand out from the competition and show journalists that your company is worth writing about this season.

This list of five tricks can help you get media attention for your tech startup in the upcoming months. 

Research, research and more research

Thorough and well-thought-out research is an excellent approach to get your foot in the door for favorable media attention. If you want media attention for your tech startup, you must stay up to date on industry news. This requires investigating what stories are being written at the moment and who is covering them. Another smart research method is to look at who is covering your competitors and contact the same media to show them what you have to offer. If you work with a tech PR firm, they will have already done this research for you. To be sure, researching the current media landscape is essential when working on a limited budget or doing it yourself.

Set up a media plan

When planning your media strategy, don’t be afraid to be as creative as you are when brainstorming your Halloween costume. Before you can begin pitching and sending press releases to the media, you must first develop a media plan. Now is a good time to decide whether you will hire a tech public relations firm or handle your own media relations.

Regardless of which route you select, there are a few guidelines you must follow when developing a media strategy. In order to set the groundwork and goals for media campaigns, talk to key stakeholders first. Now it’s time to develop a strategic messaging plan for your start-up company. Finally, find out when new products will be released or key announcements will be made so that you can arrange your press releases accordingly.

Implement thought leadership

There’s no denying that being the founder of a tech startup means you know your stuff. So don’t be shy about sharing your knowledge with the rest of the world. LinkedIn is a fantastic place to share your expertise and advice. It will not only establish your credibility as a subject matter expert, but it can also draw attention to your startup and attract investors and the media’s attention. Effective thought leadership is the trick for getting the treats this fall!

Create attention-grabbing visuals

Visuals are the best approach to present intriguing data about your startup or industry with the media. Humans are naturally drawn to images. Instead of a word-heavy story, data is much easier to comprehend when presented in vibrant images and bold language.

Take advantage of this by generating eye-catching visuals to accompany the marketing materials you send with your media pitches for your tech startup. An infographic, chart, or case study from your tech startup or tech PR agency might all be included in these images. Want to learn more about visual marketing? Check out our previous article on reasons to use Canva for your startup.

Form genuine connections

It’s critical to establish contacts with journalists before submitting a media pitch or writing a press release. Working with a tech PR agency means you’ll have access to their network of media contacts. However, if your tech firm handles its own PR, it’s critical to get on the radar of journalists before pitching them.

Connect with those journalists on LinkedIn and Twitter once you’ve done some research to see who’s covering what for them. It’s possible to learn more about their interests by connecting with them on social media sites, reading their recent publications, and participating in discussions. Just be sure you’re not pretending to be interested in order to get a write-up about you from the writer. Remember, you want a genuine and long-lasting connection. Make an effort to engage the journalist in a meaningful way, and he or she may remember you in the future.

Don’t be afraid to follow-up

Although the Halloween “scaries” may be prevalent at this time of year, you should not be afraid to follow up with a journalist or publication to whom you’ve pitched. Contrary to popular belief, if you haven’t heard back, it’s more than likely because they are simply too busy to respond – they receive hundreds of pitches every day. If you do PR in-house, this only applies to you. On the other hand, if you work with a tech PR firm, they will have the connections necessary to get your startup covered in the media. Follow-ups with journalists should be left to the professionals. If they are unable to get you featured in the media, it may be time to seek out an agency that is a better match for your needs. 

About Kennedy Nunez: Kennedy is a Business Development Associate for Swyft, which is a tech PR firm in Austin and Houston and a top digital marketing and PR agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft also has a small satellite office where it offers tech PR in San Francisco. Swyft has been listed as one of the top tech PR agencies in Texas for two years running by the B2B services review site, Clutch.co.