How to approach journalists and reach out for press coverage
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How can you secure meaningful press coverage as a tech company?
In this guide, you’ll find an overview with some tips on what journalists are looking for, plus the do’s and don’ts!
It can be competitive to stand out from the crowd especially as a founder unsure of how to navigate the media ecosystem.
As a journalist, we are inundated every day with hundreds of press releases, calls and even WhatsApp messages. Constantly pinging us a message over LinkedIn (or voice notes) and inundating us daily with a press release you’ve cobbled together, regardless of the content, does not automatically guarantee coverage or a headline.
So how do you cut through the noise?
It’s important to remember that although press coverage can be a major boost to your marketing strategy - you cannot dictate to journalists what they can or can’t publish. It is not PR.
Depending on their beat, it may sound simple but journalists are looking for a story that is newsworthy. Plenty of founders forget this. You might think your anniversary story or your remote-first strategy is exciting, but we won’t unless there is a news ‘hook’ in there.
Figure out your story, why you want coverage, and get to the point
Firstly, think about why you want coverage and who you’re trying to reach.
Please research the publication/journalists you’re targeting to see what they cover on a daily basis, and personalise your outreach. No one likes a mass email so don’t be worried about introducing yourself. You might not get a response, but I like when I receive an email or message about the types of content a tech company might be able to help with in future.
At Prolific North, we are a regional publication and the tech stories we cover can range anywhere from senior hires, fundraising news, acquisitions and recent growth/expansion. But we only focus on the North of England and Scotland, so if you’re based in London and expanding there, it’s not one for us but it might be one for a national publication.
The stories that stand out always have a strong subject line such as “Leeds tech start-up raises xx to fuel new hires and growth” as an example. Journalists are short of time, often working to deadlines, so we’ll skim the subject lines of our busy inboxes to quickly figure out what’s a decent story (or not).
Pro Tip
Don’t forget when you’re pitching investors, you need to be clear and concise about your value proposition. Make sure you do the same when approaching journalists, there have been plenty of times where I have no idea what a company does despite reading eight paragraphs in a press release.
If you have exclusive data stats, real-life examples or a spokesperson ready to chat about something that coincides with a topical story that is currently dominating the news agenda, check to see if a journalist might be interested in what you have as they could be pulling together a reactive piece on the topic.
A good way to find this out (for free although there are other platforms that collate these for a fee) is by checking out the #journorequest or #prrequest hashtags journalists use on many social platforms to gather sources and information.
But be timely! Journalists have deadlines, so if you send it after their request they will not be able to use your comment or data.
Tip
Some publications also do features, such as Prolific North. Personally, for features I look at speaking to start-up founders with a human interest angle on solutions that might be tackling a societal issue and for more established tech companies, evidence of growth or an exclusive piece of news such as expansion or a new HQ.
Prepare
You might decide to enlist the help of a PR agency to help you craft a press release. But if you’re early on in your journey, here are some tips for pulling together information for journalists yourself:
- A concise, engaging headline that gets to the point.
- The main body of the press release should include all the key bits of information about the business/story. Try to avoid fluff. It’ll just be cut out!
- If applicable, add a sentence to explain why the story might be relevant to a trending story / topic.
- Two or so quotes from a senior leader or investor involved in the story.
- Notes to editors section. Again, keep this brief, but this can be any additional background information about the company that a journalist can weave into the story.
- Hi-res images.
What not to do
Do not make unrealistic claims or use incorrect facts to get attention for your story. Good journalists will always check and ask questions!
It’s fair to follow up once or twice as a journalist may have genuinely missed your story in their bulging inbox, but do not be pushy. There have been instances where I’ve had people find my personal email address, send a string of LinkedIn messages, and even call me late at night.
It’s a big no-no!
If you’ve pitched a story, it might be a great idea but sometimes journalists need time to discuss it if it’s for a meatier or exclusive piece.
Tip
Demanding feedback for why we’ve not used a press release or story is always a big pet peeve. We’d love to give feedback, but journalists can’t reply to hundreds of emails a day.
Final note🔗
If you avoid the above common mistakes and pitch the right publications/journalists with a good story, you’re much more likely to secure coverage.
Again, coverage is never guaranteed, so make sure you try to stay timely, on top of news trends, concise about your offering or data, and experiment lots with storytelling!
