How do you get your startup on technology news and media?

How do you get your startup on technology news and media?

We are often sent around 50 + press releases a day at EU-Startups and publish only 5, so it's quite competitive, as you can see.

We wanted to give you some advice and help you get ahead to help the dear startups and founders who are eager to get featured in both EU-Startups and other tech publications. For this reason, as a guide on how to get press coverage for your startup, we have recorded the 5th episode of our Podcast.

This article serves as a summary of the tips there. Listen to the full podcast for more detailed and complete advice.

What do you mean by press coverage?

We mean getting exciting news about your startups published for free in relevant print or online publications when we talk about press coverage.

If you're wondering how that works, we divide content into 4 categories at EU-Startups.

News: Announcements for startups published for free

Evergreen pieces: Focus on industry, location, trend, etc. written by our long-term contributors.

Sponsored Content: For organizations such as accelerators, incubators, corporations, or event organizers, paid advertising options.

Interviews: Conversations with founders of the late stage, whom we hand-pick on the basis of team size (50 +), growth, funding, etc.

We don’t run guest posts at EU-Startups. Therefore, if you're the founder, your best bet is to send us some exciting news.

What counts as ‘news’?

It's important to stop and consider that the story you're about to write might not actually be considered 'newsworthy' by a magazine or newspaper before you start creating your press release. We classify news at EU-Startups as news as:

• News: An exciting 'external announcement' such as financing round (minimum EUR 200 K), new partnerships with well-known companies, new launch of the market.

• Not news: Any kind of 'internal announcement' such as a survey, infographic, report, research, hire of fresh employees, internal target such as income or number of clients.

An important point to mention here is that the tech news world moves very quickly. If a story has already been startups published about 1-2 hours ago in another publication, it is no longer 'news'.

How to write a press release?

The podcast includes some more detailed advice, but the main structure should follow this format:

• Short title stating what the ‘news’ is
• Around 3 subtitles in bullet points
• Clear paragraph structure 
• Quotes from founders/investors
• Visual materials e.g. engaging and eye-catching team photo, or product photo (with no text)

You can include a quote or reference to the country manager or a specific expansion of the country to adapt to different locations.

How to pitch to tech publications?

This is the moment when you can catch the attention of the news publication. As we previously mentioned, we receive up to 50+ press releases a day, so due to time constraints, we will be filtering through your emails quickly to find the next big story.

Do’s

• Tech media are competitive, so if another publication has already covered the story, we often won't report. Send the news about 1 week in advance, or give an exclusive offer.
• Choose the publications/journalists you knowingly reach out to, and create a personalized email to each one, highlighting whether your startup or industry has been covered before.
• Send the news out in the morning instead of in the afternoon.
• Think of the startup's story/mission and the status of the industry, presenting the news in this context.
• Make yourself stand out by showing numbers, prominent names/stars that are somehow involved, as well as your social impact (if you're early, focus on growth percentage).
• As your company's CEO, try sending the press release yourself. Instead of PR agencies, journalists sometimes prefer to speak directly to the source.

Dont’s

• Use openings that are unpersonalized, like "Dear Editor."Send news about funding without announcing the funding amount or names of investors.
• Send without the already attached PR or materials. Send PDFs that are uneditable. Editable formats are faster for us to work with, like Word.
• Send without clear startup information (website, date of founding, location).
• If the magazine can not feature your startup, or even respond to your email, don't chase it or take it personally.
• It's not possible to reply to each one in a sea of 50 + press releases every day, even if the news or startup is interesting.

Who to contact at EU-Startups?

You can reach me (Charlotte Tucker, Head of Content) with your story at charlotte eu-startups.com. I'll be looking forward to your stories being read.

For more detailed tips on how to get your startup's press coverage, and to hear an 'inside' conversation between EU-Startups and a PR agency.