andris k.bērziņs, marketing and pr
DESCRIPTION
Andra K.Bērziņa prezentācija par mārketingu un PR uzsācējbiznesam, Biznesa inkubatoru konference, Liepāja, 29.03.2012.TRANSCRIPT
GUERILLA MARKETING AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS FOR STARTUPS
“How Reach.ly got into TechCrunch”
Andris Berzins
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
WHAT TO REMEMBER
PR is the most cost-effective marketing
News needs to be newsworthy
Keep it simple, stupid
Find the customer and where they hang out
Set a news deadline
Companies and products are boring. People are interesting
Figure out how to leverage big partner PR muscle & spend
Build relationships with journalists
Hard work pays off
Monday, 2 April 12
PR IS THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE MARKETING
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
PR COSTS LESS
For startups, PR is absolutely the best investment
Many classic marketing tools are more suitable for mature companies or later-stage startups
Trade shows, print advertising, TV etc.These tools are great for scaling when you have a clearly defined and established set of potential customers and a mature product
Email, web presence, social and all those things are the basics to do
But for most startups the key is to get noticed
Great PR can cost only your own time. Valuable, but better than cash.
Monday, 2 April 12
A WORD ON TRADE SHOWS
For startups, the best investment is simply to attend
Exhibiting costs much more than you expect
Not just the booth, also flights, hotels, expenses, give-aways, internet access etc.
Remember need enough staff to always man booth
Monday, 2 April 12
THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS
Some goods are experiential....
Monday, 2 April 12
NEWS NEEDS TO BE NEWSWORTHY
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
WHAT IS NEWSWORTHINESS?
DIFFERENT
UNCOMMON
BIGGEST
BEST
TRENDS & DATA
CELEBRITY
Monday, 2 April 12
SALESFORCE.COM EXAMPLES
Provocative “No software” logo
Fake demonstration at Siebel user conference
Monday, 2 April 12
KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
ONE-LINE PITCH EXAMPLES: FROM RECENT ANGELPAD
PipeDrive wants to simplify business software, by creating a simple way for a company to manage its sales pipeline
IDoneThis is a motivational email service that asks you, via email, “What’d you get done today?” and expects an email response in list form, every day
A “Dropbox for videos”, LikeAndy is a mobile app video that lets people distribute their videos across multiple devices
Monday, 2 April 12
FIND THE CUSTOMER AND WHERE THEY HANG OUT
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
GO FIND THE CUSTOMER
Steve Blank: “Get out of the building”
Find the right mediums: those who want to communicate to your target customers (TechCrunch might not be right!)
Startups need to focus on niches and find cost-effective ways of targeting them
If B2B, ask yourself who is the decision-maker
Remember to ask customers how they get their information about new products/services - you might be surprised at the answers
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
REACH.LY EXAMPLE
Key media partners
Bigger is not better
Invest in content
Keep in touch
Use graphics
Monday, 2 April 12
SET A DEADLINE
Monday, 2 April 12
JOURNALISTS WORK FOR DEADLINES
Find out when deadlines are
Often much further out than you think
Reach.ly worked on launch announcement for over a month
Last-minute work causes problems for journalists
Use the deadline to force a decision
Use embargoes and exclusives
Monday, 2 April 12
COMPANIES AND PRODUCTS ARE BORING
Monday, 2 April 12
SPICE IT UP
Who wants to read about the nth techie product launch? Weave your pitch into a broader story
e.g. Livebookings Pocket Diner
Add the personal element - founders are especially evocative
Bundle stories together
e.g. Reach.ly funding and launch
Add data & use infographics
Monday, 2 April 12
LEVERAGE THE BIG GUYSMonday, 2 April 12
BIG COMPANIES CAN HELP
They have much bigger PR budgets
Analysts and industry pundits follow them
If you can hang onto their coat-tails, it can be a good ride
But beware of the time it takes and the lack of control
Consider press to be one of the tools in a sales negotiation - and make it explicit, usually written
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
AEROSCOUT EXAMPLE
Re-publishing of press release (leverages distribution)
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
AEROSCOUT EXAMPLE
Joint partner press opportunity
Also great example of leveraging customers
Monday, 2 April 12
BUILD LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY JOURNALISTS
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
JOURNALISTS ARE PEOPLE TOO
Spend time building relationships with journalists
Follow them on Twitter, include their @twitter handle when retweeting a story
Try to help them out with a story, even when it does not necessarily benefit you directly. Cultivate favors.
Don’t treat them like a transaction
If you have quality opinions on key topics, they will start to come to you for industry comment
Remember: NOTHING you say is confidential. If you don’t want it in the news, don’t say it!
Monday, 2 April 12
HARD WORK AND PERSISTENCE PAY OFF
Monday, 2 April 12
KEEP AT IT, DON’T GIVE UP
NO SPELLING OR GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES IN A PRESS RELEASE!
Create a long list of targets and work through it
Don’t give up until you get a flat out “NO”
Use the phone, email alone won’t do it
Reference their other work in your communication to show you know what the journalist writes
For Reach.ly, it took four days of repeated communication to get the TechCrunch article sold, and they finally agreed only at the last minute
Monday, 2 April 12
Andris Berzins - @akberzins
WHAT TO REMEMBER
PR is the most cost-effective marketing
News needs to be newsworthy
Keep it simple, stupid
Find the customer and where they hang out
Set a news deadline
Companies and products are boring. People are interesting
Figure out how to leverage big partner PR muscle & spend
Build relationships with journalists
Hard work pays off
Monday, 2 April 12