3 T’s of StartUps That Stay in the News

Have you ever seen startups that seem to be everywhere in the news? Their announcements are well-covered. Their founders’ expert opinions are often cited. They are OUT THERE.

FOMO (fear of missing out) on a spot in the news can be a real source of stress for startup teams. They fear that some other team is soaking up the spotlight while their ideas are going unheard.

Which brings up the question, how?  How do some teams create a constant drumbeat of news while others just eek along?

From what we’ve seen, it all comes down to a smart strategy that focuses not just on announcing news (which, let’s face it, is a little bit yesterday) but also creating news.  A growth company can’t wait for news to happen, but instead must take the opportunity to share industry insight in the media whenever possible.

A smart PR plan– and more importantly, one that creates sustained visibility in the media– includes a pyramid of news.  This is something we call “The 3 T’s Of Everywhere Media Coverage.”

Today’s News:  This is the headline news– time sensitive news that matters now.  These are your funding announcements, your milestone announcements, your key hire announcements.  This kind of news can give you a great media splash, but typically doesn’t sustain attention. Think of this as your 15 minutes of fame.

Timely News:   Timely news is where a company starts to triangulate what they are doing against another headline.  For example– Apple announces the Apple watch. Companies in and around the wearables space may offer an opinion on what this means for trackable health devices (did the Apple watch just shut down that industry?) or what the next big thing is in wearables (you may have heard of the Apple watch, keep an eye out for smart socks that do all the same things).  Timely news is all about relevance to what else is going on — be it a news story, a time of year, a holiday — and how your company fits in.

Trend News:  The top of the pyramid. The hardest to create, but in our view the most valuable. This is where a company starts to dominate a conversation by analyzing their own data to extract trends and insights throughout an industry.  They help their peers, colleagues, and sometimes even reporters learn about what’s going on within an industry.  From tech to consumer brands, any time a company can authoritatively and objectively show what they are seeing and why it matters, there is a meaningful opportunity to establish an expert voice in the news.

All too often, we see PR efforts stop at the baseline level.  This is a missed opportunity, for it’s only by integrating news up and down the pyramid where companies start to hear “Haven’t I read about you somewhere?”

Today’s News:  This is the headline news– time sensitive news that matters now.  These are your funding announcements, your milestone announcements, your key hire announcements.  This kind of news can give you a great media splash, but typically doesn’t sustain attention. Think of this as your 15 minutes of fame.

Timely News:   Timely news is where a company starts to triangulate what they are doing against another headline.  For example– Apple announces the Apple watch. Companies in and around the wearables space may offer an opinion on what this means for trackable health devices (did the Apple watch just shut down that industry?) or what the next big thing is in wearables (you may have heard of the Apple watch, keep an eye out for smart socks that do all the same things).  Timely news is all about relevance to what else is going on — be it a news story, a time of year, a holiday — and how your company fits in.

Trend News:  The top of the pyramid. The hardest to create, but in our view the most valuable. This is where a company starts to dominate a conversation by analyzing their own data to extract trends and insights throughout an industry.  They help their peers, colleagues, and sometimes even reporters learn about what’s going on within an industry.  From tech to consumer brands, any time a company can authoritatively and objectively show what they are seeing and why it matters, there is a meaningful opportunity to establish an expert voice in the news.

All too often, we see PR efforts stop at the baseline level.  This is a missed opportunity, for it’s only by integrating news up and down the pyramid where companies start to hear “Haven’t I read about you somewhere?”