The Media Has Completely Ignored Your Pitch. Now What?

[Note: This blog originally appeared on markevans.ca/blog]

For startups, media coverage is like winning the lottery. But the reality is most pitches are ignored. They’re not interesting, newsworthy, topical, relevant, or they’re one of many pitches that hit the inboxes of reporters and bloggers.

Hearing crickets after excitedly hitting the “send” is disappointing because it suggests a startup’s enthusiasm and optimism has failed to strike a chord. It’s tough to be told you’re not newsworthy or even interesting.

So what should a startup do if their initial efforts to attract media attention don’t work?

Blow off the media as being ignorant? Reload? Focus on something else? Here are some suggestions on how to reload:

1. Conduct an audit on your outreach efforts. Who were you trying to reach? How much, if any, interest was generated? What feedback or responses were given? By using email tracking technology (e.g.YesWare, Contact Monkey, Sidekick, Streak for Gmail), you can see if your email was opened and, if so, many times, and what links were clicked on.

Ask yourself if the story pitched to reporters and bloggers was relevant, interesting, timely or part of a bigger trend. In other words, did it have enough of a hook. While most startups think their products are interesting or innovative, there are thousands of startups competing for the spotlight. As a result, simply being interesting is insufficient editorial ammunition. (Note: Getting third-party perspective about your outreach efforts is a valuable exercise).

2. Identify other reporters and bloggers to target. It could be people with smaller audiences who aren’t pitched as often, or reporters and bloggers focused on other verticals or interests. One of the biggest mistakes made by startups is targeting high-profile and popular media outlets and bloggers. The problem is everyone is pitching these organizations so unless you have an eye-catching story or have relationships, it is difficult to break through. Instead, it may be better to start small to gain some traction and editorial validation. If smaller publications provide coverage, it is easier for larger publications to see your story as credible and newsworthy.

3. Get creative or think out of the box. In some cases, you may need to develop your own stories. A great example is DocSend, which contacted 58 investors to see how long they spent looking at pitch decks provided by startups. They discovered that these investors spent less than four minutes with these decks, and looked at less than 20 slides. DocSend crafted the story themselves, but the findings were so interesting that it garnered extensive coverage.

When I worked with Sysomos, it attracted a lot of coverage from publishing mini-reports on how people were using different social media platforms. These reports were created by extracting information from a database, and then writing blog posts featuring several user-friendly graphics. It wasn’t rocket science, but it was definitely compelling content.

4. Focus on telling your own stories. Startups spend a lot of time trying to create pitches, but I think there is a lot of value in telling stories about your startup’s journey — the ups, down, hurdles, challenges, and successes. There is a fascination with startups and entrepreneurs, so telling stories from behind the scenes is compelling content. A good example is Groove, which uses a blog to talk about how its business is performing. In a previous blog post, I talked about four easy stories that startups can tell, even when they have little traction or customers.

5. Be patient: Rome wasn’t built in a day, and sometimes startups need to wait before they pursue media coverage. Truth be told, most startups aren’t newsworthy or interesting. But that’s okay. While media coverage has its benefits, it is more important to focus on growing your business. At some point, there will be opportunities to create effective pitches (e.g. successes, transactions, appointments).

And truth be told, many startups have been ultra-successful with little media coverage. In other words, don’t try to force things. And don’t think that getting media coverage is a scientific process or a methodology. Instead, it involves timing, luck and being in the right place with the right story.

6. Develop a target list and relationships: Many startups believe that crafting and pitching good stories is the new way to attract media coverage. But the most powerful and effective approach is having relationships with reporters and bloggers. As a former journalist, I can tell you that reporters and bloggers are inclined to write stories about entrepreneurs that they know, like or find helpful. It’s basic human nature.

So how do these relationships happen? It begins by building a target list of the reporters and bloggers who matter. It could be 10, 25 or 100. Then, you nurture these relationships in different ways. Follow them on Twitter, retweet their content, leave comments on blog posts, or send them emails with tips or insight (not pitches). Going analog is also effective. I’m talking about asking them to meet for coffee, approaching them at conferences, or asking for their advice.

Bottom line: It is not uncommon for startups to see their media outreach efforts generate little or no interest. There is too much competition for the media’s attention. There is a time and a place for media outreach but it needs to be seen as a long-term project. Hiring a PR agency can provide some short-cuts, particularly getting access to reporters and bloggers, but you still to tell a good story.

If you’re looking to jump-start your ability to tell good stories, I can help you make it happen. I recently published a book, Storytelling for Startups, that provides strategic and tactical guidance to entrepreneurs looking to embrace the power of story-driven marketing.