What Working With Startups in Finland Taught Me About PR
Most of what I have learned about PR has been simply by doing, reading about it, and getting coached by one of the best PR pros in Finland: Stephen Lee from San Francisco Agency. With Steve, we had some fantastic conversations about what makes a great story, and he helped me push the boundaries of my thinking, which resulted in fresh perspectives of the mundane.
In my previous job, I used to work as the CMO for a startup campus community in Helsinki — Maria 01. So, I had the rewarding task of supporting our team in amplifying our unique story and getting as many of our startups as possible featured in the media. It was never about us; it was always about championing our member companies. The past four years I was there represented a rollercoaster of learnings in PR’s uncertain and sometimes frustrating world.
In this piece, I want to share the most significant learnings during the time I spent at the forefront of the Finnish startup ecosystem pitching stories, getting rejected, getting ignored, and sometimes getting our companies featured in outstanding publications like Monocle.
1). Ask the right questions to uncover fresh story angles
If you are fishing for new stories in your team to pitch to the media about your company, don’t ask people the obvious things because you will get the obvious answers. Ideally, the questions you ask should aim to tap into something more profound about your company — aim for delivering a unique angle in your pitch to get the conversation started.
If you ask the right questions, you can find out that you have been sitting on a gold mine. Recently, when we pitched my current company Revieve to Fast Company, one of the questions they asked in the submission was, “How will your technology improve people’s lives in the immediate future and over the next 5 years?” This question goes beyond the mundane to help the journalist uncover the essence behind what you do, why you do it, and help them select your story from others.
I’ll also give you a concrete example of interview questions we asked entrepreneurs at Maria 01 to tap into the essence of their company’s existence so we could find unique angles that we could pitch to journalists:
- Tell us what your company does and why you do it without talking about your product.
- Tell us something unexpected within your entrepreneurial journey.
With this set of questions, you can already tap into a very different narrative than if you simply ask people, “what does your company do”? I once discovered a unique story on campus from one of our entrepreneurs who told us that she had raised the initial amount of capital needed to start her company by selling a rare Moomin mug valued at €2500. It’s not every day that you come across this unique way of creating a company.
2). Find patterns that connect your story to a broader narrative
Most people see their companies as a static entity instead of a living organism operating in the “x” industry and solving problems for people in a way only they can. This is why most companies fail to build narratives around their companies and connect them to more prominent narratives — what you do and why you do it is connected to a broader ecosystem.
You can start by making a list of nationwide narratives/significant trends to connect to your company story. For example, in my previous job, we developed several internal narratives by attaching ourselves to Finland’s efforts in talent attraction/retention, diversity, work-life balance, and we baked that into our content marketing strategy. What this does is that with time you strengthen the authority around the topics you want to be recognized for.
3). Champion and understand the person behind the journalist
A journalist has its own ambitions, values, and there’s also the company they work for. They are under personal and work pressures. That means they always need to find their sweet spot. Nevertheless, the best journalists will always want to put out their best work, encourage meaningful discussion, and sometimes get praises for it.
Once, Steve from San Francisco Agency gave me a piece of advice I won’t forget: Pitch something that will make the journalist look good. Sounds simple, but if you read between the lines, it’s about making sure every pitch you make is: newsworthy, timely, meaningful, sent with reasonable time in advance, and honors the beats they cover. I certainly made lots of mistakes regarding this, but that’s just how I had to learn.
Many people don’t try to build a relationship with the journalist first — and I don’t mean becoming their friend. I mean that sometimes something as simple as following them on Twitter or other relevant channels can be an excellent first step. You then engage in discussions, read their stories, share your opinion, or tip them about stories you think they should write about. Even if these actions don’t immediately impact your PR efforts, they will in the long term.
Enjoy the ride! PR is about being patient and finding joy in the journey. I’ve honestly been frustrated plenty of times, but those don’t even matter because all it takes is one excellent PR feature to make all the effort worthwhile.
PS: If you are in Finland and want to take deeper dive into my learnings, feel free to connect and spar with me on Linkedin.
