How To Really Earn Media For Your Startup
Or how we got over 5,500 site backlinks in one year
Your startup can be getting many more media mentions, app reviews, and referral links than you organically receive.
When my team started searching for different channels for product marketing, we started to push for mentions in the media whenever we could, wherever possible.
Be it a big publication, an “influencer’s” Twitter account, a niche site, or a personal blog — we want to be wherever our audience is in order to generate direct leads, build our brand, and help our SEO.
So we started spreading our efforts from Day One.
Actually, we started before we even had a decent signup page running.
By the numbers
Since launching our public beta in late 2013, we now have over 5500 backlinks to our landing page, from more than 900 different domains.
We managed to get mentioned on top sites like TechCrunch, TheNextWeb and Mashable, featured on our niche major publications (highly recommended), and on small personal blogs.
The main goals for media attention is to generate (quality) landing page leads, and to get as many sign ups as possible.
The indirect outcome of media mentions is high SERP for different search phrases, therefore increased organic search acquisition.
See how we did for several search phrases (either branded or not):
What to share on social media:
Content to share:
Content to share on social media (which we branded in our page title)
As the screenshot below illustrates, for high volume search phrases we are searchable not only via our website, but also by numerous mentions on other blogs. This is not our strongest source of signups, but it still works.
Take a look what you get when searching for social media tools; we are mentioned in the three times on the first page of listicles. Try with other related phrases — you’ll see similar results. Think about it as an indirect way to be ranked on Google’s first page.
How do you get people to cover your startup?
Find your niche influencers and put them all into a spreadsheet
Every product or service is a part of a niche, and every niche has its influencers.
Your market and potential customers are usually part of an influencer community.
You must set up a goal to get to know these influencers, and know them well.
Stories in your industry’s niche are already being written covering similar products to yours, complementary products, and of course — your competitors.
Search for all your competitors’ blog / press mentions in the last year or so, and make a spreadsheet that includes each and every post, including:
- Article URL
- Who is the writer?
- Where was it posted? (a personal or a community blog)
- Post type (review/list/thought leadership piece/etc.)
- What’s the post about?
- How popular was the post? Is the writer someone you’d want to cover you again?
- Writer’s email address/Twitter handle (I personally prefer email).
Once you’ve started to get a better picture of the blog scene, you’ll know where to focus your efforts — and when. For example, Ian Cleary from RazorSocial writes a quarterly list of tools in beta. Knowing that, we were able to introduce Ian to Swayy when it was still in private beta; he checked Swayy out and chose to include it in his Q2 2013 post.
Timing is a key when reaching out to the media.
Developing relationships with writers and influencers is important, and the sooner you connect with them the more meaningful your connections will be.
Be proactive
So you have your spreadsheet ready. Good job! The next step is be proactive and start spreading the word about your product.
Emails should be tailored to the recipient, always, with specific information about what your service offers them and why their audience will appreciate your product. Our advice is to A/B test a few message formats that can then be customized per recipient.
Some of the different subjects we sent out:
An introduction to Swayy
An introduction to Swayy, a social media tool
An invitation to join Swayy beta
An invitation to join Swayy private beta
An introduction to Swayy, a new content curation tool
There are more examples, but you get the point. Each email sent should be sent after you took the time to research the recipient and and analyzed your conversion rates. It’s not a quick process.
We sent invites to thousands of influences with the hope of getting a significant percentage to sign up. The math is simple here — collect more prospects, send more emails, get more sign ups.
KISS: Keep it simple, stupid
Your message should be short, straight, and right to the point. If your email gets opened, you have a 30-second window to make the “sale.” Explain to the influencer why you’re reaching out to them in particular — maybe it’s because of an article they wrote, or maybe they’re your target user, and follow that with what your product is in one simple sentence. Even if you’ve launched the product some time ago, there’s no late time to invite someone to join.
Next, add the call to action. The simpler your signup process is, the more signups you will have. I suggest adding the direct link, and not behind a meta title, to give it a more authentic look.
Sign up here — http://app.swayy.co/
GOOD!
Sign up here
BAD!
Last, but definitely not least — try to develop a connection! Keep the conversation going. Tell them you’d love to hear whether they found your tool useful, and ask for input!
If you get a response, especially a response with advice, that information could greatly help you improve your product. Don’t take it for granted! Also, if they did take the time to try out your product, and especially if they liked it, it’s very likely they’ll be happy to share their thoughts with you.
This is the start to meaningful, long-lasting relationships in your industry.
Be honest: Ask for the things you want
In many cases, getting the influencer on board and satisfied from what saw can be enough for him to share it with his colleagues, tweet about it, or write a review without having you asking.
Sometimes, however, you do have to ask. In the event of having to ask for a favor, make sure you have laid out your request, goals, and means of accomplishing said request as clearly as possible.
Once the influencer has signed up for your product and told you they liked it, you are free to ask for a mention, review, or write up.
There are no mindreaders on the Internet. Don’t be shy.
One thing to remember is that when a blogger writes an article, it’s not about him and definitely not about you — it’s about what’s good for their readers and how it will be beneficial for them.
Readers are users — make sure that everything coming to them is useful and relevant.
Even if you think your product is perfectly targeted as is, it’s always helpful to offer some good for the readers to enjoy, such as private beta invitations or discounts on premium packages.
See the angel TheNextWeb took here:
One straightforward hack to get bloggers attention was done by the awesome HitTail on their pricing page:
See how they offer bloggers the option to join their premium plans for free.
Find the influencers who are already using your app
There’s a pretty significant chance that some great people are already using your app, but if you don’t notice that, then it’s worthless.
At the beginning when your user base is small and not many people are signing up each day, it’s actually a pretty easy job to do manually.
We use the amazing Intercom here on Swayy, which let you know the most important people who signed up for your product in the last 24 hours (based on different criteria).
We took it a step further and defined a set of rules to catch for someone to be an influencer or someone we’d like to be in touch with. One important factor is the number of Twitter followers that person has.
There’s no guarantee for not missing anyone, but there’s definitely a better chance when you’re doing it right.
When Intercom sends us a name to look out for, we send an email and usually offer a free premium package. Is this worth it? By giving away goods (a potential revenue) you create a new user acquisition channel and buy more users.
Knowing your premium conversion rates and LTV (churn), you can easily analyze how many signups you need to get from a review in order for it to be worth it.
Once you’ve gotten the write up
When you got your product name on a blog, you should never stop there.
Your first task is to engage with the blogger and their readers via the blog comments, Twitter and Facebook. Showing gratitude is of utmost importance; a little bit goes a long way in that regard. Engaging opens a discussion with a whole new set of potential users and buzzing about your product.
Make sure to document everything that happens via this write up so you’ll be able to tell what are your most effective channels and where to concentrate your efforts.
We found that for Swayy, social media industry blogs drive an incredible amount of traffic — better than most bigger publications — with a high conversion rate, lower churn, etc. The readers there are engaged and interested in your product and the value it brings them.
It didn’t take long for us to target the blogs we should be working to get mentioned on and where we’d like to be discussed more — a different discussion for another post.
Now it’s up to you to make this one-time outreach into an online connection. I’m grateful to have met so many great people who have helped me, and let me help them in return.
Connect on LinkedIn, ping on an email from time to time, engage on Twitter and of course send product and company updates.
Creating powerful relationship is a long and difficult process that comes with a lot of nos.
See the response I got from a TNW journalist, after asking whether he’ll be interested in covering one of our side projects:
You’ll quickly learn that getting a “No” is just another piece of your relationship, and it actually makes your connections stronger.
Getting your product mentioned on as many blogs as possible is one marketing strategy you should be working on, and the sooner you start the better you’ll do it and the more results you’ll see.
The important thing to realize is that it’s all about relationships, giving something in return and having a clear set of goals and working methods.
Ultimately, though, make sure your product speaks for itself.
Image Credit: Jacki Potorke
