Getting into Techcrunch and major business publications is a key goal of most tech company founders. For most it’s more about what that article can be used for, hiring, fundraising, branding and more.

In most cases the key to getting into Techcrunch and other tier 1 publications is possible by having a large piece of news but that in itself does not guarantee that your news will be covered by a major publication. The short answer is that is where a PR agency will guide a company to ensure their news is newsworthy and gets into the right publications.

A key part of this process is also understanding the wider implications that the companies news has on the industry, their customers and if the company is a B2C company the general public.

Often companies jump to start drafting press releases but do not have a process to ensure that all the information they want in the press release has been captured. The language is very important as reporters will dismiss press releases that are overly self promotional or jump to company talking points too quickly. Other pitfalls include not presenting the news in the first paragraph, describing the company in unrealistic terms, failing to tell a story that resonates with the reporter to name but a few.

A press release that is newsworthy follows a very prescriptive format, this is often the reason why companies fail to get their news covered by the media. While it is easy to look at a press release and think that it’s something that can be easily replicated, what is overlooked is the work, experience and process that the team or person who wrote the press release put into it to arrive at the final result.

Step 1) Create a messaging matrix to capture the information that each stakeholder in the business needs to hear.

Step 2) Draft the press release based on the information outlined during the messaging matrix process.

Step 3) Pitch the news to reporters on an exclusive basis at least three weeks in advance of the news going over the wire.

In the US market a normal budget for a monthly PR retainer is between $15,000 and $35,000 per month depending on the stage of the company.

While there are some firms that will charge more or less, this is a basic ball park figure. It all depends on the market the company is in, the amount of news that the company has and the competency of the firm delivering the PR.

A tech PR agency is one that is experienced in taking unknown technology companies with sometimes invisible products and making them a known quantity in the technology media and community.

A tech PR campaign should further a companies business and marketing goals. As part of any tech PR campaign a major component should be working out how to advance a tech companies goals, what messages the company wants to put out into the market and how the campaign will achieve these goals.

A common set of goals for a tech company:

• Third party validation in the eyes of investors, prospects and potential employees
• Showcasing the company’s products.
• Driving inbound leads.
• Validating the company through client stories.
• Introducing new use cases to the industry.
• Positioning the company in their industry.
• Highlighting a company’s executives and thought leadership.
• Category creation or positioning the company in a category.

Third party validation is critical to most technology companies’ success. PR is one of the main ways that a company can garner third party validation in the eyes of investors, prospects, employees and other stakeholders. Without PR a technology company can succeed, its just going to be a slower process and in some instances in competitive markets the company will not be able to compete against competitors who are a known quantity in the media.