The pressure to scale tech startups has never been greater. This is due in no small part to the historic pullback in startup funding by VCs in virtually every industry vertical short of AI and a few others. Without proof of growth, and a path toward profitability, most VCs with a seed or Series A funding round will struggle to close their next round.
Engaging a tech PR agency early in a startup’s growth journey can provide significant advantages in gaining the company more visibility and improving the chances of it winning funding. After all, VCs look for all kinds of validation when evaluating startup’s for investment. Articles published in credible news outlets are some of the better forms of validation available to startups. Swyft’s own experience helping a SaaS client with press coverage was prominently featured in its pitch deck and led the company to close a $55 million funding round from several prominent VCs.
Here are some of the primary benefits of utilizing a tech PR agency to propel your startup forward.
Amplify your brand visibility
One of the primary benefits for a startup that uses a tech PR agency is the amplification of brand visibility. Through strategic media placements, an ongoing stream of press releases, and publication of engaging thought leadership, a tech PR agency ensures that your brand reaches the right audience with the most impactful messages possible. This increased visibility helps establish your brand presence in a crowded market, making it easier for potential customers, influencers, and investors to discover you.
Build credibility and trust
Trust is crucial to have for early stage startups seeking to shake up an existing industry. If your startup is leveraging technology to help customers work better and faster, it often takes time to convince a skeptical audience that your tech solution is worth abandoning past technologies. A tech PR agency can help establish and enhance your brand’s credibility through thought leadership, expert commentary, and media endorsements. By positioning your company and its leadership team as industry experts, a tech PR agency can build credibility and trust as you seek to convince customers to leave a more ‘known’ competitor in favor of your up-and-coming startup.
Attract the VCs
Securing funding is often required for tech intensive startups seeking to vanquish more traditional, established competitors. A seasoned tech PR agency can craft compelling narratives about your startup’s vision, innovative technology, and growth potential, making it a more attractive offering for VC investors and customers alike. By getting your story featured in high-profile industry publications and other credible media outlets, a PR agency increases your chances by building a foundation of documented 3rd party validation that will help sell your cause to a VC industry currently at near all-time lows in dealmaking.
Enhance customer acquisition
Long written off by many startup CMOs who favor short-term, quarterly bumps from ad spend over long-term brand positioning, a PR strategy can have significant positive impacts on a startup’s customer acquisition efforts. By generating positive media coverage and buzz around your product or service, a tech PR agency can get your brand in front of more prospects at trade shows, industry conferences, and daily media streams better than any amount of Google Ad buys can ever hope to. A consistent stream of stories in reputable tech publications will drive traffic to your website, increase inquiries, and ultimately positively impact sales.
Boost repeat business
Annual Recurring Revenue, or ARR, is a big deal for tech startups, especially when they are seeking multiple rounds of funding. If a startup can prove that it’s able to retain customers for multiple business cycles, then it will almost certainly face hard questions during its VC pitching tour. By winning positive media attention and helping shape the startup’s backstory, a tech PR agency can help provide more ammunition to the startup’s marketing team as it seeks to keep customers longer.
Manage reputation and crisis communication
Reputation management is vital for any business, and tech startups are no exception. A tech PR agency can help manage your brand’s reputation by monitoring public perception, addressing negative feedback, and helping manage the optics of a crisis. If a crisis occurs, the risk of losing prospects and alienating existing customers is at its greatest. With an effective crisis communication’s plan in place, a startup increases its chances of exiting a crisis with minimal losses to reputation and revenue. Without one in place, the company runs the risk of losing face in the eyes of the public and media, which can have a negative impact on revenue for years to come.
Enhance SEO
A strong online presence is crucial for virtually every business to succeed today. A tech PR agency can enhance your SEO efforts by securing backlinks from high domain authority sites and optimizing press releases and articles for search engines. Improved SEO rankings result in higher organic traffic, better online visibility, and increased lead generation. By leveraging their media connections, a PR agency ensures that your content gets published on sites that boost your online presence in ways that complement your digital marketing strategy. For more on this topic, check out our article on how PR can help your startup SEO strategy.
Foster industry relationships
Building and maintaining relationships within the tech industry can open doors to numerous opportunities, from strategic partnerships to future acquisitions. The publicity a tech PR agency helps acquire can help facilitate introductions and foster relationships with key industry players, including journalists, influencers, and potential partners. These connections can lead to collaborative opportunities, partnerships, and endorsements that can significantly improve the prospects of growth for your startup.
Measure and optimize PR efforts
One of the advantages of working with a tech PR agency is their ability to measure and optimize your PR campaigns. By partnering with your marketing team, they can help track the performance of PR efforts, providing insights into what works, what doesn’t and suggesting pivots for even better results. This data-driven approach allows for continuous improvement and ensures that your PR strategies are aligned with your business goals, delivering better ROI than either forgoing PR or attempting to rely upon an internal marketing resource.
Swyft to the punch
For startups seeking to grow their brand awareness, revenue opportunities, and VC investor interest, there is not much you can do to top the impact a tech PR agency can have. Swyft can help startups early in their life cycle as they seek to win market share against larger, established competitors. Our team of tech PR professionals knows how to design powerful PR strategies that help startups ‘punch above their weight class’ and grow their business and investment potential.
If you would like to learn more about how your startup can build out an effective PR strategy, reach out to Swyft for a free consultation.
[Photo by Kelly Huang on Unsplash]