Startups need to create awareness about their product to potential customers and investors. They also need to build up their reputation in order to grow their business. In a booming tech ecosystem, with vast amounts of money being invested in a variety of tech verticals, startups are constantly looking to find an advantage over their competition. Having a strong media presence can help. With more than 40% of B2B representatives reading several pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative, Tech PR, has surely become a dominant factor in key decision making. Leading Tech Marketer Omri Hurwitz has seen how startups are looking to get media coverage that is not only based on funding announcements and decided to innovate Tech PR, using media amplification, next-gen reporting tools, and a deep understanding of what modern journalists are really searching for.
Besides being a Tech Marketer, you also write for many high profile publications like Forbes and Tipranks. Do you think that plays a role in how your agency pitches journalists?
Omri: For sure. As a contributor writer for many leading publications, I know what story angles journalists want to cover, and I also know the actual marketing starts when an article goes live. With social media being so dominant, amplifying the media coverage is as important as securing it. That is why we have built a strong media amplification platform. Journalists that cover our clients know that the article will receive lots of views and engagement. That’s why they like collaborating with us.
The way you analyze article analytics is very advanced; it seems like it plays a big part in how you build out a PR strategy for your clients.
Omri: We have a next-gen software that lets us track how each media coverage item performed. How many views it got, how much engagement across social media, not only on Twitter and Facebook but also on Whatsapp, LinkedIn, and messaging apps. This provides us with a clear viewpoint on what type of content goes viral for the specific client and hits his targeted audience. Then we strategize accordingly. I think working in advertising alongside legendary marketer Yoel Israel has helped me bring some of that more analytical touch to PR.
You talk and write a lot about the notion of ‘real’ Tech PR, meaning articles that are focused on the actual product and technology of a company, and not only on funding announcements.
Omri: If you watch my “Startups on-demand” video interview series, you can see how much value is in actually talking about how a product or software is being developed and marketed. This type of content is what really moves the needle for potential buyers. They care about the product. That is the essence. They don’t care how much money you raised or how expensive the food in your office is. That is why startups come to us when they want media coverage that can convert into business results.
You are very active on social media, and you have a large following on LinkedIn, any tips?
Omri: Think about the content consumer. How can I make this piece of content valuable for him? How can I make it easy to consume? How can I make it scalable, meaning that people will share it? Also, amplifying your content is essential; every LinkedIn post can be amplified as a Tweet, a video, maybe even a thought leadership article. The distribution is as important as the actual content.
I like that sentence, “The distribution is as important as the actual content” can you expand on that?
Omri: When we analyze media coverage using our analytics software, we see how big of an impact a right distribution strategy has on the viewership of our client’s media coverage, and this translates to business results. That is why we build a media distribution for our clients, so they know how to effectively communicate the article once it’s live. We are also big fans of using LinkedIn Ads to distribute content to highly specific job titles in specific companies.
