Afrigather This text was contributed to TechCabal by Claudine Moore. Moore is the managing director, Allison + Companions, and founder/former CEO, C. Moore Media, Worldwide Public Relations.
Final week we started the 2022 version of The Future is Female Mentorship Program, Africa’s first and solely PR and communications initiative devoted to African feminine tech founders, and supported by Allison+Companions. Twenty-five African feminine tech founders have been chosen to participate within the third version of the programme, out of 343 functions from 36 African international locations. The chosen founders have been introduced in Techcabal who, alongside Africa Communications Week, are companions of the programme for a second 12 months.
Within the first masterclass of the programme, we shared the basics of PR for startups to the keenness of the 25 chosen feminine founders. It struck me that whereas our first two articles for this newly launched column have targeted on disaster communications, particularly because of the disaster a number of well-known African startups are at the moment dealing with, it’s a good suggestion to take a step again and share the significance for African tech startups to have a stable and well-thought-out PR and communications plan in place. It’s all the time good to start out with why?
It’s all about model visibility and fame which is essential when fundraising, particularly throughout an financial downturn when traders are much more discerning. It is vital for African startups to deal with their PR and communications to lift consciousness of who they’re and what they do. PR will assist you to safe the eye of potential companions, traders and clients in addition to appeal to expertise, which is essential within the Pan African scramble to draw prime tech experience and expertise.
One of many methods your model will elevate its visibility is by leveraging media relations as a tactic to lift your model visibility by securing media protection, however making inroads with the press can take time. With this in thoughts, under are a listing of issues to think about when approaching media relations to your startup.
Be relentless
Securing earned media just isn’t simple and it’s important to be in keeping with the time and assets put into your PR efforts. Reporters are busy, newsrooms are shrinking, and with the strain to churn out fixed content material with powerful deadlines, pinning down journalists could be tough. You will want to be borderline relentless in pushing for a narrative to be coated and observe up constantly with the reporter till they let you know no or go radio-silent. My basic rule is, if after three follow-up emails should you nonetheless don’t hear again…let it go.
Be regular, not swift
The prism to method PR is from a long-term perspective and long-term objectives and methods needs to be put in place. Constructing relationships with the media takes time and persistence. The target is to make sure an everyday move of reports out of your startup leveraging totally different angles to make sure they’re related and of curiosity to the media you method. As audiences hear about your startup throughout a wide range of totally different media retailers, your model visibility will develop and your fame can be elevated.
Make time and be accessible
Regardless of startup founders and executives being pulled in several instructions, they should find time for PR and be obtainable and accessible for PR actions, starting from interviews to offering insights for a narrative to talking engagements alongside their enterprise growth actions. That is typically simpler stated than finished, particularly when the ROI of your time and assets into PR just isn’t instantly seen however, as talked about above, PR needs to be approached with the long-term perspective in thoughts.
Important for all founders and/or executives chosen to characterize your startup is media coaching. This permits for both a media-shy or uncomfortable spokesperson to turn into accustomed to being in entrance of a reporter, both in individual or just about. By no means underestimate how tough it’s to reply totally different and generally tough questions whereas guaranteeing your required message remains to be conveyed.
Media coaching is all about apply, that means that coaching needs to be frequent to permit for consolation and familiarity, along with constructing confidence. As well as, endeavor mock interviews together with powerful questions can even present wonderful apply.
So, there we now have it, a fast run-through of the why and fundamentals of media relations as a part of PR technique to lift the model visibility of your startup!
You may observe Claudine on Twitter @ClaudineMoore.
Claudine Moore is an award-winning world PR chief specialising in Africa-focused PR and communications throughout a number of sectors, together with tech. She is the managing partner, Africa Allison+Partners, and founder and former CEO of C. Moore Media International Public Relations. She additionally based The Future is Female Mentorship Program, the primary and solely PR and communications initiative devoted to African feminine tech founders.
