| Phase | Core action | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Story | Find an angle larger than the launch itself | Settle this before building any list or writing any email |
| Media list | About 30 journalists who cover your specific niche, tracked in a spreadsheet | Keeps outreach small enough for one person to run well |
| Outreach | Personalised pitch emails under 200 words, two emails maximum per journalist | Caps the effort spent on any single contact |
| Capacity | A single founder or marketing hire giving 5-10 hours per week | Sets a realistic workload before considering an agency |
| Measurement | UTM parameters on mentions and a question to every inbound lead | Shows which coverage produces real interest |
Figures above follow the startup guidance from Scalarly and the spreadsheet advice from Just Reach Out.
A media relations strategy for startups with no existing coverage starts with a story, a short list of niche journalists and a few weekly hours of founder time. Measurement comes next, and paid help only after that.
This plan is a resource-limited slice of the wider discipline covered in media relations for tech companies. It sequences targets and milestones for a team starting from zero, rather than polishing a single pitch.
First phase: find a story, not an announcement
A startup has news worth pitching when it can offer a journalist a new angle on something readers already care about. Scalarly puts it bluntly: journalists do not cover companies, they cover stories. A press release about product features is therefore a poor starting asset on its own.
Launch news is the most common false start. Just Reach Out notes that the mere news of a launch is not enough, and that journalists mostly write about larger issues and movements, mentioning companies inside those stories. A reporter quoted by Startups.co.uk says the same thing from the receiving end: without a new angle, interest is unlikely.
Angles that tend to hold up
- The issue itself. A LinkedIn post by Rosie Taylor argues that when a startup holds research on a problem, the story to pitch is that the issue exists, not only the research.
- The founder’s journey. Scalarly points to a founding story with a genuine, relatable problem or an unexpected pivot as material a reporter can use.
- A broader movement. Frame the product as one example inside a trend, so the journalist can mention the company without writing a product review.
If none of these fits yet, delay outreach. Pitching without an angle spends the first impression a journalist will give the company. Once an angle exists, the next job is deciding who should hear it.
Second phase: build a focused media list
A startup should begin with a small list of journalists, not a long list of outlets. Scalarly states that a targeted list of 30 journalists who cover your specific niche will outperform a broad blast, which makes the journalist, not the masthead, the unit to count. For most early-stage teams, a beat reporter at a trade publication who writes about the exact problem is worth more than a general business desk.
Start with local publications
Just Reach Out observes that local publications can be much easier to break into at first. Its advice is to find a journalist at each one whose beat is most relevant to what the company does. Local coverage also gives a new startup its first clippings, which makes later pitches to larger outlets easier to support.
Track each contact in one spreadsheet
Just Reach Out recommends a single spreadsheet holding the journalist’s name, email, a link to a relevant article, a profile link and time zone. The article link is the most useful column, because it shows what the reporter has already covered and gives the pitch something specific to reference. The time zone column matters in the outreach phase, when send times depend on the journalist’s location.
With a list in place, the next step is contact, and the first contact should not be a pitch if it can be avoided.
Third phase: outreach in a fixed sequence
Outreach works best as a short, repeatable routine. Just Reach Out notes that journalists are much more likely to give a pitch a chance if a relationship was built beforehand. Following and engaging with a reporter’s published work before sending anything is a low-cost way to begin that relationship.
- Read recent work. Open the article saved in the spreadsheet and note what the journalist has already said on the topic.
- Write a short email. Scalarly recommends a short, personalised pitch email under 200 words that leads with the story angle.
- Send in the right window. Scalarly suggests Tuesday through Thursday, between 9:00 and 11:00 AM in the journalist’s time zone.
- Follow up once. If there is no reply within a week, send one follow-up.
- Stop at two emails. Scalarly’s rule is never more than two emails to the same journalist.
Have supporting material ready before the first email goes out. A guide on how to create a press kit for a tech company explains what to prepare, so a reporter who replies can get facts and assets without delay.
Inbound journalist queries
Not all contact needs to be outbound. Just Reach Out points to HARO, which emails a list of journalist requests twice daily, as a way for a young company to meet reporters who are already looking for sources. Replying well is a skill of its own, covered in a guide on how to respond to journalist queries.
Founder-led or agency support
Founders should run early outreach themselves when the budget is tight, and consider an agency only once coverage exists and the story is proven. That is one cited example of agency spending, not a survey range, but it shows the scale of commitment a retainer can represent.
The workload is modest. Scalarly describes the in-house model as a single founder or marketing hire willing to invest 5-10 hours per week. That time is best spent reading target journalists’ work, writing tailored pitches and following up once, not on mass mailing.
What an agency adds
The MaRS Discovery District explains that a PR firm brings specialised marketing communications talent, and its agency tactics include writing press releases and blogs and writing article pitches for journalists. That suits a team that has a validated story but no one with time or skill to carry it. It suits a team with no story much less, because an agency cannot create the new angle journalists look for.
MaRS also advises asking a firm to show which metrics it will use to measure success before hiring. That request leads straight to the next question: what counts as progress.
Measuring whether early PR is working
Early PR is working when mentions produce traffic, conversations or leads that can be traced back to them. Scalarly calls impressions and advertising value equivalency meaningless PR metrics, so a large reach number should not be taken as proof of anything.
- Referral traffic. Scalarly advises setting up UTM parameters and tracking referral traffic from each media mention, so each piece of coverage has its own result.
- Lead source. Ask every inbound lead how they heard about the company, as Scalarly recommends. This catches readers who saw an article and searched for the brand later.
- Agreed measures. If an agency is involved, hold it to the metrics it named before the contract began.
Review these results after each batch of outreach. Pitches that earned replies or referrals show which angle and which journalists to repeat. Silence from a whole batch points back to the story, not the list.
Scaling the plan after first coverage
PR effort should grow when the business does, not before. MaRS says PR activities should begin to increase in volume at the customer creation stage. Until then, a small, steady routine of research, pitching and measuring is the right level.
MaRS also notes that public relations differs from other marketing in that it is earned, not paid, promotion and coverage. That explains why the order matters: story first, list second, outreach third, measurement throughout. Each completed phase leaves the startup with clippings, relationships and data that make the next round of pitches stronger.
Troubleshooting stalled outreach
- No replies after the follow-up. Scalarly’s two-email limit means the contact is closed for that pitch. Move to the next journalist and revisit the angle before writing again.
- Replies that praise the product but decline. The pitch is probably about the company. Reframe around the larger issue, as Just Reach Out advises.
- Coverage but no leads. Check the UTM links and the lead-source question before concluding the outlet was wrong.
- Too many contacts to manage. Cut the spreadsheet back toward a niche-focused list rather than adding hours.
Frequently asked questions
Is PR the same as paid advertising?
No. MaRS describes public relations as earned, not paid, promotion and coverage, which is why a story has to interest the journalist.
How quickly must a startup react to a trending news story?
Scalarly says the window of opportunity for newsjacking is typically 24-48 hours, so a founder with a relevant view should have a short pitch ready to send quickly.
How can a startup work out a journalist’s email address?
Publications often follow a pattern. Just Reach Out gives the example that Forbes formats addresses as [email protected], which can guide a guess for outlets with a similar format.
