- Written by Sarah Handley, founder of Parent Tech Marketing & PR
Receiving investment or funding is the holy-grail for many early-stage tech start-ups and app businesses, because it allows the acceleration of growth, and availability of funds to invest in development, staff and marketing.
If you are considering fundraising for your technology business, many startup leaders join an accelerator program to learn about different funding options and how to find suitable investors, or they would cold outreach via email or LinkedIn to VCs and angel investors who they think would like to invest.
There is nothing wrong with either of these approaches, but what many founders don’t realise early enough is that they are missing a vital piece in the puzzle; PR or Public Relations.
A quick definition for the uninitiated from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations: “Public Relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.
"Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”
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There are many reasons why early-stage tech startups don’t prioritise or think of PR as a channel that could really boost their chances of investment.
The number one reason is that many founders think that PR is dead, it is no longer fashionable and so waste thousands of other marketing streams like Facebook ads, without really understanding what story and message resonates with their audience.
PR is a highly effective channel for telling people about yourself, who you support and how you support them. People can connect with you (and your vision) on a personal level, in a way that they can’t with many other forms of marketing. Today we’re going to share with you 3 ways you can bring PR into your business to help you become a magnet for soul-aligned investors.
1) Make your social profiles PR and investment ready
Your social media profiles are your shop window to the world, and however potential investors land on your profiles, you want them to be able to see in seconds that you are actively in the market for investment.
Including the keyword ‘fundraising’ on your LinkedIn profile page is a simple but powerful way of saying you’re open and receptive to investment. You can apply the same approach to attracting journalists. By letting editors know what you write about and that you are PR friendly, you’ll be surprised at how many opportunities this opens up for you!
2) Get press clippings for your pitch deck
How would it feel to already be known by an angel investor before you present your idea or send it your pitch deck? This is the power of positive publicity.
Being able to include press clippings from a number of different media will help to supercharge your credibility in the eyes of investors. This may sound daunting at first but you don’t need to be a PR and Marketing guru to have your story covered.
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It is simply having an idea for a story and sharing it with relevant media outlets. Your founder’s story is a great place to start because it is you being raw and real about who you are, what you do, and who you help.
Just one story in the right place, could change everything and you could be investor-less one day, and have five inbound enquiries the next following a single piece of press coverage.
3) Share your progress and celebrate success
Too often founders don't publicise their growth or share their wins with the media so they stay closed off to potential press coverage. Comparisonitis is intense, and many founders are reluctant to share their download numbers because they think their nearest competitor is having more traction (or more downloads).
There is also often resistance to sharing success stories which is born out of the fear of being truly visible and open to public criticism (the inner critic is alive and at work)!
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This holds founders back from attracting genuine enquiries from investors because you are not being seen in the places where investors hangout online. Investors are not seeing the amazing impact your app or product is having because you’re not talking about it in public.
If you have enjoyed these tips and you would like to learn more about publicity and how it can help you attract investment and supercharge your visibility, the author of this article, Sarah Handley, has set up a free Facebook community for socially conscious tech startup founders, who want to accelerate the fundraising process by receiving free press coverage.
