Strategic Marketing & PR Tips for Startups

Strategic Marketing
& PR for Startups
Presented by
Sandra Sick, Marketing Consultant
@sandrasick
www.sandrasick.com

A Bit About Me…
…I was destined to work in business and have
always had a flare for Marketing and PR.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a focus in Marketing.
• 20+ years startup Marketing & PR experience working
with all types of clients both full-time and as a
consultant.
• Coached/mentored/advised 300+ companies.
• Mentored/coached Startup Lisboa, Beta-I, Seedcamp,
Startup Pirate, Startup Braga, Startup Weekend, Startup
Exchange, Startup Live and many more organizations.
• Lived in Portugal from 2011-2015.
• Living and working in Los Angeles (again).
My Experience

You and your
elevator pitch.
Tell Me AboutYou…

Where AreYou Today?
Dev Launch Beta Customers (non-paid) Customers (Paid)
Stealth Some Marketing Active F/T Marketing Very Active
In the Product/Sales area…
In the Marketing/PR area…

1. Inbound Marketing
2. Outbound Marketing
3. Social Media
4. Advertising
5. Public Relations
6. PR Workshop
7. Marketing Tools
8. A Bit About Success
9. Q&A
Session Overview

Let’s Break it Down in More Detail

Assumptions for Today
1. You believe you have product market fit.
2. You’ve worked through the customer validation process.
3. You’ve planned out your marketing strategy.
• At least 6 months out!
4. You have allocated time, resources and a budget to your
marketing activity.

Content Marketing/Creation
Content marketing is a strategic marketing
approach focused on creating and distributing
valuable, relevant, and consistent content to
attract and retain a clearly-defined audience —
and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Content Marketing
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=9OHgMMpGLzk

Content Marketing Tips
1. Keep it simple (in most cases).
2. Be a thief!
‘Good artists copy. Great artists steal.’ - Pablo Picasso
3. Write for people AND search engines.
4. Have an active and not a passive voice.
5. Know your SEO.
6. Perception is reality.

Growth HackYour Content Marketing
1. Make data driven content marketing decisions by
monitoring Google Analytics and social media
engagement.
• Know where on your site people are spending the
most time and which content is getting the most
engagement.
2. Encourage your consumers to share your content.
3. Incorporate visuals into your content to unleash its full
potential.

This Inbound SEO Marketing
Strategy Will DoubleYour Organic
Traffic.
Know what it is?

1. B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads
than those that do not.
2. Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more
likely to enjoy positive ROI.
3. By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationship
without talking to a human.
4. The only thing blogging costs you is your time.
5. Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their
website.
6. Blogs have been rated as the 5th more trusted source for
accurate online information.
7. Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links.
(Source: Hubspot)
The Importance of Blogging

• Guest blogging is a great (and affordable) opportunity
for startups.
• Guest posting on a popular blog is a great way to build
your reputation in that industry.
• Having someone influential guest blog drives traffic to
your site.
• As your company grows, it becomes easier to find
influencers willing to contribute to your startup’s blog.
• Reach out to select influencers individually through social
media or email.
• Always ask the contributor to promote the post to their
network.
Guest Blogging

1. Target your content.
2. Use Google Adwords.
3. Link to other websites.
4. Link to internal pages on your site.
5. Use alt text (alternative text).
• Alternative text is text associated with an image that serves the same
purpose and conveys the same essential information as the image. In
situations where the image is not available to the reader because the use
has turned off images in their web browser.
5 Tactics to Boost your Blog SEO

• Blog often
• Search engines like Google love fresh content
• Be unique and find your voice
• Socialize
• Search engines are listening
Blogging Basics

Email Marketing is set to be
the most invested channel for
B2B marketers in 2016

• Email marketing is one of the most affordable and
effective ways to consistently engage customers and
prospects.
• For every dollar spent on email marketing, brands
generate nearly $41 in sales, which outperforms
mobile marketing ($10.51 per dollar spent), social
media ($12.71), display advertising ($19.72), and
search engine marketing ($22.24).
Email Marketing ROI

• Resend unopened emails.
• Test delivery times.
• Segment your list(s).
• Cut out words that trigger spam filters.
• Examples; "big bucks," "earn per week," "free money,"
"MLM," "no credit check," and "winning.
• Deliver one clear message.
• Make your emails mobile responsive.
• Studies show 65% of all emails are first opened on
mobile devices.
• Insert a video.
• Include multiple CTAs.
Email Marketing Tips

OnlineVideos
1. By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer
internet traffic. (Cisco)
2. Forrester Research found that videos were 53 times
more likely than traditional web pages to receive an
organic first-page ranking.
• 62% of Google universal searches include video.
(Marketingland)
• You can double your search traffic by having a video
thumbnail in your search result. (IQVisibility)

OnlineVideos (cont.)
• Video is 50 times more likely to get organic pageranks in
Google than plain text results. (Forrester)
• Video search results have a 41% higher click through
than plain text results. (Aimclear)
• People stay 2 minutes longer on your site if you have
video. (Comscore)
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-
network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online

YourVideo Marketing Should Include
1. A publishing schedule that spaces your videos out.
2. Include short form videos
• Vine, Instagram &Twitter
3. Consider tutorials and tips videos.
4. Integrate customer generated content.
5. Always include a clear call to action (CTA).
A video marketing campaign can help your
brand reach new consumers and turn them
into loyal customers.

Examples of SmartVideo Marketing
1. Big budget;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=96&v=7
DdM-4siaQw
2. Not a big budget;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4rFZksiycA

What is SEO?
http://www.lynda.com/Web-CMS-tutorials/What-SEO/74535/82450-4.html

SEO – Know SEO Best Practices
With all content marketing, there are SEO best practices to keep in mind
as you conduct your strategy.
PageTitle
Page titles are the lead element of a WordPress page, and immediately
inform the search engine crawler of what the page is about.They
should…
• Be no more than 65 characters
• Not include duplicate content
• Contain a relevant keyword
• Be URL friendly
Meta Description
Meta descriptions are the snippets that show up in the search engine
listing.They are a short description of the page and should…
• Entice the searcher to click on the link
• Fewer than 160 characters
• Be unique
• Avoid keyword stuffing (write for humans)

SEO
Content
View your pages on the front end to ensure that your content is…
• Relevant, interesting, and readable
• Grammar-oriented
• More than 300 words
• Not focused on a keyword that overlaps on another page
ALTTags
ALT tags were invented so the blind could operate the Internet with a
screen reader.They describe an image so when you hover over your
mouse, the text describes the image.This offers great opportunity to
insert more keywords into your content, but don’t abuse it.Your ALT
tags should…
• Be on every single image
• Be descriptive
• Be relevant
• Be long-tail rather than short-tail

SEO
Check Internal Links
Internal links are your best friend when trying to gain search engine relevance.
The more links pointing to and from your web pages shows that you’re an
influencer and Google will reward you. Each page should…
• Include at least 3 links
• Point to other influential pages on your site and externally
• Have relevant anchor text (keyword inclusion a bonus) for links
‘A recent study ranked SEO as the 3rd most important marketing
priority for startups behind social media and content marketing.’
-TechCrunch, February 11, 2016

Long Tail SEO Still Matters
Unique “long tail” searches
comprise the majority of the
world’s searches, so pay
attention to what you can
optimize on this end.

Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a highly successful
and cost-effective way to attract qualified leads and guide
them through the buyer’s journey.
• There are many PPC options today and not only Google.
• You need a budget.

Leading pay-per-click (PPC) Channels for
Advertisers in the United States as of August 2015

Average cost per click in Google AdWords in selected industries
in the US in 1st quarter 2012, 2013 and 2014 (USD)

Annual revenue of Google from 2002-2015 (in billion USD)

PPC Requires Keywords
• Build and maintain your keyword list.
• In addition to PPC, you need keywords for other
advertising, blogging and social media.
• You want to build a list of words or phrases that are highly
relevant to your brand.
Ask yourself ‘What would someone type into
Google to find my website or solution?’

• Use free tools to find the keywords already sending
traffic to your website.
• Run your core keywords through;
Google’s Keyword Planner Tool
https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
Uber Suggest
http://ubersuggest.org
Keyword Too;
http://keywordtool.io
• The best keywords will be identified by low
competition and high traffic.
Keyword Tools

Web Analytics
• Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis
and reporting of web data for purposes of understanding
and optimizing web usage.
• You need to monitor your analytics to:
• Get clear customer data
• Optimize your marketing activity
• Identify engagement and activity

• The key to measuring success is a through analytics tool.
• Google Analytics is the place to start.
• If you need additional visualization, consider tools like
• Kissmetrics
• Intercom
• MixPanel
• Analytics tools will have you insert a small amount of
code on your webpages, which allows them to track visits
and events.
• Be sure to look for analytics tools that are committed to
preserving fast load times.
Setting Up Analytics Tools

Quick look at KISSMetrics
A fantastic tool for all your metrics
in ONE place.

Quick look at Intercom
Customer intelligence available in real-time.

MixPanel provides fine-grained detail and will even let
you drill down to an individual person’s entire flow
through your website.

Facebook Analytics
• Page Likes: Number of unique people who like your during
the last seven days, compared with the previous seven-day
period.
• Post Reach: Total Reach is the number of unique people
who have seen any content associated with your Page,
including ads, during the last seven days
• Engagement: The number of unique people who have
clicked, Liked, commented on or shared your posts during the
last seven days.

Word of Mouth (B2C)
• 84% of consumers say they either completely or
somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues,
and friends about products – making these
recommendations the information source ranked highest
for trustworthiness. [Nielsen]
• 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key
influencer in their purchasing decision.
[Ogilvy/Google/TNS]
• 68% trust online opinions from other consumers, which is
up 7% from 2007 and places online opinions as the third
most trusted source of product information. [Nielsen]
• 88% of people trust online reviews written by other
consumers as much as they trust recommendations from
personal contacts. [BrightLocal]

Word of Mouth (B2B)
B2B Brands Use Referrals Too!
• 91% of B2B buyers are influenced by word-of-mouth
when making their buying decision. [USM]
• 61% of IT buyers report that colleague recommendations
are the most important factor when making a purchase
decision. [B to B Magazine]
• 56% of B2B purchasers look to offline word-of-mouth as
a source of information and advice, and this number
jumps to 88% when online word-of-mouth sources are
included. [Base One]
Word-of-Mouth Referrals Create Real Value!

Leading Social Media Websites Oct 2015

• Live Streaming
• Brands can connect with their audiences more directly and
interactively than EVER before with Periscope, Meerkat, Blab
and now Facebook Live Streaming.
• Social Publishing
• Social media channels like Snapchat Discover, Facebook Instant
Articles,Twitter Moments are all competing to keep you in
their app by publishing content from major publishers like the
NewYorkTimes,Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and more
directly onto their platform
• Video
• Video is supremely important for marketers to incorporate
into their content strategies. A recent stat claims that by 2017,
up to 74% of all internet traffic will be video and Facebook’s
most recent algorithm update hopes to make video 30% of the
content shown in your timeline.
Facebook recently launched 360 FacebookVideo, a virtual reality-style video ad that allow you to
change your field of view by tapping the screen or moving your phone.
Social Media Predictions

• The Buy Button
• Making it easy to purchase right from your social
media feeds using Pinterest Buyable Pins and
Facebook,Twitter orYouTube’s Buy Buttons.
• Social Search
• Facebook’s recent launch of public search and
Pinterest’s new visual search feature are proof that
social media channels are hoping to give traditional
search engines a run for their money
• Facebook’s index is currently at 3 trillion posts and
growing!
Social Media Predictions (cont)

1. Hootsuite Most popular & tracks conversion & measure results
2. Buffer A smart and easy tool
3. IFTTT Powerful and works with Hootsuite & Buffer
4. SocialOomph Lots ofTwitter features
5. TweetDeck Manage and monitor yourTwitter feed
6. Tweepi Manage and clean-up yourTwitter followers
7. SocialFlow A tool for marketers, publishers & agencies
8. SproutSocial A social media management and engagement tool
9. SocialBro Target, engage and grow yourTwitter audience
10. CrowdBooster Measure and optimize social media
Social Media Mgmt Tools

• Podcasting is a form of deeper engagement.
• In 2006, 11% of Americans aged 12 or over had listened to a
podcast; by 2015 that had tripled.
• Technology is pushing podcasts into listeners’ ears.
• In 2014 Apple put a podcast app on the iPhone.
• In 2015 Spotify and Pandora added podcasts to their music-
streaming services.
• As increasing numbers of cars have wireless-internet
connections, that is increasing the podcast audience.
• In the U.S., podcasts now account for more than a billion
downloads a year.
• Today, more than 75 million mobile users say they listen to a
least one podcast per month.
Podcasting

• It’s easy and affordable.
• The investment is minimal (good microphone).
• You can convert your blogs or other content into a
Podcast to increase your reach.
Creating a Podcast

• Ted Radio Hour
• Ted Talks
• The Twenty MinuteVC with Harry Stebbings
• The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and
Life by Nathan Latka
• DotComSecrets Marketing inYour Car with Russell Brunson
• Starting from Nothing -The Foundation Podcast
• Startup Camp by Dale Partridge
• Seedcamp (a weekly podcast)
• Unbabel
• And so many others
Podcasting – Business/Tech/VC

• The Moth
• StoryCorp
• Serial
• Note to Self
• Radiotopia (Criminal, Strangers, Radio Diaries +++)
Podcasting – Favorites

Marketing Automation
• You have more tools than you know how to use or have
time to manage. Pick smart.
• Smart and relevant content is critical.
• Growth hacking with creativity, analytical thinking, and
social metrics can be very strategic.
• Marketing and PR ideas, tools and technologies are
constantly evolving.

MarketingTechnology Innovation
• 2015: 1,876 companies in 43 categories
• 2014: 947 companies
• The biggest growth area has been with technologies
related to content marketing.
• Focus on your foundation which is getting your core web
experience in place as well as CRM and marketing
automation up to the standards that customers expect.

• Start and focus on inbound marketing.
• Inbound is less expensive than outbound.
• Developing the right content and voice are very
critical to getting your message to the right
people.
• Try and test new tools and channels.
• Execute and execute well!
Inbound Marketing Conclusions

• It requires larger budgets and teams.
• Consider it when you’re maxing out inbound.
• Inbound only can often lead to a higher churn
rate.
• Inbound can lead to a wider spread of leads.
• Outbound is needed to bring your marketing
back to life!
Outbound Marketing Realities
I personally do not feel that ‘outbound is dead’ and for
some startups raising larger funds, it gives them the
opportunity to go for quality over quantity.

Part 3: Social Media Stats/Info

2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Monthly Active Facebook Users
Worldwide as of Q4 2015

• Facebook Live was launched in August of 2015
• Only available to celebrities.
• This gave the app a lot of attention as Meerkat and
Twitter’s Periscope were gaining traction.
• By December of 2015, Facebook decided it was time to
let more people in on the fun and opened it up to a
group of iPhone owners.
• You can use the Facebook Mentions app to stream live
video if you have an Android.
Facebook Live/Livestreaming

• The ethos of Medium is inherently democratic; it seeks
to give a voice to people who have something
interesting to say, even if they don’t have thousands of
Twitter followers, an active blog or friends in the right
places.
• Medium is built to reward content for its quality, not
for the pedigree or popularity of the author.
• Medium allows anyone to publish pretty much anything,
it works hard to guarantee that visitors only see the
good stuff.
• You can sign up for Medium by linking to a Twitter
account, either your personal or company account.
• Medium gives you access to key metrics that tell you
how people are interacting with your stories.
Medium

Monthly Active Int’l Twitter Users

• Live streaming apps are growing rapidly.
• In August 2015,Twitter-owned Periscope reported
that is surpassed 10 million registered account only 4
months after launching.
• Periscope has over 2 million daily active users.
• Consider experimenting with live streaming apps!
Periscope & Meerkat

1. An authentic look behind the scenes.
• Dave McClure talking about changes at 500
Startups
2. Exclusive promotions or deals.
• Offer something exclusive!
• People want to be the 1st.
3. Ask me anything types of live streams.
4. Creative and unique engagement initiatives.
5. In the moment reactive storytelling.
5 CreativeWays to Use Periscope &
Meerkat inYour Marketing

Pinterest
• The fastest independent site in history to break
the 10 million visitor mark.
• Poised to become Madison Avenue’s newest
darling.
• Users show up raising their hand and saying, ‘I’m
in the market to buy something’.
• It is an interesting site for advertising.

Snapchat, launched in 2011 from a Stanford frat boy’s father’s living room
and made its name as a sort of anti-Facebook.
Snapchat

Monthly Active WW WhatsApp Users
April 2013 - February 2016 (in millions)

WhatsApp Marketing Opportunities
• WhatsApp drops subscription fee and opens
marketing opportunities.
• WhatsApp confirmed that money will not be made
from the introduction of third-party ads.
• They will begin testing a tool that enable users to
communicate with businesses and organizations they
want to hear from.
• This could mean communicating with your bank about
whether a recent transaction was fraudulent or with
an airline about a delayed flight
- January 19, 2016 news

• Facebook, for example, is typically powered by your
existing customers who enjoy visual posts like
pictures and video.
• Twitter, on the other hand, is often powered by
potential customers who respond well to links (e.g.
blog links).
• Reddit is often referred to as a very guarded network
and detests spammers, unlikeTwitter.
• Be mindful of the network and community you are trying
to reach.
More on Social Media

How Often to Post on Social Media (Daily)
Source: Buffer

• A social marketer’s secret weapon is his or her social
calendar.
• A solid social media calendar tells you what’s coming up,
which events are important, and what to expect from
past
• Build out the content on your calendar leading up to,
during, and after each major marketing initiative
How to Build a Social Calendar

Digital Advertising Spends
$27.9B on Search Marketing

Google AdWords
• Google AdWords are ads paid by a person or
company so that people will notice their business
whenever they're searching Google.
• You only have to pay whenever someone clicks on
the ad and this is known as cost-per-click
advertising (CPC).
• AdWords is one of the best and fastest ways to
drive traffic to your site and grow your business.
• We could easily spend all day talking about how to
get the most out of Google AdWords.

Google AdWords - Tips
• Don’t target keywords that are too broad.
• Don’t put too many keywords in an ad group.
• Ad groups of just 5-10 keywords to start
• Running ads on the “search network with display
select” campaign type.
• Craft custom landing pages for your PPC
campaigns.
• Add negative keywords (expensive & cheap).
• Use the Ad Rotation setting to truly A/B test ads.
• Measure conversion and track ROI
• Requires that you have Google Analytics set-up

What is Google AdSense?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAceed8s
W1o

Google AdSense
• AdSense is a free, simple way to earn money by displaying
targeted ads next to your online content.
• Using AdSense, you can show relevant and engaging ads to
your site visitors and even customize the look and feel of
ads to match your website.
• Set-up is fast and easy using a Gmail account and your
website,YouTube Channel, blog or other site.
• You then add the code that Google provides once the
website url is validated.
• You select the size and type (text or display) of ad that will
appear on your page and the language.
• You get paid the month after you earn the money after
$100 USD.

Google AdSense -Video
Learn how GoLisbon is using AdSense and
making money!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvUMvABt
Z-k

Facebook Advertising
• Last year, Facebook announced the milestone of achieving
more than 2 million active advertisers on the site and
plans for its new Ads Manager application.
• Facebook launched a mobile app for this growing space.
• It’s SUPER easy to set-up ads.
• Most of their advertisers are small business owners.
That’sYOU!
• Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform, is
integrating advertisements.

Components of Successful FB Ad
• Visual
• Relevant
• Includes an enticing value
proposition
• Has a clear call to action

A Good Facebook Offer Ad
The offer
ad; it drives
people
right to the
ticket buy
option.
Great pix.
Enticing.
Clear CTA.

Facebook Retargeting
Retargeting is a cookie-based technology that uses simple
Javascript code to anonymously ‘follow’ your audience all over
the web.

How Retargeting Works
1. You place a small, unobtrusive piece of code on your
website (this code is sometimes referred to as a pixel).
2. The code, or pixel, is unnoticeable to your site visitors
and won’t affect your site’s performance.
3. Every time a new visitor comes to your site, the code
drops an anonymous browser cookie.
4. Later, when your cookied visitors browse the Web, the
cookie will let your retargeting provider know when
to serve ads, ensuring that your ads are served to only
to people who have previously visited your site.
For most websites, only 2% of web traffic converts
on the first visit so retargeting can really be effective.

A Good Facebook Retarget Ad
The retarget
ad;A good
retargeting ad
acknowledges
that the brand
knows you're
already
interested in
their product.

Twitter Advertising
• Pay only for performance; charged when a user takes action.
• For example, if your goal is to drive leads on Twitter, you’ll
only pay when users submit their information through your
campaign.
• Advertising options:
• Promoted tweets
• Promoted accounts &
• Promoted trends
• Easy to set-up:
• Set a budget
• Place a bid
• Start advertising

• To create a Promoted Tweet, start by writing a
compelling piece of content, such as the
announcement of an upcoming product release,
a sale or an event.
• Include an image or video to drive higher
engagement.
• Promoted Tweets and Accounts cost between
$.50 – $4.00 per engagement, and promoted
trends will cost you $200,000 per day.
Twitter Advertising

• Sell/market the solution
• Too many startups focus on the problem instead of the solution.
Remember, it’s the solution that appeals to potential customers.
• Create a compelling story
• Storytelling is a powerful sales tool!
• How did you come up with the idea?
• Use your story to differentiate from the competition.
• Use all your resources
• Your team is arguably one of your biggest marketing tools.
• Be sure you’re not overlooking any marketing resources, big or
small
Marketing Best Practices

• PR is somewhat of a mystery in many startup circles.
• Ask yourself these questions and build PR into your plan;
- When’s the right time to tell people about your
startup?
- Is there value in getting early coverage on
industry blogs?
- What message is going to resonate with writers?
- How can you maximize PR and translate it into
sales?
- Should I hire a PR firm to help me out?
Startup Public Relations (PR)

• PR boils down to;
• What to say.
• When to say it.
• Who to say it to.
Startup Public Relations (PR)

• Much like a great elevator pitch should lie in the mind of any
startup entrepreneur, a series of engaging positioning
statements is necessary for PR pitches.
• Start by identifying what the product is and how it will affect
others.
• Don’t think of it as selling a product.Think of it as solving a
problem.
• Determine who will care about your product.
Tip: Positioning statements combine these factors into two sentences that are used to
market the product and pitch it to the media.To ensure success, it is important that these
statements not only articulate what the product is capable of, but that they clearly describe
its value proposition as well.
Meaningful Positioning Statements

• Determining who will care about your product or service will
help identify the right writers for your media list.
• Media outlets employ a number of qualified writers capable of
telling the story, but you should be careful and pitch only
writers who will be the best fit for your product. Do the
research!
• Build your PR network before you need them.
• Utilize social media to engage with the writers.
• Set up private Twitter lists of the writers of interest, and
actively respond to them and retweet their posts.
• Relationships with writers are not always easy to build, but the
effort to achieve them can mean great story coverage in the
future.
Identify the Right Writers

• Engagement with journalists prior to reaching
out is key.
• When interacting with writers beforehand, you should
request to send information on a story that may
interest them.
• Work on building a relationship first.Writers may
still decline, but by continuing to build on the
relationship created, you could potentially convince
them to accept in the future.
• Use Social Media to engage and communicate.
Press Outreach

• One of the best marketing techniques online is to
influence the influencer.
• It will take a long time for your startup to develop a highly
influential relationship with thousands of people. Instead,
focus on connecting with the people who already
have that influence.
• Studies often show that a large % of social media users said
posts by brands influenced their purchase behavior
moderately or highly.
Tip: Journalists & community leaders are great influencers. Build your influencer list with a
bit of market research. Start by finding popular blogs and search for your core keywords on
Twitter to see who they are they following? Look for how engaged their followers are and
their follower to following ratio.
Influencer List

• Think long and write short.
• With a blog setup and your PR in full swing, it’s a good time
to kick content creation into high-gear.
• Managing a blog and other forms of content can seem
daunting, but there are some steps that will help with
content creation;
- Creating a topic list
- Knowing the type of content to publish
- Guest blogging
Content Creations

• Before you start writing, create a topic list.
• The perfect topic list is based on your core keywords for
SEO purposes and builds your startup’s credibility with
search engines.
• Brainstorming topic ideas around each of your core
keywords.
• Use your keywords in the titles when it feels natural.
• Add these ideas into a calendar and determine who will
write which and when they will be published.
Creating A Topic List

• Media kits can include the following:
- Media Advisory
- Press Release
- Logos & Screenshots
- Founder Bios & Photos
• When writing a press release, the “pitch” should be included in
the headline and/or the first paragraph of the release.
• Press releases can can a set date and time or have an embargo.
• Have visuals available to accompany the news.This includes
company logo(s), relevant screenshots of the product, team
headshots, etc..
• Consider using a Dropbox folder or Google Drive for all your
press materials which also allows you to track usage and interest.
Creating Press Materials (Kits)

List of theTop Press Release Sites (2015–2016)
• 24/7 Press Release
• Newswire
• Online PR Media
• PRLog
• PR.com
• PRLeap
• PRWeb
Press Release Distribution Sites
http://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/best-press-release-distribution-
sites-top-pr-services/

• Using a free press release site comes with some
limitations and restrictions such as a set number of
hyperlinks
• Most free sites do not provide any SEO benefits.
• If you can afford it, pay, even on a less expensive site.
FreeVs. Paid PR Distribution

PRWeb Basic ($99/distribution)
• Standard plan ($159/distribution)
• Advanced plan ($249/distribution)
• Premium plan ($369/distribution)
• Financial plan ($499/distribution)
Paid Press Distribution Site

• PRWeb is one of the most popular and most established
press distribution sites.
• This PR firm is a leading online news and press release
distribution service that is used by over 40,000
organizations.
• It is also considered as one of the world's most socially
shared news release services.
• PRWeb is used mostly by marketing professionals,
business owners, PR professionals, social media experts,
and corporations.
• PRWeb is best for businesses, agencies, and individuals
that are more interested in gaining the best level of
exposure possible versus the cheapest/free news release
package.
PRWeb

• Newswire is one of the top paid press release sites. It
also has a free plan called Free Online Press. Using
Newswire, you can get your press release published on
7000+ news and media outlets.
• Your submitted press release is syndicated to a wide
range of business, financial, and news outlets, which
increases its online and search exposure.
• You can select from a wide range of plans including a
free plan. For paid plans, you can get 10% off if you pay
for 12 months in advance and 25% off if you pay for 24
months in advance.
Newswire

PR Tool - HARO
Tip: Sign-up for HARO (Help a Reporter Out), a free
service, and you'll receive real-time media opportunities,
straight from journalists on a deadline needing a source.

PR Tool for Twitter - PressFarm

1. You don’t know your startup goals
2. You don’t know your target market
3. You have no idea of the story you are trying to tell
4. You didn’t demo your product
5. You haven’t built relationships with reporters
6. Your product isn’t unique or valuable
7. You don’t ask for people’s opinions on your products
8. You don’t have a targeted list of writers & journalists
9. You don’t know enough about your target PR list
10. Your startup does not have an active blog
11. You are too focused on the most prestigious PR contacts
ReasonsYou Won’t Get PR

• Think about a compelling news story specific to
your product or company.
• Draft a press release announcing this news (400-
500 words MAX).
• Include two quotes in the release (make them up).
• One from your CEO/CTO
• One from your partner/client/etc.
• Share some highlights of the release with the
group.
Part 6 – PR Workshop

• Be newsworthy. Let me repeat this, it
MUST be newsworthy.
• Inform, rather than sell.
• Be timely.
• Include appropriate quotes.
• Have a vibrant or impactful headline.
• Include #hashtags and links.
Press Release Musts!

A/B Testing
• A/B testing is a simple way to test changes to your page
against the current design and determine which ones produce
positive results.
• It is a method to validate that any new design or change to an
element on your webpage is improving your conversion rate
before you make that change to your site code.
• A/B testing is smart marketing and will save you time.
• Almost anything on your website that affects visitor behavior
can be A/B tested.
• Use heat maps as part of the testing, when available.
• Tools: Visual Website Optimizer, Unbounce, Optimizely,
KISSMetrics and many others.

Simply Measured – Social Media
AnalyticsTools

• Success is different for every startup.
• Define success early and define it rigidly.
• Share it with your entire team.
• Stay consistent with your metrics; signups,
downloads, revenue, etc.
• Make sure it is tied to real growth.
• Avoid ‘vanity’ success measurements.
Defining Success

A Last Thought
“As you go the way of life,
you will see a great chasm.
Jump. It is not as wide as you think.”

Wrap-Up & Q&A
What did we miss?
What other questions do you have
today?
Follow me on LinkedIn,
Twitter @sandrasick
Blog: www.sandrasick.com

Strategic Marketing & PR Tips for Startups

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