„Help them to sell more.“W H A T P R C A N D O F O R Y O U R G R O W T H

We create and execute successful campaigns for high-growth tech companies.

3 O F F I C E S · 3 5 C O N S U LT A N T S · 5 0 C L I E N T S

@FelixMergemeier @rumbergtrivago, Box, Firefly, Twino,

FragRobin, Pyramid AnalyticsUdacity, Stack Overflow, 6Wunderkinder,

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Udacity

Anything is game.O N E R U L E T O D AY

Here is what we’ll doA quick look at the things we will get done today

1. The Foundation

2. The Examples

3. Getting to Work

4. Resources

Taking a quick look at PR and what it can do for your startup or initiative

We take a detailed look at different campaigns, why they worked and how we did it.

This is the fun part. We develop story angles and pitch ideas with you

We’ll provide you with tools, resources, contacts and other useful things for your work

Our Approach today

3. Using the Lessons for your Growth

2. Important Lessons & Best Practices

1. PR in General✌

The FoundationA quick look at the driving forces in public releations

and how the media works

P R I N G E N E R A L

There are two key benefits of PR for startups. Their importance to your business depends on the maturity of your company.

Reputation AND Growth

P R I N G E N E R A L

PR Is a lot like datingNo matter if you want to get coverage, convince important people, attract new customers: It’s all about a perfect date.

P R I N G E N E R A L

LONGTERM Commitment!Even though everything is really fast-paced in the tech industry. PR and its relationships

should be treated as something lasting and valuable. You will benefit greatly in the long-run.

L E S S O N S & B E S T P R A C T I C E S

Here are a few things that you should know about the media, their restrictions and what they are looking for

KNOW HOW THE MEDIA WORKS

t h e m e d i a y o u r s t a r t u p

The Media is Connected GloballyWhen we look on a global scale, there is a strong interconnection between

the tech and lifestyle press, dominated especially from the US.

what you HAVE TO tell what the journalist thinks about

The Bigger PictureJournalists constantly compare a single story with underlying movements in society.

This is one of the key differences to marketing and social media.

Click rates

There are two driving Forces for Online JournalismClickrates are the most important metric for online news and have a big impact on

how modern PR is shaped. You create your stories backwards.

EgoThere are two driving Forces for Online Journalism

There is a hidden reason why journalists pick certain topics. If the story is good, it will help them to win against their competing colleagues and let’s them stand in the spotlight.

L E S S O N S & B E S T P R A C T I C E S

Here are a few tips and best practices to help you find the right stories and get you the coverage that you want.

THESE TIPS WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER

Successful StoriesSuccessful stories online fall into one of the two ends on a simple scale.

Everything in between won’t succeed in the long run.

Extreme

You

Opposite

+ =

Collaboration is KeyEspecially in European journalism, journalists often look for more

than one protagonist in a story. You can use this to your advantage.

time

popularity

0 1 2 3 4

WITH A HIP TRIGGER (e.g. Producthunt)

the old-fashioned MEDIA way

There are different Roads to Media AttentionEspecially in Online PR and Marketing there are different ways of breaking through the first phase.Let’s call them „hip triggers“. Successful apps get a strong push from users in the very beginning.

embarassingly simple

The Pitch should be as simple as possibleThere is an ongoing discussion what a great pitch in PR should look like.

We think it’s fairly simple: Have a great story and write like a four-year-old.

WRITE FOR A FRIEND FIRST

Don’t change your language, just because you write.People tend to write differently when they pitch. The best tactic to avoid

that: Write for a friend first and then change the tonality.

People, DATA, Product, Events, Emotions1 2 43 5

There are Five Pillars for Good StoriesEvery story that get’s attention can be attributed to one of five topics.

Steal Like an ArtistSuccessful stories online fall into one of the two ends on a simple scale.

Everything in between won’t succeed in the long run.

Even though most of you work in a fast-paced environment, planning ahead is incredibly important.

Internal newsPublic occasions

Creative stuff

Events that you can attend or speak at?

Plan for the Future

Let’s take a few minutes to get some fresh air. Ask us anything

Quick Break with Q&A

Getting to WorkIt’s time for the fun part. Let’s get started with results for your companies

What are your business goals over the next 12 months and who are you selling to?

1. Business Goals & Audience

5 M I N U T E S

What are most interesting and surprising facts and story snippets about you and your product?

II. Key Facts & Snippets

1 0 M I N U T E S

What are your next milestones and what events do you plan to attend?

III. Roadmap

1 0 M I N U T E S

Pick a medium that gets you attention from your key audience and write a short pitch about you and your company for a journalist that covers your topic.

The Goal: They should either meet with you or write about you.

IV. short description

4 5 M I N U T E S

We get together in small groups and talk about the results.

Split-Review Session

Resources to get better PR results

Ryan Holiday Trust Me, I’m Lying

Austin Kleon Steal Like an Artist

Alain de Botton The News

Susain Cain Quiet

R E C O M M E N D E D B O O K S

R E C O M M E N D E D T O O L S

Ulysses III Blendle@rumberg’s favorite writing app. It can

publish directly to wordpress and medium and is a powerful Markdown editor

The service was originally created to read print magazines online, but for PR it’s a

powerful research tool

Producthunt Nylas N1The best community to find tools that make

your life a lot easier.A very useful Email client that offers email

tracking, scheduled emails, Markdown support, reminders and a ton of other stuff.

R E C O M M E N D E D C O M M U N I T I E S & B LO G S

tim.blog indiehackers.comThe blog from bestselling author

Timothy FerrissA collection of transparent growth stories

from SaaS startups

growthhackers.com digitaljournalism.rocksA large and resourceful community of growth hackers and marketing people

A Slack group full of journalists and people who are interested in the development of

digital journalism

balloupr.com @BallouPR_DE

Linienstrasse 42 10119 Berlin

yasmin@balloupr.com sebastian@balloupr.com