Many great tech startups fail for one simple reason: nobody knows they exist. You might have the best app or platform out there, but it won’t matter if no one’s ever heard of it. That’s why public relations is such a big deal. It lets you speak up in a noisy tech world so you don’t get lost in the crowd.
Check out our fresh guide from the FINPR team - specialists in PR and digital communications. Here you will learn how to build an effective communication and growth tech PR strategies for your business with advice from experts. We spent about 8 years running a digital marketing campaigns focused on demand generation for Web3 and tech startups.
You will learn how to take the right steps so your business will gain more recognition online, convert more leads to sales, and build greater trust among prospects, clients, and investors.
Why PR Matters for Tech Startups
Fast forward to 2025 — where are we today? It’s a lot more competitive nowadays. They estimate there are a hundred million new businesses launched each year. Of course not all of these are startups, but there’s a lot of competition. There are millions of startups around the world, and all of these startups want to be published in the same media publications.
But at the same time, the new digital landscape has also created opportunities. 25 years ago, there were maybe 30 or 40 publications you wanted to target. Now there are hundreds — from up-and-coming blogs to different channels like YouTube, podcasts, etc. There are now a lot more options for startups to actually get media coverage.
Tech startups live and die by how much people know and trust them. If nobody knows your company, it almost doesn’t matter how great your product is.
In fact,
- over two-thirds of startups never provide a positive return for investors, simply never getting noticed by the market.
For a tech startup fighting for attention, PR can be the difference between being an industry success story or just another unknown company.
Brand awareness
It is the first big win that PR offers. A well-planned public relations campaign makes sure people hear about your startup. It could start with a press release announcing your launch or a new product feature, which then gets picked up by industry blogs or even bigger media outlets. It could involve reaching out to journalists or influencers who might be interested in what you’re doing.
The goal is to turn your startup from a best-kept secret into a name that your target customers recognize. PR is basically about spreading the word in a credible way – instead of you buying ads saying you’re great, you have stories in the media or mentions on podcasts that bring attention to you. This kind of exposure puts you on the radar, which is critical in the crowded tech market.
Credibility
Beyond just getting your name out, PR builds trust – two things every new company needs. As a startup, you don’t have years of reputation to lean on. You might not have big brand clients yet or thousands of reviews. PR helps bridge that gap. When people read about your company in a respected publication or hear an industry expert talking about you, it signals that you’re the real deal. For example, a feature story about your innovative solution in a tech magazine educates people about your product and shows that third parties find you legitimate.
Trust is especially important when you’re asking early customers to take a chance on a new product, or when you’re approaching investors for funding. Good PR can put your team’s expertise in the spotlight – maybe through thought leadership pieces or interviews – so that your audience starts to trust your knowledge and vision.
Cost-effective marketing
Early-stage companies often don’t have huge marketing budgets. Traditional advertising can be expensive – buying ad space or running paid campaigns might be out of reach initially. PR relies more on creativity and hustle than big ad spends. Writing a compelling story or pitching a journalist costs time and effort, but not a lot of money. When your story gets picked up as an article or an interview, that’s earned media – meaning you didn’t pay for that spotlight.
For a startup watching every dollar, PR gives a lot of bang for the buck. Of course, PR isn’t completely free, it does take an investment of time and effort – but compared to many forms of marketing, it can reach a wide audience without an enormous budget. This makes public relations a smart strategy to build momentum when funds are tight.
How can startups build media campaigns and PR campaigns which really help them to grow their company?
Building Relationships with Media and Influencers
For tech startups, building genuine connections with journalists and industry influencers can really pay off over time.
We believe that traditional PR is broken for startups. When we say traditional PR, we mean sending out press releases with company announcements like new offices, company launches, product updates, or kind of brand management. These things were designed for large companies. Large multinational companies already have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of stakeholders around the world. People know their brand name. You've heard of them before, whether it's Apple, BMW, or Nike. These are household names.
These companies can send out press releases to the press about little things like new offices, and they get picked up. They listen to them. Also, traditional PR is priced for large companies. A lot of the big PR brands are still charging ten thousand plus dollars per month, six-month retainers, etc. Now we don’t know about you, but we don’t know very many early-stage startups that can afford to pay ten thousand dollars a month for PR. It just doesn’t happen.
- What journalists want to receive from PR (according to Amazon): news announcements/press releases (74%), original research (61%), exclusives (55%), interviews with industry experts (44%).
As an early-stage startup, we would always recommend you to go the exclusive way. Traditional PR is very announcement-based.
If a big company does something quite small, they send out a press release and it gets covered. Startups inherently have fewer announcements. If you look at the product map for an early-stage startup, they’ve probably got one or maybe two announcements in one year.
Sending out a wide press release, if you have a story that is not super big – lots of time media is not just gonna pick your story up automatically. So it's much better to build a relationship to a few journalists and offer one of them the story exclusively.
Understand how journalists think. Research who writes stories about your domain or area of business. Follow them in their channels. If it's internationally, Twitter (X) or LinkedIn is a really good way to follow your journalists. Some are, of course, not active in any of those media. Then follow their stories, read up on what they have been particularly interested in lately.
If a reporter who covers your field knows you as a helpful and insightful source (and not just someone who always wants something), they’re more likely to take your calls or include your perspective in future stories. So, be authentic and engage without always pitching. Sometimes that means chatting at an event or commenting on their posts to add value. When you do have news, those prior friendly exchanges can make them more receptive to your pitch.
The same goes for online influencers or niche bloggers.
- Find those whose audience matches your customers – maybe it’s a YouTube tech reviewer, a LinkedIn thought leader in your space, or a popular podcast host.
- Reach out with a personalized message and propose something that benefits both of you: perhaps an early trial of your product for review, or a guest appearance on their platform.
- Make sure to respect their style and independence (nobody likes a hard sales push).
If they genuinely like your product or story, their endorsement will be much more authentic and valuable.
Always keep in mind that these media and influencer folks are people too – treat them with respect and find ways to help them, not just get what you want. Over time, as you build a reputation as a startup founder who offers great info and collaboration, you’ll find it easier to get coverage.
Social Proof: Let Your Users Speak
When you’re a newcomer, getting others to vouch for you is one of the best PR moves. This is where social proof comes in. Social proof is basically evidence that other people trust or value your product – it can be testimonials, case studies, user reviews, or endorsements. For a tech startup, cultivating social proof early can significantly boost your credibility. Think about the last time you tried a new service – did you check if anyone else was using it or recommending it? Most of us do.
So, encourage satisfied users to share their experience. That could mean asking for a quote you can put on your website (“This app saved me hours on bookkeeping – it’s a lifesaver for my small business”, says Jane from Company X), or a review on a platform like G2 or Capterra if you’re B2B, or even simple star ratings in app stores.
Case studies are powerful public relations tools. These are slightly longer stories (maybe a blog post or one-pager) about how a customer used your product and what results they got. Media sometimes like these because it gives them a success story to mention if they cover you.
And you can share them directly with potential customers or investors to say, “Look, this isn’t just theory – real people are benefiting.” If you don’t have paying customers yet, you can use beta tester feedback or pilot program results as social proof. Even numbers like “500 users signed up in our first week” show that others find your startup worth paying attention to.
(And yes – awards and recognitions count as social proof too. If you win a startup competition or get accepted into a well-known accelerator, don’t be shy about announcing it. Those achievements signal to the public and investors that others see potential in your company. Just avoid spamming minor accolades; share the meaningful wins that truly add to your credibility.)
Thought Leadership and Industry Presence
To really establish your startup as a serious player, you’ll want to go beyond just promoting your product – you and your team should share your ideas and expertise too. This is often called thought leadership. It means positioning yourself (as the founder or a key team member) as an expert in the field.
- High-quality thought leadership can neutralize low brand recognition. 53% of “hidden” decision-makers in Edelman report say if the content is strong, brand fame matters less.
When people see your name popping up in industry discussions, offering valuable insights (not just pitching your product), it builds a reputation that benefits your startup in the long run. For example, perhaps you run an AI startup – you might write an op-ed or a LinkedIn article about the ethical use of AI, or how small businesses can use AI. You’re sharing knowledge or viewpoints that matter to your industry. If done right, folks will start recognizing your name and associating it with competence and innovation.
There are various ways to do thought leadership:
- One is by speaking at events or webinars. Tech conferences often have panels or talks, and while speaking at one can be intimidating for a newcomer, many events love having startup perspectives. Even virtual webinars or Twitter Spaces can be outlets to share your take on industry trends or challenges.
- Another way is to pitch yourself as a source for articles. Services like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) connect journalists with experts – you could get quoted in an article about your industry if you keep an eye out for relevant requests. Each time you’re quoted or you publish an article with your byline, it’s a PR win that doesn’t directly advertise your product but still elevates your company’s profile.
- Being active on professional social networks like LinkedIn or X (Twitter) is part of this strategy too. Share your thoughts on news in your field, or comment on others’ posts with something insightful. Over time, you might gain followers who are exactly the people you want to reach (journalists, industry peers, potential clients).
In fact, thought leadership content can attract customers and investors by building trust – when your target audience sees you frequently providing expert commentary, they assume you really know your stuff, which makes them more confident in your business.
Creative PR Moves and Stunts
PR stunts or campaigns
Sometimes, doing something a little unconventional can earn your startup a ton of attention. These creative PR stunts or campaigns can be risky, but when they align with your brand, they help you break through the noise. A famous example: when Slack (back in its startup days) took out a bold full-page newspaper ad in the form of an open letter to Microsoft. It playfully addressed their new competitor and got everyone talking about Slack. Now, you might not have the budget (or nerve) for a full-page newspaper ad, but it shows that creative thinking can set you apart.
You can try smaller creative tactics too. Maybe host a quirky online challenge or contest related to your product. For instance, if you have an AR app, you could run a social media challenge for users to share their coolest AR creations, with the best one getting a shout-out or prize. Or perhaps create a piece of content that’s unusual and shareable – a funny video, an infographic, or a meme that ties into your startup’s mission. These things blur the line between public relations and marketing, but the aim is the same: to get people voluntarily spreading the word about you.
Leveraging events and timely moments
If there’s a tech event or a trending topic relevant to you, piggyback on it. Some startups do “newsjacking,” which means injecting themselves into a news cycle with a clever angle. For example, if there’s a big conversation about cybersecurity due to a recent hack, a startup in that space might publish quick tips or offer expert commentary that media can use – suddenly the press is mentioning them in that context.
The key with creative PR moves is to make sure it still ties back to your message. A random gimmick can get laughs, but you want people to remember your company along with the laugh. And always have a way to capture the interest you generate – if a stunt drives a bunch of people to your website, be ready to engage them (maybe a special landing page or sign-up offer related to the campaign).
Creative campaigns can be a breath of fresh air in your public relations plan, as long as they fit your brand and have a purpose beyond just “going viral”.
Measuring PR Success
Finally, the last point — which for us is the most important — is startups need to use PR to meet their business aims. Startups cannot afford to spend one, two, or ten thousand dollars a month and get no clear ROI. They need to scale their companies. They need to see that they’re actually getting direct gains from doing these things.
What could these company objectives be? These could be things like raising investment, hiring developers, or simply growing your user base — getting more people to actually use your app or your service.
Nowadays we have the benefit of being able to use metrics and analytics. Twenty years ago, if you got a big media result, it was quite difficult to note the ROI you got from that because it wasn’t online. As such, it’s more accessible to startups. Digital PR is a template designed for startups to build narrative, legitimacy, brand awareness, and a customer base through effective media coverage.
Nowadays we can follow everything with data. For every single marketing and PR campaign you do, you can actually directly see how much ROI, how many leads, how much traffic you’re generating with these stories.
- One obvious metric is media mentions
How many articles, interviews, or blog posts featured your startup this month or quarter? And importantly, where were they? A piece in a major publication is usually more impactful than a blurb in a tiny blog (though both have value). You can list these and even track “potential reach” (how many readers each outlet has) to get a sense of exposure.
- Watch your website traffic and user engagement around the time of public relations events
If you send out a press release or get a story published, do you see a spike in site visits or sign-ups? Tools like Google Analytics can show referral traffic from those articles. For example, if 500 people clicked from an online article to your site, that’s a clear result of PR. You can further tie public relations to outcomes by adding a simple “How did you hear about us?” question when users sign up – you’d be surprised how many will say they saw an article or news piece.
- Monitor is your social media buzz
Are more people talking about your startup or sharing your content after a Public relations campaign? Mentions, shares, and follower growth can be indirect indicators that your story is resonating. If a well-known influencer or journalist tweets about your announcement, that’s a big win you can note.
So track what you can, celebrate the wins (big and small), and use those insights to refine your public relations strategy. If you notice that certain types of stories or outlets give you the best results, double down on those. PR is as much art as science, but a bit of measurement will make sure your efforts are moving you in the right direction.
Concluding Thoughts
PR might be a lot of work, but for tech startups it can pay off massively. Effective PR for a tech startup comes down to a simple idea: be proactive in telling your story. If you don’t tell it, someone else might tell it for you – or worse, no one will tell it at all.
These were some of the most vital elements that we think you should know and understand before you get started. If you are more curious about public relations, then head over FINPR blog and get to know more about it.
