Attn: African tech startups

Public service announcement

PR is NOT marketing.

THREAD

As a publicist, I find that many startups confuse the two.

Now, to be fair, there are some blurred lines (for example, they're lumped together in a budget).

But, PR tactics are very different from marketing. /2

PR isn’t a lead gen tool. It won't get your startup customers.

It’s impossible to tie media coverage with uptick in customers b/c sales cycles are too long. One B2B client’s sales cycle is over a year!

Beware any publicist who promises you otherwise. /3

A quick rule of thumb.

Marketing sells products and services.

PR sells reputation & helps startups connect with investors.

You don't "sell" your startup to an investor the same way you’d sell an app or widget.

Audiences differ. Tactics differ. Language differs. /4

Advertising is the lifeblood of marketing: Billboards, TV spots, Facebook/Google ads.

Qualified leads and conversion rates. Marketers crunch numbers and peer at analytics.

But PR works with compelling ideas, data points, and moving stories. /5

That’s how startups stand out from the noisy crowd and get noticed by investors and international partners.

Not ad copy. /6

Marketers buy ads; publicists handle the media.

Journalists and editors hate self-promotion. They won’t publish product plugging pitches.

They need a bigger WHY: your startup is indicative of a trend, first-moving. Or, the founder has a noteworthy story. /7

To grab the media's attention, you need big, sweeping, exciting ideas. That's what PR is all about.

They can take the form of: hot takes, op-eds, blog posts, Twitter threads, or candid personal essays about the (often brutal) day to day reality of an entrepreneur in Africa. /8

When you consider hiring a publicist, please remember this:

PR aims to educate and inspire. Not to sell.

For the full post, check out my newsletter, All Killer/No Filter and subscribe! https://nofilter.substack.com/p/pr-is-not-marketing