Updated: Feb. 17, 2026

We usually handle PR for scale-ups, market leaders, and hidden champions from the German Mittelstand — but our roots are in start-ups! And because we still have a soft spot for them, we’re happy to share our PR basics.

Is your company really taking off and do you want everyone to know about it? Then, of course, you need great PR that gets you plenty of attention.

Here’s how to pull off a successful PR launch in five steps. And don’t worry: it’s not rocket science.

Step 1: Define Your Goals and Target Audiences

Nothing works without goals in life. The same goes for communications. Before you kick off your PR efforts, you should be clear about what you want to achieve with your message — in other words: Are you looking for customers who find your product interesting and, ideally, want to buy it? Are you looking for the right talent to join your team? Or do you want to win over investors for a new funding round?

Once your goals are clear, your target audiences naturally follow.

Step 2: Find the Right Media Outlets and Journalists

The next step is to find the right media outlets. What does your target audience read, watch, or listen to? Two examples: Investors mainly turn to startup and business media to discover interesting companies. Potential customers for your mobility start-up, on the other hand, are more likely to be found in automotive trade publications or general-interest media.

If you’re not very familiar with the media landscape, thorough monitoring can help. Find out which topics different outlets cover. Have they written about similar business models before? What types of stories do they come back to again and again? Ideally, keep track of all relevant channels in a target media list — and, of course, you can also add all the outlets you absolutely want to get your story into.

That brings your research almost to an end — but not quite. Look at which journalists within those outlets are the right fit. Read their articles and get to know their preferences. That’s the only way to build stories that are relevant to them — and therefore have a real chance of succeeding.

Step 3: Build the Right Stories

You know your goals, target media, and target journalists, and you have a rough idea of what you want to say? You could simply write a press release now and blast it out to a mailing list, hoping that someone out there will pick it up. My advice: Don’t! That’s not how PR works today — and, to be honest, it never worked particularly well, even if you may have heard otherwise. Newsrooms receive hundreds of emails a day with impersonal press releases that are usually overlooked or deleted immediately.

Journalists are looking for interesting stories that offer value to their readers. So think about what story you can tell about yourself and your start-up. Ask yourself what’s interesting about your company: What problem are you solving? What’s your background as a founder — what have you experienced? What’s your vision? What news can you share about your product or a funding round? What insights can you offer from your team? Are you an expert in your industry or on a particular topic? Share your knowledge in a guest article or give an interview. Do you have access to a wealth of data or impressive company figures worth showcasing? Journalists love interesting facts and compelling graphics!

The key is to build a story that supports your goals while also fitting your target media and journalists. It’s better to create several tailored, individual stories than to try to reach a broad range of media outlets with one generic story.

Step 4: Pitch Your Story

To get your story across effectively, you should sum it up in a concise pitch. Here’s a checklist of what makes a good pitch:

• Relevance → Is the topic genuinely important to the journalist?
• Timeliness → Is it connected to a topic that’s currently relevant?
• Short and to the point → Nobody likes long emails!
• Clear format → Are you clearly pitching a guide, profile, interview, etc.?
• Personalization → Are you tailoring the pitch to the journalist?
• Commitment → Are you suggesting a specific time to continue the conversation?
• Trust → Can you mention well-known clients, impressive numbers, or other proof points?
• Low effort → Have you made it as easy as possible for the journalist to turn the story into an article?
• Urgency → Are there compelling reasons to cover the story now rather than later?

In our experience, it’s best to call journalists directly to pitch your story idea. That way, you can respond to questions immediately and get instant feedback. Journalists are usually short on time, so get straight to the point. Ideally, start the call by referring to an article that’s relevant to your pitch.

A personal conversation also helps you build a relationship with the journalist on equal footing — and gives you peace of mind that your pitch hasn’t simply disappeared into their inbox (remember those hundred emails a day we mentioned earlier?). If the journalist seems indifferent, simply ask whether there’s anything missing that would make the story more compelling. The personal connection should never be missing from an email, either. Journalists who realize you haven’t taken the time to understand their work are unlikely to take the time to understand yours.

Here are some key principles for your phone pitch:

• Do you have a minute?
• Personal and tailored
• A conversation, not a monologue
• Don’t give up too easily
• The right mindset
• Commitment
• No advertising

Step 5: Follow Up and Review

Once you’ve reached out to all your target journalists, it’s far from over. It often doesn’t work on the first try. Especially when you get an indifferent response on the phone like, “Sounds interesting, send me an email,” it can take a second call to win the journalist over.

It’s also important to remember that newsrooms are home to many different editors and journalists. If things don’t work out with your first-choice contacts, there are usually two or three alternatives who might find the story interesting, too.

However, if your story is met with rejection across the board, it’s time to investigate why. These questions can help:

• Are my target media outlets the right ones?
• Are the contacts really the right fit?
• Does the format I’m offering make sense?
• Is my email pitch good?
• Is my phone pitch good?
• Is the timing right?
• Is the story actually interesting?

Conclusion

So, the key ingredients are a well-thought-out goal, the right media outlets and journalists, a strong story, and a convincing pitch. If you then stay persistent — our beloved journos are always busy, after all — you’ll have an article! Easy, right?

And if you’d like to see, read, or listen to more on the topic of PR, check out our PR Academy, webinars, whitepapers, and podcast.