[egusa]

podcast speaker here: the problem with releasing content ahead of a finished product is that when you first contact the media about the launch announcement, this is your startup's introduction to the market. a journalist will google search your company to see if there has been any prior coverage. if, for example, a small blog covers your company, and 3 weeks later you reach out to TechCrunch, a journalist there will see the earlier coverage and may pass on covering the announcement (as the "launch" of the company was earlier covered). i am 100% for content marketing, but prior to the launch this is something a company should be more careful about. i hope the above makes sense.

[slgeorge]

Totally agree with you Egusa. Perhaps the key thing is to know which publications/sites you are targeting and what counts as 'news' for them. Traditional news outlets (eg TechCrunch or InfoWorld) only want something that is substantive and new - the end result. Content campaigns are often more informal - about sharing the journey.

A content campaign aims to inform a much wider base of people. It's best done ahead of any specific traditional 'PR campaign' for a launch. An easy way to do this is to create two lists of contacts: for your content campaign you might target amateur bloggers, industry influencers and your existing advocates.

[a_shane]

Exactly. Knowing the type of audience you want to reach before making a PR move of any sort is crucial, and can vary widely depending on the type of product you're developing/the kind of company you are/the kind of coverage you want.

[a_shane]

I should probably clarify my earlier comment, maybe an example will help: sending out a PR release for a game that's in development to larger tech news sites, like TechCrunch, is a good strategy because companies can build on the momentum of that initial announcement. It's definitely something that shouldn't be taken lightly, though, I totally agree with you there.