

Grew SaaS into sustainability, work with Johns Hopkins and Cornell, never on TC - mvkel

Last year, we launched a SaaS service that is quickly taking over the university space. It gets students more engaged on campus, ultimately resulting in higher retention and streamlined workflows for staff.<p>Despite our best efforts, our press coverage has been minimal.<p>What are some tried and true marketing efforts that a company like ours can take advantage of to help in this effort? Our service is in a space TC (and others) have demonstrated interest in before, so it's definitely a problem on my end.<p>I'm doing it wrong. Help me.
======
ActVen
Here are few methods that I used for my company before it was sold last year:

Always Make Direct and Personalized Pitches to Publications: Approach the
editors directly with a compelling message about what your company is doing
for their readers. This should be personalized to their audience and you
should take a look at a few past issues and reference articles when
appropriate. You can take a look at their editorial calendar and see if your
product fits into any upcoming issues as well.

Work from Niche Publications to Mainstream Publications: Pitch editors at
niche publications that your buyers read. We used the following as stepping
stones that eventually got us calls from CNN/WSJ. Start with well written non-
promotional blog entries. Reference these blog entries when you approach your
niche publications as evidence that you have something important to say to
their audience. After success with some niche publications, use those articles
to get you into a broader publication.

See if Member Association Relationships Make Sense: We sold about 20 percent
of our services to schools. We were able to arrange an exclusive endorsement
from some of the leading national educational member associations. We set up a
deal where they showcased our product to their members, and it created a
revenue stream for the association. This allowed us to gain further exposure
within the media, and gave us a very powerful endorsement during the selling
process.

I hope these are useful to you.

P.S. I looked at your site and it seems like you have a great product. Feel
free to contact me directly if you have any other questions.

~~~
mvkel
Thanks very much for your thoughtful response. Two of your three points were
part of our strategy, we just haven't been executing as consistently as we
should. Your point about member associations is well put. I'll definitely take
a look at it!

