Stop Ignoring Trade and Niche Media: Why Your Obsession with “Top Tier” is Holding You Back

Advice

Founders, if you think the only PR that matters is TechCrunch or WIRED, we need to talk.

The Red Flag We Hear All Too Often

“We only care about top tier media.”

There it is. That one sentence, delivered with the confidence of a founder fresh off their first funding round, is our personal red flag during startup kickoff calls.

We get it. You want the big names: TechCrunch, WIRED, FT, Sifted, BBC News. They’re shiny. They scream legitimacy. They’re screenshot-worthy dopamine hits for the whole team.

But here’s the truth: if you’re early stage and only aiming for top-tier media, you’re setting yourself up for frustration, wasted time, and missed opportunities. Not because top-tier media isn’t valuable (it absolutely is), but because it’s not the only game in town. And if you’re ignoring everything else, you’re doing PR wrong.

Why Top Tier is Rare (and Should Be)

Let’s address the elephant: top-tier coverage is incredible. It’s validating. It opens doors. But it’s also rare, selective, slow, and unpredictable. Top outlets have limited real estate and face an insane volume of pitches. Unless you’re announcing a €10M+ round or launching something wildly unique, they’ll likely pass. These stories can take weeks or months to land, if they land at all. And you can’t control timing or outcome because it’s earned media, not paid.

So if your PR strategy is “TechCrunch or bust,” you’ll spend most of your time bust.

Trade and Niche Media Are Not Second-Class

Trade and niche media aren’t the B-team. They’re the most overlooked power move in early-stage PR, and here’s why they actually matter: they’re targeted, speaking directly to your customers, partners, and future investors. They’re respected within industries like fintech, cybersecurity, healthtech, or AI, where niche publications carry serious weight. They’re attainable because journalists covering verticals are more likely to engage if your startup has a solid story, even without an eight-digit funding round. And they compound, with visibility in respected niche outlets often catching the eye of bigger media doing their research.

In other words, they’re not your backup plan. They’re your runway.

Want Top Tier? Earn It Over Time

Top-tier coverage isn’t a lottery win. It’s a ladder, and every step you climb makes you more visible, credible, and newsworthy. That ladder often starts with a mention in a key trade publication, then a thoughtful guest article that shows you understand your space, followed by a regional profile telling your founding story, a podcast appearance that humanizes your team, and a social presence proving you’re alive and actively building something interesting.

All of this builds reputation, which builds trust, and that’s what top-tier journalists actually care about. They Google you. They check your past press. They see who else is talking about you. It all matters.

Real Talk: Most Startups Don’t Have a Story… Yet

If you’re a first-time founder with no previous media coverage, no standout traction, and no differentiator beyond “we’re building in a hot space,” then you’re not ready for the big leagues. Yet.

That’s not shade. That’s reality. The good news? You can change that. The better news? We help startups do it every day.

But you need to be realistic. Unless you’re doing something utterly groundbreaking (and can prove it), you’re not going to headline a tier-one outlet fresh out the gate. And that’s fine. Media visibility should track with your company’s trajectory, not race ahead of it.

What to Do Instead

If you’re early stage and serious about long-term PR success, here’s the actual playbook:

Prioritize relevance over prestige. Target the outlets your actual audience reads, especially publications that get repackaged into investor newsletters or founder WhatsApp threads.

Build your founder brand. Start sharing insights, not just startup updates. Write thought leadership pieces, offer expert commentary, post on LinkedIn like a human being instead of letting AI do the talking.

Create a consistent drumbeat. One-hit wonders don’t scale. A cadence of relevant placements beats a lone splash every time.

Make yourself journalist-friendly. When journalists research you, they should find a solid press page, social proof, and a few good stories. This makes them infinitely more likely to engage.

Stop asking for guarantees. If you want media coverage with 100% certainty, buy an ad. If you want credibility, understand that PR is a longer game.

Final Thoughts: You’re Not Too Good for Trade Media

Some founders think engaging with trade or niche outlets is beneath them. They’re spectacularly wrong. Those are often the very stories that build reputation, create momentum, and ultimately get you into the rooms (and onto the pages) you actually care about.

PR is about sequencing. Respect the process. Make the most of every opportunity. And stop chasing unicorn coverage when you haven’t even walked the path.

If you’re ready to start building a real media presence instead of fishing for unicorns, hit us up. We’ll help you map the journey.

More final thoughts: Exceptions, exceptions, exceptions

A needed disclaimer. Of course, it’s still possible to land top tier as an early stage company. It’s not that we want to deter you from trying – it’s that for the vast majority of new startups it will be a waste of energy and resources. However, if upon thorough assessment of internal and external circumstances, you are convinced of your newsworthiness for top tier, you should definitely give it a go! However, we advise to get outside support, or that of an expert. One’s baby is always the prettiest, after all.

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