s11s

Happy to have a Brainstorming session on this.

I was in a regional marketing role in my previous org and now I am building my regional marketing team. Would be good to discuss what's the latest

do you have a central content team that has liaisons with regional marketing pods? or do you have individual content members reporting directly to regional heads?

We have regional marketers as ICs with all other functions central

interesting! we have regional marketing heads that lead pods for each region

each pod has field marketers and campaign managers, and the pod liaisons with a central content team and a central product marketing team

i see a lot of overlap in your sheet and the way we work, barring a couple of differences:
• upselling/expansion is completely owned by the customer success function, with little to no dependancy on regional marketing
• regional marketing and regional content explore market maturity, competitor landscape, product resonance, and identify gaps to fill with diff types of content (like case studies, webinars, ebooks, etc) – regional marketing is a stakeholder while ownership lies with the regional content
would be happy to know how your plan works out for you in 2022 :)

As a content person, I feel the best model would be having separate content pods for each region. Having local writers will help capture the regional flavor better. These pods could report into a central marketing function. My two cents.

All of them fit the bill. Have extensively used Airmeet, can recommend.

By interactive, do you mean just speaker&lt;&gt; attendee engagement? Or attendee &lt;&gt; attendee engagement as well?

There might be a lil bias here - but <https://www.airmeet.com/|airmeet >does come with all the features you'd need, attractively designed and easy to use. The features promote attendee engagement and networking, much like an in person event.

Happy to get in touch personally to chat more on this :slightly_smiling_face:

Thanks <@U02TTEFFU6B>, <@U02V8K0FVMH> will check out.

<@U02VC7G2RHS> Both. We run zoom breakout sessions post our webinars so looking for a platform that can offer that experience with a better UX. 

<@U030KNVH5FS> Love the enthu, have spoken to an Airmeet sales person, so all good :) 

Has anyone tried Zoom events? 

Currently exploring and was surprised to find that it's offering most features that Airmeet offers at the same price point ($99/month) but has a capacity of 500 attendees compared to Airmeet’s 100. 

<@U02V2SRR9J9> Then something like an Airmeet, Hopin, Bigmarker, etc. might work. Do check out if the solutions integrate with your existing tech stack.

Zoom events isn’t available in India atm, unfortunately.

Airmeet &amp; Zuddl is quite expensive IMO

I hear you <@U02V9A0470S> Hopin’s free option looks so tempting!

Hi All - Since a lot of folks have joined in over the weekend. Here are the rules of the community
<https://s11s.slack.com/archives/C02PS0CGPU1/p1642512874006100>

It depends on what kind of PR you're looking for.
An agency will most likely be able to help you with any kind and contacts.
A consultant would be more cost efficient but won't have the same range of capabilities as an agency. If you're good with getting your hands dirty, this is the way to go. They can help you with direction but you'll have to be more involved than with an agency.
As for HARO, haven't used it personally but from what you say, I don't see much value in it. You can get that info looking at past releases/articles yourself.

I can put you in touch with someone at MSL, a PR agency that AB InBev frequently works with.

Thanks, Devansh! That was insightful. It would be great to connect with the contact you are referring to. I would like to learn more about the PR landscape.

Depends on the maturity of your org. No point having an agency on retainer when you're pre-series A, unless you're super bankrolled at Seed. Also you may not have enough news to justify having an agency on retainer. You'll get some one to do this for you at 50k INR a month or so, but that'll be generic af. India lacks deck tech PR firms. Anyone worth their salt will not be less than 350000 a month. 

For younger SaaS companies it is recommended to get your own hands dirty - it helps to fine tune the pitch. OR get an agency on a project basis only. 

Individual consultants have not worked out for us, again because of the lack of scale. Cision HARO is good when you have a news a day. Else it's a tool you'll buy and not end up using. 

Most publications list journalists and their beat. So it's never an issue. 

PR is Persistent Reachouts more than anything else. 

That was very informative, Ketan. I agree with your points. My experience with PR is not extensive but through my brief engagement with it, I have arrived at the same conclusion as you. I think that the first thing an organisation should look at having before getting into PR is whether they have enough news-worthy content/updates to share or not. If that criteria is not satisfied, the whole thing ends up being generic.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Appreciate it.

Super share <@U02VBNKU9T6> helps me as well.

Ask them to sign up at <http://s11s.club|s11s.club>?

Hey <@U02UVRH01GX>! Welcome to the group!

Been dancing around the platform for a while now - so far, it's decent to quickly find the best content pieces around a topic. Saves me time to sift through Google!

<@U02PDC4883V> yeah so I've started the bonfire :see_no_evil:

Well from a messaging perspective, I find services to be highly challenging. There's always room for innovation in brand positioning. Product messaging is more direct and appealing. (where's the fun in that?!) Having said that, services can sometimes get highly tricky especially when the company is unsure of its current capabilities and possibility of scaling these / acquiring newer capabilities in future. In this scenario, Marketing couldn't have a tougher time - what awareness do we create when the brand isn't well aware itself? My two-bit.

<@U0306HUGT6C> can give some excellent pointers here - we've been having this debate for almost a decade now:grin:

Bit off track .. think of the plight of a marketer who is asked to message services offering as a product. The hook is to get in more leads, imagine how the funnel ends up. Bloated at the top nothing comes out at the bottom

Good time to explore synergies between "Product as a Service" and "Service as a Product" <@U02UJBHEQVA> 

Every company has a product. The software is the product. The product enables you to provide a service. Simple enough, no? :man-shrugging::skin-tone-2:

When it comes to positioning services - I think the key is focus -outcomes / capabilities / category. In the software services industry, this approach has helped companies establish immediate value.

What is your use case? Shopify usually does not have customer support. I run a Shopify store (actually US based) but happy to help if needed.

Not customer support but for hiring (I'm looking out). I know all the relevant folks but have no contacts in India!

Ah then i will not be of any help here! Sorry!

Hey <@U02V0DRPCTW>,

Other important queries such as clicks, impressions, CTR and position can also be included.

Thanks for replying <@U02UTKLHSTW> - For all the above mentioned sections, I am using these metrics. But I was looking any other section I should include.

I am using Google Search Console API. I have a product (<http://www.datamyth.com|www.datamyth.com>) where you get Digital Marketing reports with automated analysis &amp; insights. I use oAuth to get the user data to get the analysis. I am trying to add new integration (GSC), but the sections seems to be less &amp; not comprehensive. So I was checking.

Other than Performance metrics, you can also add Coverage metrics data. That is also very insightful.

Thanks <@U02UTKLHSTW> - Yes it will make a big difference. I will add it to the list.

Best ever <@U02TTEFFU6B> 

<https://twitter.com/RocketlaneHQ/status/1483821563195850753?t=EDn10ikLeUIRhPVlfd2_rw&amp;s=19|https://twitter.com/RocketlaneHQ/status/1483821563195850753?t=EDn10ikLeUIRhPVlfd2_rw&amp;s=19>

This is so good. Absolutely loved the hat tip to Girish

Not strictly SaaS but loved Replit's music festival poster-ish announcement creative.
 <https://twitter.com/amasad/status/1468980146602319874?t=M-GlsdiCtq9tPzOuuflEug&amp;s=19|https://twitter.com/amasad/status/1468980146602319874?t=M-GlsdiCtq9tPzOuuflEug&amp;s=19>

Each episode in the podcast is incredible value. 'I'd pay for that' value.

The beauty of marketing. Every function can be an independent org and yet when they are together it feels/seems just more complete

Communication remains central to the whole value exchange phenomenon between customer and product, so not sure what benefits a separated function brings. I guess It is which poison should marketing be drinking more during what stage of the product and organization maturity.

Interesting. <@U02U94HSBV4> when they sit outside the marketing org, what becomes their job role that is sans-marketing?

Content should sit within Marketing but as a separate pod with a head of content and a full-fledged team. The head of content can report into the Global VP, Marketing (not the regional Marketing head).

Content must be a part of marketing itself IMO. 
It can still play an integral role in whipping up org-wide content assets with consistent (not linear) messaging and storytelling. 

I believe Drift has this where the content team is standalone and partners with other key depts including marketing, sales and CS teams. The truth is everyone needs good content but the content team's metric for success gets limited once you put them within just marketing.

Content should be a standalone function that empowers every department within the organization.

It really depends on the larger org structure. If you've got Growth that's separate from Marketing, User Engagement/Retention would need content but would come under Growth and not Marketing.
There could be different content teams for different products or parts of the funnel, but eventually content is in some way or the other a part of marketing at large.

So ideally I think it should be Growth on top. Marketing below that. Content below that. Content for product will also report into this structure and be a lateral team to product.

&gt; so not sure what benefits a separated function brings.
<@U02UZ4T10PQ>: in line with what aditya said, i think putting content under marketing restricts you from thinking beyond “conversions”, and once you scale up to have a dedicated branding function, the limitations put up on content force the function to strictly think about MQLs or pipeline revenue

not saying these arent important metrics and not denying that at the end of the day every functions north star metric is revenue, but imo, for marketers, these are the only metrics we’re concerned about and are willing to dedicate our resource to

&gt; what becomes their job role that is sans-marketing?
<@U02TTEFFU6B> i think when you have a central content function, it becomes easier to align roles with other functions

for ex, lets say your gtm strat is plg and you need some crazy ass copies on your in-app nudges that drive prospects to the conversion points in the journey, then the content pod working on this will have goals aligned to improve these conversion rates

lets say your sales enablement team says they need better pitchdecks and battle cards, then the content pod working on this will have goals that improve the conversations sales is having

so, does a central content function give you the flexibility to align activities better versus a content function that is purely driven by marketing KPIs? maybe? maybe not? :p

&gt; Content should sit within Marketing but as a separate pod with a head of content and a full-fledged team.
<@U02UG2L0DHQ> would love to hear your thoughts on why you feel so!

&gt; So ideally I think it should be Growth on top. Marketing below that. Content below that
<@U02UPB390E8> interesting perspective to look at this from a layered approach, but does this restrict how content works with other functions, say, customer success? also, if you were to scale and bring in a dedicated branding/PR function, how would this layered approach apply to that function?

I don't think it should restrict anything. It's just about managing flow of communication. That's what the managers/leads/heads of each vertical need to facilitate. So there could be different people within content working on specific tasks with specific other lateral teams.
But I think I've phrased it incorrectly. Marketing would have brand and content as separate teams under it. It could have a separate team for digital, offline, PR. All those heads report to the CMO.
The growth team would have strategists who would flow info to Marketing and maybe content. Product works with growth and growth works with marketing. CGO and CMO work in sync. This could also be just one person who leads growth which includes marketing. Quite a bit depends on the size of the company and which phase it is in.

<@U02U94HSBV4>
I think each dept should have a content person (HR, sales etc.) outside of the content team within marketing. Because each content team has very different goals and instead of one team catering to different goals - each team should have their own content person who understands that team’s focus and function well. The different content people can liase from time to time to ensure messaging is consistent.

<@U02V2SRR9J9> <@U02UPB390E8> problem doesn't stop with hiring a content person within each team. It only starts there. Every team head gives their own direction and the content goes for a toss. There are hardly any inter-team connects or alignment in place in most companies. A central structure for content works the best. It also puts the spotlight on content's own agenda which is thought leadership and maybe even seeing content as a revenue channel (for example Stripe Press).

But ya we're too caught up in following the rut so we'll leave exceptional ideas for companies like Stripe and Drift to execute :smile:

&gt; maybe even seeing content as a revenue channel (for example Stripe Press).
SF+ has entered the chat

<@U030KNYRKBJ> Classic example of Po-tah-to // Po-ta-to here. Because even if there’s a central structure for content, they’d have to liase with the different teams to tailor the content to the HR/Sales goal etc. Inter-team connect is absolutely essential in both cases. There has to be a healthy-mix of thought-leadership + achieving functional goals in whichever way you do it - centralised ownership or content POC in each team.

<@U02V2SRR9J9> where's the space for content's own agenda then? Suffice to say content is then an enabler for other teams - the _circuit_ to everyone else's _Munnabhai_?

Also inter-team connects become necessary when there's a central body but is not true in the other case when teams have their own functional units.

<@U030KNYRKBJ> Isn’t that the job of the content team within Marketing?

<@U02V2SRR9J9> the head/VP of marketing has enough thorns on his head already. the topmost priority will always be revenue (and hence leads) Stuff like Stripe Press, SF+ would've taken eons to be prioritised.

you need a VP-Content (and hence their team) to prioritise long-term thought leadership. leave them for a few quarters to experiment and build something really good of long lasting brand worthiness. :slightly_smiling_face:

<@U030KNYRKBJ> Firstly, WHOA - why so much hate against head of marketing bro? :smile:

Secondly, mature heads focussed on brand building would prioritise thought leadership (if they have enough resources, of course). See, you can have a VP of Content if you’re a huge enterprise - in which case you can leave them alone for a few quarters too.

But for startups, it’s just not practical. And lastly, if you’re writing thought-leadership content that’s not even looking at revenue a year down the line, should it really be part of a business? Why not open a blog/newsletter instead? :woman-shrugging::skin-tone-2:

<@U02TTEFFU6B> would love your inputs here. I know we’ve been talking content &amp; content strategy for a while now :slightly_smiling_face:

So how design has moved out of product org to have its own entity, same will happen for content?  

<@U030KNYRKBJ> - This is assuming that the Head of Marketing only looks at revenue. If the content team is matured enough, then I am guessing the rest of the marketing team will be matured enough. The same inter department that worked out of a central content function can work within Marketing (assuming maturity has set in and Head of Dept is not called for every collateral review)

<@U02V2SRR9J9> haha :smile: no hate I head marketing at xto10x, would be hypocritical.

Also this discussion takes a turn when you bring the company stage in picture. I can fully understand a startup not prioritising content fully.

<@U02PDC4883V> I was speaking generally, ofcourse there are good heads of marketing that give the content team enough leeway to experiment. My whole point to this discussion is content needs more priority and space in a company - make it work anyways you want, but having a L1/L2 leader for it will help wayyy more!

Oh yes - that I agree. You have to hire heads/vp of subfunction as the company scales, else everything is just revenue, revenue, revenue!

&gt; And lastly, if you’re writing thought-leadership content that’s not even looking at revenue a year down the line, should it really be part of a business?
Absolutely!

I subscribe to Kyle Poyar’s substack but will I go to OpenView asking for funds just because of his substack? No.
I actively listen to Drift’s Insider Podcasts, but will I pay for a Drift subscription just because of their podcasts? No.

One example in contemporary context - I feel Toplyne does a good job at their content. The founders themselves (thereby avoiding a vp/head of content requirement right at the start) write in-depth articles and use that as a growth lever (someone from the toplyne team can add more here). You can ofcourse use newsletters, ebooks, or any other channel that works for your brand. They are still a startup but leveraging content in a manner that works.

Yeah I agree. I'm saying that there should be a central content team with resources in it working on different projects for different teams in the org. But they still report to the head of content. So there's a uniform direction/vision for content but customized for each project/case. Marketing folk may have revenue targets but content drives comms. So channel may be defined by marketing but content is well, content. Easier said than done tho :joy:

<https://s11s.slack.com/archives/C02PS0CGPU1/p1643274924696749?thread_ts=1643102650.117200&amp;cid=C02PS0CGPU1>

Pretty curious - Generally this is with a performance marketing / demand generation person with Prod Marketing helping out with the content and structure. 

I generally look for folks who have worked with CMS, understand how to work on server issues and understand javascript.

We got the initial work done with a specialist design agency. Post that we are getting it serviced as part of our contract with our digital agency enabling us to get professional services. However, we trained internal team on ouR CMS (hubspot) to brief external agencies and freelancers well and do things like seo, drip, workfkows and non coding work in house. Paralelly we try to work with freelancers for new features.

<@U02PDC4883V> that's why marketing ops should also be sharing inputs on website changes/updates as they have a technical know-how, better translate that into dev language resulting in faster and better execution

<@U02UZ4T10PQ>  Worked it out with the tech team, now have a spoc for all website changes while we resourced designs from an external agency that works on a project basis. We did use upwork a couple of times to complete stuff faster. Quick and effective.

Screenshot_20220125-175645_LinkedIn.jpg

Thanks for the shoutout <@U02U6FZRHRV> 

Really makes the effort worth it.

I speak for <@U02PDC6B0HH> <@U02PDC4883V> and <@U02ULN6EFNV> as well.

Assuming this is relevant experience and not total work ex.

As a SAAS Marketer, when you have to aggregate influencers, who are the most influential b2b influencers you would aggregate for your brand to have larger use case before going too niche ? (Ex. Academicians, retired ceo's, research bodies, industry associations leaders). Any agency aggregating b2b influencers?

Seems a bit dramatic to me. The 'taking money from all VCs' strategy was genious though.

I'm loving the reply section of the thread though. People are so divided. I think I'm going to analyze who are against and who are supporting.

you dont get to be at the top w/o being unethical

God, we missed this! So excited to talk shite and SaaS.

I like the jingle, <@U02PDC4883V> :notes: 

Great session folks :clap:
Looking forward to the next! :slightly_smiling_face:

Loved the discussion guys!
To <@U02TTEFFU6B>'s point on content distribution and how to think about it... I was listening to this Pipeline episode where Ross Simmonds actually does a crash course on content distribution in the first 8 odd mins or so. Maybe you will find this useful.

Some of my takeaways were -
→ Every content asset you create must have an intent/goal (think - investment portfolio)
→ Content distribution strategy should align with the intent of the content you create
→ Distribute value through content, don't only seek promotion
→ As a marketer, being able to define your own taste and approach in content marketing is important
 <https://pipelinepodcast.drift.com/public/13/Pipeline-e517a8b2/011859bb>

So awesome of you guys to join the discussion. Super pumped about what's planned for the next sessions.

Super thanks to everyone who tuned in. Do share your feedback about our jingle :joy:

Thanks so much Rapti. People didn't care about 'Pre' seed. TC folks told us nothing less than 30M they'd cover. 

Forbes sort of confirmed and backed out.

YS guy down with COVID.

It was a nightmare. :sob:

So relieved with the results.

Indeed. Just loved how you utilised each hour from 11 to 6 PM. 
I have a question, does founders brand can really impact the company brand?

<@U02U1DQD6BH> that was not fun. :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: Achu like all founders was impatient and trigger happy.

Controlling it was like a guardian in a park.

image.png

<@U02TTEFFU6B> I personally loved the piece. Shared it with my team haha. But being someone who is trying to get around PR, it was really valuable to me.

Thansk so much <@U02UTKLHSTW> this makes me so happy

Founders expectations are one of the biggest challenges that need to be managed during such announcements. 

Google Calendar + Notepad haha. Definitely need to explore more but so far it's worked out well. Simple enough.

• Black coffee
• No meetings in first half combined with 2-hour pockets of deep work
• try to replace most meetings with async chat
• prioritising daily/weekly tasklist
• focusing only on high quality output by automating routine tasks through zapier or delegating tasks to other team members
• dedicating time everyday for reading
• clean eating as much as possible 

Slack + Momentum chrome extension + Confluence + spotify 

Slack+Discord+Notion+Trello 
Also, Google Sheets! 

Nothing beats the feeling of crossing things off a notebook and doodling :)!

When I don't have my notepad around, I use Evernote, Sticky Notes, Word to make my checklists.

Slack for communication and favourite playlist on Wynk/Spotify to keep me pumped!

Slack + Notion
Although I've been finding it difficult to take quick notes on Notion especially for my to-do list. Seems like a lot of you use Todoist. Gonna give it a try

Am I just blind or does Discord not have an explore option on the mobile app? :unamused:

Image from iOS.jpg

He's the Naval for product. Read timeless advice, write in a language that people in a particular context would understand, be the boss.

neither FLoC nor Topics API (really API :face_palm: ) seems to be tested or tried.
First party data FTW

Don't believe in variables, though I've been part of companies that do have it. For content marketers they are tied to new leads MQL pipeline (mostly first touch attribution). The company decides the total lead number based on historic data and % completion of it flows into the % payout for variable. Usually 10-30% of overall CTC.

tbh I feel this is a sham but to each its own.

Adding on to it I've also seen content marketers getting a share of leads pipeline count coming from social ads/organic.

pipeline rev (or a related metric like MQL/SQL)

if your role has more to do with branding/PR within content, then maybe pipeline generated from brand searches

i strongly agree with <@U030KNYRKBJ> that variable is a sham and is just a way to bloat your CTC

if you want to incentivise someone for doing a better job and going over and beyond, introduce commissions, not variables :shrug:

why would anyone add a variable component to a content writing role is totally beyond me? are you expecting to use content performance metrics to tie back to decide how much to pay the content writer? why complicate a simple function?

There is no variable as such and it is fixed. However, in recent times i have had to push the founders a bit to add a layer of bonus variable for getting leads and converting leads as content ROI always gets questioned by CFO's. This needed a constant effort to make content marketing accountable by helping them with tools of measurement and lead gen. Ex. Putting gated content, CTAs on blogs, drip email responses, responses to case study downloads, etc. This helped create an element of variable over and above fixed CTC thus making Marketing contribute to about 10% revenue (and covering the marketing budget spends). Next 3 years target will be similar. This did empower content marketing to get a better bargain and equity against sales and i could see the team feel more respected and listened to than 1 year ago.

iirc capterra had an initiative where they shared an amazon gift voucher for every customer who shared a review on their website for your product

this was a very successful campaign cause i was able to drive more than 65 reviews in less than a week for rocketium

im not sure if they still run such initiatives, but you can probably check it out

as rahul said, at moengage we do g2 video testimonials with the help of the cs team by leveraging the relationship they’ve built

<https://endorsal.io/|https://endorsal.io/>

<@U02PDC6B0HH> is this similar to <http://reviews.com|reviews.com>?

I haven't tried endorsal yet. There are similar tools available though to make life easier. The question was around putting testimonials on multiple platforms. So guessing a tool is what you're looking for

<@U02UGB8DERY> <http://reviews.com|reviews.com> looks like is for services

I think the reviews we put on G2 and Capterra are proprietary to the platform and a tool won't be able to replicate the same review across the platforms. Not sure.

My bad it was <http://reviews.io|reviews.io>

1. Run G2/Capterra review campaign (email) based on your product NPS
2. Website Testimonial / Case Study - Run with CS with a POC from marketing to create the draft and collateral 

<@U02UZQJMP8R> Apart from mainstream methods like gift cards, try leveraging personal video like ( <https://www.bonjoro.com/> )

You can get CEO, to record videos and send a personalized videos to customers

This is time consuming, but will work

“Convert, Retain, Grow” :joy: <@U02PDC4883V> 

:joy: :zipper_mouth_face: :joy: :zipper_mouth_face: :joy: :zipper_mouth_face: :joy: :zipper_mouth_face:

find creative ways to give them money in return of reviews

<@U02UZQJMP8R> During my SAP days, we ran a contest with sales teams (by region) to get testimonials. And created a framework which is self explanatory and can be circulated to customers easily. And the hook here is, we only used customer quote with their image to get foot in the door (easy to execute and build it further later). Also leveraged SAP partner network to reach more customers (of theirs). Though this isn't leveraging tech  various platforms. It helped building numbers in a short period of time with less efforts on case study details (ultimately, every one what's to know who is using it and what they have to say. And that's what matters)

<@U02UA6D90G6> what incentives were attached to the contest? was it monetary?

<@U02U94HSBV4> it was gamified and run as a contest. There was a score board by region and pushed respective regional leaders to drive their teams to get more stories.

Thanks for the insights, guys!
<@U02PDC4883V> we’re doing something similar. Just wanted to cross check if there was a better way where our clients didn’t have to individually add reviews on each platform. I guess it’s platform-wise campaigns ftw.

I’ve worked with <https://www.adfactorspr.com/|Adfactors> PR and have had a good experience with them so far. 

Worked with Adfactors. They will get you at good places, no doubt. You have to push them a bit since they work with a lot of clients.

One thing to notice is:

Adfactors are good for embargo pitching and getting your story in mainstream media and popular places. If you are looking for more thought leadership focused PR, would recommend someone else.

Also evaluating Adfactors… but we are looking at Talent Branding, Events, Speaker Opps and more… anyone using them for these? What has your experience been like? 

Been with Madchatter. Smaller, more focused and absolutely result focused. Please let me know if you want a warm connect. 

I have worked with Value360 previously. They are alright. Their overall network is good enough for you to get your announcements out in the mainstream and get thought leadership opportunities with tech specific or industry specific offshoots of the mainstream publications mostly. They also helped us in curating a list of events and such. Though, they'll need you to push them in the right direction quite a lot and the network they have specifically with senior journalists is not that great I believe. Plus, before engaging with a PR firm, what I have learnt is that the first thing to assess is if you have or are going to have enough newsworthy announcements/updates that need to be/can be shared publically, especially with regards to investments, acquisitions, revenue growth, client impact/cases, hiring, launch of employee centric policies etc. If you don't have enough impactful updates lined up, you'd have to resort to thought leadership articles mostly and that isn't going to amount to much, other than just acquiring low-impact media/brand mentions.
Have heard good things about Adfactors as well. We went ahead with Value360 since their fee and retainership period were significantly lesser. 
Hope this helps.

Talk to Ketan Jain / Sonia Mansata / Hitesh Garg at Archetype <@U030ML6FL00> . They manage a few founder brands and are one of the few firms who understand tech. Let me know if you want an introduction. 

<@U02VBNKU9T6> please introduce me. :innocent:

<@U02UQBQQBPD>  I would like an intro to Madchatter too. :blush:

<@U030ML6FL00> Hola! For events, panels and speaker opportunities it is best to work with CII, FICCI, NASSCOM via sponsorship and editorial or do barter deals with media companies where you can own the media. We work with Perfect Relations. We have to push and constantly think of ideas at our end to get them done well &amp; keep buzz alive via authored articles, topical dates like budget expectations, participation in media awards, etc. It works well when the PR teams image executives push your product only and as many others said when there are a pipeline of announcements and updates.  I also think it works best to have a PR agency based out of Mumbai and Delhi with mainstream media access.

Inserting CTAs between content (ahrefs style) still works. So does revamps which helps with the freshness angle.

You should've been on our Twitter Spaces on the 26th. We discussed this for an hour.

<@U02TTEFFU6B> is there any way to get a recording or a transcript?

ungate all content, the future of content is ungated