So many of the founders we talk to have the same target list: TechCrunch, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and maybe even Wired if they're feeling ambitious.
It's not a bad list, but it's also the exact same list every other startup in your space is working from, which means you're all pitching the same handful of journalists at the same time, hoping to land very similar stories.
Here's what most founders miss: their buyers aren't reading TechCrunch. They're reading the publications that cover their specific industry, the ones that speak their language, track their competitors, and break down the exact problems their companies are trying to solve.
That's where trade publications come in, and that's where a lot of early-stage PR strategy falls apart.
We've written before about why industry trades deserve a starring role in your media strategy, but we want to make it concrete with two real examples from our own work.
When the Right Publication Isn't the Biggest One
On a recent episode of The Press Playbook, our Senior Account Director Briana Trulear broke down how we helped XCaliber, a healthcare AI company, land its first major placement after coming out of stealth. The outlet? MobiHealthNews.
Not a household name, but for a company building an agentic operating system for healthcare providers, it was exactly the right publication to go after. MobiHealthNews reaches the decision-makers who are actively evaluating healthcare technology, not just general readers scrolling articles. The placement introduced XCaliber to the people who could actually become customers, partners, or validators.
The pitch worked because it was built for that outlet's audience: specific about the funding, clear about the product's impact on clinical workflows, and backed by a customer willing to speak on record. That last part matters more than founders realize. Trade reporters want proof.
The lesson: A placement in the right trade can do more for your pipeline than a mention in a publication ten times its size.
Trades Unlock Coverage You Can't Get Any Other Way
Here's another one: Carbice, a deep tech company working on carbon nanotube thermal technology, had two major partnership announcements timed around Computex. Our team pitched Tom's Hardware, a publication that lives and breathes PC components and hardware innovation.
The result: Tom's Hardware, PC Gamer, PC World, Digital Trends, and more than 50 pieces of coverage total, generating hundreds of millions of impressions.
That kind of volume generally doesn't come from a single TechCrunch story. It comes from understanding that hardware journalists have their own ecosystem, their own events, and their own trusted outlets. Carbice didn't need to be in the WSJ to win. They needed to be in the publications that hardware enthusiasts, procurement teams, and OEM partners actually read.
What made it work was relationship-building done long before the announcement. The team had spent months briefing reporters at Tom's Hardware, building familiarity with the technology before there was even news to share. By the time the Computex announcements dropped, the coverage was a warm story landing in the inbox of journalists who already understood why it mattered and who they were.
Three things trade publications give you that top-tier press often can't:
- Reporters who already understand your category and don't need a primer
- Audiences that are actively in-market
- Repeated opportunities to show up, not just a single shot at a big story in a top-tier publication
Where to Start
If you're building your media list, the question isn't just "what are the biggest publications in tech?" It's "what are the publications my buyers, investors, and partners read every week?"
For a healthtech founder, that might be MobiHealthNews, STAT News, or Healthcare IT News. For a deep tech hardware company, it's Tom's Hardware, IEEE Spectrum, or EE Times. For a fintech startup, it's American Banker or Fintech Futures. Every vertical has its ecosystem, and showing up consistently in that ecosystem builds the kind of credibility that top-tier journalists notice when they're looking for sources.
Trades are a strategy, and a strong one at that.
If you want to see exactly how we approach specific placements, including the pitching, the timing, and the relationship work that goes into each one, The Press Playbook breaks it all down episode by episode.
And if you're ready to build a media strategy that actually reaches your buyers, let's talk.
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