Launching your technology company in the Netherlands any time soon? It might be a little overwhelming, in a country where you do not understand the language (Dutch, what we call Nederlands - “Netherlandish”) and once you understand things are a little different when you are trying to master technology PR in the Netherlands.
To make it work, make sure you’ll follow these tips. You’ll find technology PR in the Netherlands to be an easy to overcome task. If not, feel free to reach out and I’ll run you through it.
1) Localize your PR content
Although you might anticipate that the majority of the Dutch speak near perfect business English, it might be wise for many reasons to translate your content and localize it. Our news media and tech blogs are extremely fast in bringing the news. However, it also means they are very efficient in the writing and producing of the publications. Hence, well-written, easy to understand messages work best!
2) Press releases are not dead!
It’s a long-winding discussion in the Netherlands, are press releases dead? It was a big discussion almost ten years ago (read my blog in Dutch) and it still is. But every single time we contact a journalist about a story, they quickly reply by asking: “Do you perhaps have a press release for us to have a peek at?” From our findings, a short but easily comprehensible press release (in Dutch, of course) works best. Make sure the paragraphs are not too long either. One page in Word will suffice.
3) But press conferences are!
Yes, the press conference as a way of doing technology PR is as dead as a doorknob in the Netherlands. Unless we’re talking Google, Amazon, or another really massive company, for your technology PR, it doesn’t make a big impact to hold a press conference. When I was a blogger and a journalist, the last press conference I attended to was the sale of Hyves to Telegraaf Media Groep. That was all the way back in November 2010… In rare circumstances, mostly in times of a crisis, a press conference would work. Otherwise, I would suggest skipping it altogether.
4) Meet-and-greet
We get asked about meet-and-greet’s a lot. Sure, they are a great way to build a relationship with journalists. Although we should note that Dutch journalists and bloggers tend to be very pragmatic and straight-forward. Meaning, they sure like to have coffee with you (coffee is in fact our national beverage, as I pointed out in this story about doing business in the Netherlands). But, here’s the but, make sure you bring value to the table. An exclusive angle or a breaking news story would be recommended. Always remember, Dutch journalists are looking for a story.
5) Bring on the visuals
We live in the era of visual content. Just look at social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. It’s very much the case for media too when it comes to technology PR. Even the big newspapers have small budgets for imagery. So bring on the images, team shots, visuals, etc. Especially the online media need them for featured images, and some won’t even consider publishing your news without a picture.
If you are looking for more insights in how to do technology PR in the Netherlands, have a look at the workshop I gave at Let’s Startup 2019 in B. Amsterdam, the largest startup-hub in the Netherlands, below. Shoot me an email if you have additional questions.