Are you planning to sell your products or services in Germany? Fantastic! There’s great opportunity for you here. It’s the largest European economy by gross national income and a market of 82 Million citizens, after all.
But there’s also a few pitfalls you may come by when launching into Germany – especially when it comes to public relations and getting traction in the German media. We’ve seen many foreign, often US-based companies try to succeed here with the same approach they used to apply back home – and struggle with the cultural differences.
So, here’s a small list of things you should consider before kicking off in Deutschland:
1. Relationships first, press releases later
If you’re completely new to the German market, you’ll probably want to first build awareness for your brand or product. Getting an email address list of the journalists in your field and sending them two press releases a week won’t do the trick. Actually, they might consider it spam and that’s not where you want to be. The first step to awareness in Germany is building personal relationships with the key journalists. Once you’ve met them face-to-face and told them the story behind your business, you have a foot in the door. Everything else like news announcements, product reviews or company features comes after that. PR in Germany is a lot about the “R”.
2. Localise, don’t just translate
There’s many European countries and most of them have their own language, just like Germany has German, which is also spoken in Austria and parts of Switzerland. Assuming English as the international ‘lingua franca’ will do can be fatal. Make sure that all your PR content – and your agency if plan to hire one – speaks German (or the respective language of the country you’re targeting). And that doesn’t mean just translating press releases literally. You’ll have to genuinely localise and adapt to what content and form the local media expect to get.
3. Be prepared to travel
Germany’s media landscape is the odd one out in Europe when it comes to its geography. There’s no “media hub”, no one single city you would visit to meet all the key publications like London in the UK or Paris in France. Not even Berlin, the country’s capital. This has a lot of practical ramifications when it comes to PR in Germany. Travel is inevitable. For example, for a press tour to the most important editorial offices it’s not unusual to invest two or even three days to meet journalists in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. However, it’s worth it. Why? See item 1.
4. Dare to speak your mind
We’ve helped many companies set foot into the German market and the best PR successes were achieved for those who told a good story. Company spokespeople who dared to have a strong opinion on their market and a truly exciting vision for the future of their business, were the ones that got even the most sceptical reporter to write a story. Skip the legalese, ignore the FAQs, scrap the usual corporate speak and tell your company’s story and what your plans are for Germany. Make sure the editor understands what’s smart about your business. German journalists love smart people with a strong opinion.
Of course, there’s much more to know about PR in Germany, so this is just for starters. If you’d like to learn more and discuss your PR strategy – be it new or existing – in more detail, just call us. We’ll be happy to cast more light on how Germany ticks PR-wise.
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