These 2 startups are doing PR right. Here’s what you can learn from them.

“Going global” is a phrase that is thrown around in Asia quite a lot. For the sheer amount of times I’ve heard that phrase, very few startups actually manage to expand successfully out of their home country. However, when I come across a startup that has the capacity to do so, it’s kind of like finding an oasis in a desert: you sit there and marvel at it, then wonder if you’re hallucinating, then you proceed to tell the rest of the nearby village about it.

At G3 Partners, as one of the mentors for the K-Global Startup Engine program, we worked closely with Korea’s top 40 early-stage startups. Our role was to refine the pitches and to equip them with the tools to provide basic public relations (PR) for their startup.

Ordinarily, PR and marketing is not a strong suit of Korean startups from what I have seen (even in native Korean). But these two startups really stood out to me from a PR perspective.

Soundmate

Facebook posts that clearly speak to their target audience.

For countless times, I’ve recommended Korean startups to steer a Facebook or Twitter page into a more natural tone (by that I mean, looking like a person’s profile, not a rehash of the website material in boring text). Portraying a fun personality (using pictures and videos are great ways to do that) is important too. So when I came across Soundmate’s Facebook page, I was impressed.

Soundmate is a music searching platform that helps users find music using phrases and emotions, while connecting them to others who have the same taste in music. The platform’s social media aspect allows users to capitalize on the built-in search engine to find and engage in communities by sharing, tagging, recommending, and commenting on music they enjoy.

If you’ve built a social media platform and your own social media pages aren’t up to par, I’d seriously question your startup’s right to exist (or whoever is in charge of marketing). One look at Soundmate’s Facebook page clearly shows they know how to engage their audience.

As a platform targeting college students, Soundmate’s page is all about user interaction. Posts speak to users on the site. They share media about events they’ve organized, they engage with users, and they provide new updates on the platform. If you’re targeting college students, you’re far more likely to get traction using and speaking language and media they’re used to, clearly a point Soundmate understands.

Taggle

Simple, easy to understand, and straight to the point.

I’ve seen Taggle pitch their startup about five different times. Every time, the pitch is simple, easy to understand, and efficient.

Taggle lets users reorganize their mobile galleries into an efficient and easy-to-search platform. So instead of going through dozens of photos organized into albums, photos on Taggle can be tagged, deleted, and locked using a swipe-based user interface.

A great website is a key element of public relations. It communicates characteristics about your company, and presents a great first impression.

How to become an oasis