Why can't earned media make up your PR strategy alone? 

The media landscape is still small. 

We have the "big three" tech trades —TechCabal, Techpoint, and Condia. They’re great for features, founder profiles, and news. But as they’ve matured, you can't take for granted that you'll get puff pieces published. (This is a very good development for the ecosystem, BTW.) You'll need hard news or an unusual angle after the initial pop of press. 

Creator-led media is growing but it's mercurial. TechSafari, Afridigest, Big Tech This Week, and The Flip are bright spots in independent media. It's damn tough to build a media business in Africa on subscriptions alone given low purchasing power. Creators need to look elsewhere to monetize: IRL events, ads, etc. Their bar for earned coverage is high since they're incentivized to push you towards sponsored content. 

Newsjacking or pitching yourself as an industry expert can get you in top tier media like Bloomberg, Reuters, The Economist, etc. But you can’t build a media strategy on that alone. Their core focus isn't tech, so they'll typically write 2-3 startup pieces per year. A few years back, I got a client into a Financial Times Nigerian fintech feature. How did it happen? The journalist reached out to me for sources. Same happened with The Economist. They don't generally take tech pitches unless it's connected to breaking news.

This is why founders need to write on social media. When you’re not getting covered by journalists, you’re still sharing your story. The best part? You can reach your target audience of investors directly. 

Two months back, I was talking to a founder who wants to close his Series-A next year. He told me, “The investors I want in my cap table are already in my network, Partech, TLCom, Norrsken, etc. I want to be top of mind when I go to raise so I can close in less than a month.” 

Many African founders brush aside social media. "I'm too busy" or "I don't want to talk about myself." But as we head into 2026, it's becoming a non-negotiable. 

Victoria Crandall is the founder and CEO of No Filter PR