Founders of start-ups might be forgiven for regarding PR as something of a luxury purchase, a service afforded only by larger, established businesses. In the early days of getting up and running, this might look like a “nice to have” for which the budget is just not there. But, nothing could be further from the truth; PR is essential to start-ups and the sooner firms can start thinking about it and allocating resources to it, the better. Bill Gates once said, “If I had one dollar left, I would spend it on PR.”
Why PR?
Introducing yourself
As a start-up you need to communicate who you are, explain your offering and reach out to potential clients. To grow your business, you need to increase your visibility and keep repeating your key messages to establish traction in your marketplace.
Getting your voice heard in the media (both traditional and social) is a great way to establish your credentials.
Raise your brand awareness
In a crowded market this can be challenging, but PR provides a multitude of different ways to keep your brand front and centre. This is also necessary for making an impact with potential investors as well as clients.
Build your reputation
Clients will come to your firm if they have heard of you and feel they can trust you. Enhancing your credibility within your industry is an important way to strengthen your reputation.
PR provides the means for individuals to share their opinions and showcase their expertise. By establishing themselves as thought leaders through media engagement, professionals in your firm are contributing to your firm’s reputation.
Let PR do your advertising for you
Advertising can take up a massive chuck of your budget, but PR done well will encourage others to do your advertising for you! A word of warning however, journalists are unlikely to use pure sales material, they will want a genuine newsworthy angle to write about, so be creative and come up with some innovative or topical “hooks”.
PR enhances marketing activity
Although PR is different from marketing, the two disciplines compliment each other. For example, a mention in a reputable publication (or on their website) will drive traffic to your website and give your SEO a boost.
It may be that PR can achieve your business goals more effectively than an expensive marketing campaign, for example by getting staff to post about the firm on their own LinkedIn pages, reaching out to different networks.
Your story might be your greatest asset – don’t waste it!
Clients don’t just buy services; they are establishing a relationship with the person providing that service. It’s therefore important for start-ups to connect on an emotional level and PR can help them do that.
This starts on a personal level with journalists or influencers as you build a relationship and trust with them. Think about what will be of interest to their audiences and try pitching your story from that angle.
As an evolving business, there will be many opportunities along the way to capitalise on stories with an human interests. Start-ups and their founders all have a story to tell – why they started their business, what drives them, how they did it, what challenges they overcame? The growth of a firm, with new personnel coming onboard, new funding secured, new services and products launched, these are all easy ways to garner good PR.
Some final thoughts….
While start-ups might be reluctant to take on the additional costs for PR services, getting some specialist input early on should be thought of as an investment which will save time and money down the line.
Even if you can’t afford a contract with a PR agency, paying for some ad hoc advice from a PR consultant to help plan a strategy or to provide some training on DIY PR might be all you need at this stage. But make sure you have thought about your goals and what you want to achieve beforehand. These will obviously differ depending upon what stage your firms is at. For example, do you want to increase your market share, publicise a new product or simply improve your website traffic approach?
PR is a long game, so put the foundations in place for success as early as you can.
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Need some help with PR? Feel free to drop me an email to arrange a 30 minute complimentary call or take a look at some of the packages I offer law firms, accountancy practices and other b2b businesses.