Public Relations (PR) is an essential part of a business’s marketing playbook. You may think that it is exclusively for big business organizations, multinational corporations, and major brands. That’s understandable because you may assume that only big companies have the resources and brand equity to execute a PR campaign. But you are mistaken. Every startup must establish a sound public relations strategy as an effective way to drive growth.
The Engine of Free Publicity
The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as a “strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” In short, PR is about catching people’s attention, earning their trust, and getting free publicity as a result.
In the past, engaging in PR meant building relationships with influential journalists and media celebrities, and getting them to publish or air your company’s marketing content. This practice was often costly and required a team of copywriters steadily churning out press releases or engaging the services of a PR firm with extensive media contacts. But that was in the past. This is now and the new rules of public relations have changed the game so that startups can also play.
From Zero to Growth
Established corporations carrying major brands leverage their brand recognition using PR campaigns to keep themselves at the top of their customers’ minds. The challenge for startups is that they begin with zero brand equity and no brand awareness. But this does not mean that they cannot engage in PR. On the contrary, this is precisely why they MUST get into it. But the focus for the startup is quite different from that of the established companies. The PR strategy for startups should include the following objectives.
- Attract top talent.
- Educate target audiences about their products, services, and the benefits that these offer the users.
- Acquire new customers.
- Position the startup and its products in the marketplace.
- Raise funds to build or grow the business.
At the end of the day, accomplishing these and other similar objectives helps the startup realise growth.
New Rules, New Tools
You can thank the Web for leveling the playing field and making it possible for startups to play the PR game. The Web’s reach is enormous. It allows you to target specific market segments and niches. Whereas old PR mass media (newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio) are only capable of one-way communication, the Web lets you easily solicit individual feedback from targeted audiences. Before, press releases were written to appeal to journalists, who then had the power to decide if the copy you submitted passed their discriminating scrutiny. If they deemed your copy worthy of being printed or aired, then it stood the chance of reaching your prospects from among the publication’s massive audience base.
But now, the Internet, social media, and other wonderful tools available in the online ecosystem have all but eliminated the media middlemen. Using these tools with the right techniques, you can communicate directly with your target audiences. Oh, and did I mention that many of these tools are available online for free?
PR Action Plan for Startups
So, now that we’ve taken away your excuse for not engaging in PR, here’s what you can do to promote your startup and commence its growth spurt.
- Clarify your Value Proposition. Declare as clearly and unambiguously what your company stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves your customers’ business.
- What are your goals? You can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t know where you want to go. Keeping your goals clearly in sight lets you focus on initiatives that give you the outcomes that bring you closer to your objectives.
- Develop your buyer personas. If you don’t put yourself in your buyers’ shoes, your press releases and media relations programs will express what your organization wants to say instead of what the buyer wants to hear. Prospective customers don’t really care about what you’re about. They want to know what’s in it for themselves.
- What do you want your buyers to believe? Now that you understand who your buyer is and what they seek, think about what you want each buyer persona to believe about your organization. What messages do you use to reach out to them?
- Develop your content. Switch to your publisher’s hat at this point. You need to develop an editorial plan. Your content must consider and consolidate your value proposition, goals, customer personas, and marketing messages into engaging ideas and words.
- Where are your buyers? What media do your audiences prefer? Adapt your content format to fit their favourite communication channel.
- Measure and improve. The only way to get better is to measure your results and make the necessary adjustments.
Oh, and one final tip that is especially important to your startup’s PR campaign: seek first to understand rather than be understood. Understand your buyers and their needs, rather than bombarding them with what your products and services are all about. Your venture’s growth depends on it.
Written by our Head of People, Mustafa Shreet