PR is an essential part of any marketing strategy. Most often, when founders consider PR, it’s grounded in the notion that you have a product/service/idea that you believe the press should write about. When a marketer thinks about PR, it’s about added reach to deliver on goals. Why is this important? Because the first thing you should always be thinking about is goals and what’s needed to achieve them. And when it comes to PR - this is a critical channel to reaching the goals of early stage startups.
PRO TIP: Don’t know where to get started with goals? Check out the Goals and KPIs section of this blog post.
We see this lack of alignment contributing to what we consider to be “myths” that many founders have about PR. We’re often approached by founders who want to implement PR strategies desperately, but refuse to hire an agency because of stories they have heard from other founders. The reality is, it is their personal experiences that lead them to tell those stories. By identifying these myths, we will help you make the right decisions when it comes to PR.
MYTH #1: PR AGENCIES ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND DON’T DELIVER
Yes - PR agencies can be expensive, that in fact is true. But let’s break that down a bit. First, it’s important to remember that you are paying for the experience of the individuals you have access to at these agencies. PR is not something you learn overnight - it’s years of building relationships as well as learning from hits and misses. Second, most agencies are designed to handle more than just pitching a single story. Their role goes beyond getting your name in Techcrunch for example, it includes securing thought leadership opportunities such as speaking engagements, negotiating influencer partnerships, efforts towards maintaining a positive public image, and much more. You’re probably thinking, “but I don’t need all of that!” and that might be true. Keep reading and we’ll share all the options you should be considering to reach your specific goals.
If hiring a PR agency is a non-negotiable for you, there are a few things to think about before overspending (as many founders have done before you, hence the myth). This brings us back to our goals - if you’ve established your goals and can proactively discuss them with the agencies you are considering, they can give you their recommended strategy and associated costs.
WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND:
The right agency will not only recognize the stage your company is in and the budget you have but will be honest in what is truly accomplishable from a PR perspective.
When choosing an agency, think about the relationships they have and the team that will be dedicated to you. You want a proven record of securing press opportunities within the RIGHT publications and a team that will work hard for you.
The bottom line here is that there are agencies that are built for early stage startups. Some have “30 day packages'' that cost around $3000-$4000 and are designed to promote that big news story you have. Others build out more long term agreements that are low-cost initially and grow as your business does. If an agency says they start at $10k/month - walk away. They don’t understand your business at this stage and you will be that founder sharing the story of how agencies are too expensive and don’t deliver. Speaking of delivery… let’s jump into the next myth.
MYTH #2: A SIMPLE PRESS RELEASE IS ALL I NEED
If only it were so easy! And listen, sometimes it is. But journalists today receive 500-1000 emails a day (A DAY!) with pitches and the likelihood that they are going to write a story from a mass release is pretty slim.
Press coverage does not happen overnight. This actually applies to ALL marketing. Unless you’ve got a friend who can connect you directly to Oprah or a product that would put Tesla to shame, then you need to think about this as a minimum 6 month engagement. We’ll share some options for how to implement this at the end of the blog.
And listen - it’s not to say you would not get coverage by pushing out a press release. We will take this approach if we just need to have something published for the sake of building press coverage from at a later date or to help with SEO. Keep in mind that coverage will be a list of random outlets that actively pick up news from the wire - it’s not going to be the homepage of Forbes. You can work with companies like Cision or Business Wire spending anywhere from $500 - $1500 to do this.
MYTH #3: SIMPLY LAUNCHING MY PRODUCT SHOULD GET ME ALL THE PRESS I NEED
Look, we agree that your product or service is brilliant. You’ve spent your life savings, every waking hour and every ounce of energy to bring it to market. But the truth is - without a compelling story, you won’t get any traction with journalists. We see founders complaining about their agency not being able to sell in the launch of their service to their coveted publication. The hard reality is the story was just not good enough. But have no fear, we suggest identifying the following three things to get you on the right track:
What is your angle? So you’ve developed a new app that makes people happy, but how is it different from everything else that exists? NOTE: don’t answer that question, let your customers/prospects answer that question. If they don’t have a compelling answer - you are not quite ready on that front. You might choose to focus on you, as a founder - what is different about you from anyone else that the media should listen to? Again, run this by someone who does not quite know you to get the true litmus test.
Is your story timely? Look, the pandemic and political scene has clearly taken over all media this past year. Getting a story that wasn’t current event focused in the hands of a journalist was (and still is) pretty unlikely. However, typical strategies might include how your story connects to things going on in the world at that particular time. This spans from the pandemic to national smile day and will need to play well with our next point.
Does the journalist care? Do your research - before blindly pitching your story, make sure the journalist actually writes about these topics. Customize your pitch and ideas so that it benefits the writer more than anyone. Remember, they have THEIR job to do, not yours.
Now that you have the facts, you can think about PR strategically. Again, starting with your goals. Hopefully you are thinking about this at least six months out from the date you want to hit those goals. At fivefoottwo marketing, we examine the goals of our clients and offer up three options to help you get started with PR.
The FFT Grassroots Strategy: Costs starting at $2k
We work directly with you and your team to give you all the tools to start building your relationships with targets and initiate a team-focused approach to obtaining contributed content opportunities.
Working with a strategist: Costs $3-4k/month
In addition to the above grassroots strategy, you can work with an experienced, dedicated strategist to perform all the ongoing outreach generating 5x the opportunity.
Working with an agency $5 - $7k/month
After clearly outlining your goals for the next 6-12 months, we partner with one of our industry-specific, startup-focused PR agencies to manage them towards achieving your objectives.
Let us know where we can help you gain the reach you need through PR.