Startups and PR: What You Need to Know Before You Get Started
If you are a startup, exploring a brand new idea, developing a kick-ass product and getting ready to conquer the world (or at least the market), you are probably putting most or almost all of your efforts into that. However, there is one thing you should never overlook- PR and communication.
This is often regarded as a side activity, a necessary evil at times, but it is crucial to your success- you can have the most awesome product or service, but if no one ever gets to hear about it…. well, that is a bit of a pickle, isn’t it?
Before you start off on a PR adventure, here are some things you should know:
The Four Whats
There are three things you need to ask yourself before you create a PR strategy:
What is your goal?
Your initial reaction to this question might be „well, duh“, but this is a step many forget and hence end up with an unfocused and unsuccessful strategy. Write down your goal and prioritize them: Who are the people you want to reach? Are you more focused on investors or clients? Do you need more users? Are you thinking global or local?
What are your milestones?
Getting a good press coverage at launch is great, but you will also need to remind people that you are still here and doing awesome work. Think about some things you want to achieve, several milestones on the way from launch to multimillion dollar investment everyone is going to write about. When you reach the milestones you set, cover them on your blog or website and make sure your audience knows what you’ve achieved and what you are working on next.
What is you budget?
Yes, you should have a very well defined budget for PR and communication, and not just figure it out on the go. PR is not without its costs, however you decide to do it. You might want to delegate it to an external agency, hire someone to work on your communication plan or have someone within your team do it- but that still takes time. Think about what you want to achieve and muster up a number to incorporate in your budget, and if you don’t know how, better outsource it to someone who does. PR is really important and if you are a B2C company, it is crucial.
What is my angle?
You have to have a story, simple as that. Once upon a time, “we are two friends and started a company together to do what we love” was considered a good one, but nt any more. What is it that makes you stand out from all the other startups? What do you have to work with? What are your values, qualities? What is your voice? There are many what-subquestions here, but you need to figure out how to brand yourself and present yourself. Tell no lies- there is always an angle you can work, and there is always something special in your story worth telling.
How and Where?
Well, everyone wants a press coverage and you should want and work towards one too, but make sure you don’t stop there. Keep your communication lines open and talk to your audience. For one, you will need a web page, and for the most personal appeal, there is the .ME domain.
You can also blog- stories about your achievements, successes, but also difficulties you encounter and your experiences in the world of startups are not only interesting , but also make you look more humane and less corporative in the eyes of your customers and they help build the startup community.
Social network provide a great tool for customer engagement and straightforward communication with people who can provide the most valuable feedback. This is a direct line of communication where you can answer all the questions and share all the news about your startup using multimedia to tell your story.
Best practice is to use all these wonderful digital means of communication to your favor and use them wisely.
