Why Startups Need (And Don't Need) a PR Firm

I’ve heard a few tales recently concerning startups and social enterprises that were disappointed with the results of their PR agencies.

I’ve even read a recent post from Polina Pinchevsky of Roundpeg (a marketing firm and a fellow B Corporation) that is largely a condemnation of PR firms (Why You Should Think Twice about Hiring PR Firms).

The Tool Isn’t the Problem.

The problem isn’t with PR, and the problem isn’t (usually) with the PR firm.

Generally, the problem is with the startup company and its understanding of and expectations for PR. Startups are cursed with mistaken notions about what PR can, and can’t, do.

(This applies as well to small and younger companies that aren’t necessarily investor-funded startups as well.)

Startups are, by their nature, world-beaters. Their founders and management teams are smart and convinced their product or service is a game changer—worthy of feature news coverage by the business press (Hello, Wall Street Journal), by trade publications (Cleantech magazine), perhaps even Oprah! (the must-have app for today’s modern woman).

Not. 

While your friends and families and angel investors have told you how cool your company is, you occupy a universe of 100,000 cool companies with game-changing ideas.

Imagine the deluge of story pitches if you’re an editor at the New York Times. You don’t even register. 

So really, PR for a startup, especially early-stage startups with limited resources, shouldn’t be about hiring a PR firm for the BIG PITCH and PLACEMENT. Could that happen? Sure. The odds? Long. Very long.

Yes, PR agencies are culpable in this equation. Too often they will take you on for a monthly retainer and pitch you to their network of media relationships and influencers. Will your expectations be met? I guess it depends on your expectations, but with limited funds at your disposal, I’ll double down on my guess and say probably not.

It’s The Message That Matters

This is not to say that PR isn’t right for your early-stage startup. It probably means you need to execute PR in-house. If you use a PR firm, my advice would be to use it on a consulting basis for advice and strategy—not a full-on package of pitching of your story to the media. And use a PR agency that has experience and references from startup entrepreneurs—that’s critical.

This isn’t to say you don’t have a story to pitch. You do. But you need to refine the story first, and that comes down to messaging before pitching and placement

When To Engage A PR Expert For Messaging

You should engage a PR firm early. This isn’t to say that you will use PR to the exclusion of other marketing tactics in your plan; it’s simply to say that talented PR practitioners are experts in honing your most important marketing tool, your message.

PR consultants can help you define and refine your messages. This includes a hierarchy of top level, secondary, and tertiary messages; key selling points; value-added messaging, etc. This is really the blocking and tackling aspect of marketing your startup—whether you’re pitching investors, social media influencers, industry partners, customers, prospective new employees—or announcing your launch to journalists in traditional media.

A good PR consultant will also bring value by taking these baseline content assets and showing you how to slice and dice them for any number of media uses and target audience groups.

After you’ve shaped your messaging, then ask your PR consultant for guidance on your media outreach. If you jointly determine that you have a uniquely big story to tell, it could be worth your while to engage the PR firm to pitch and place. If your story won’t roil the markets, your PR guide should be able to help you pinpoint and refine the opportunities for more earthly media scores. Here are a few examples:

• A launch announcement in hometown and regional media outlets
• New personnel announcements in trade verticals
• Offering up expert opinion resources to key social media influencers
• New customer and partnership announcements

Owned And Earned Media Equal Content Marketing.

These provide publicity opportunities, as well as valuable content you can repurpose and use for your other owned and earned media: on your website, your social media, in your email marketing efforts, and on your blog. Conversely, the thought leadership you are publishing on your blog can also be repackaged into newsworthy content used to interest journalists and social media influencers. This is where good marketing bleeds into Content Marketing 101.

Of course a “hit” with the media provides more than the story placement itself; a link to the article on your website helps credential your endeavor and, to prospective investors, shows that you “get” this critical component of a marketing effort.

So if you don’t hire a PR agency to take the reins, who does this for your startup? Well, someone internally simply has to take responsibility for your early-stage startup PR. This might be a founder. Or the jack-of-all-trades marketing person. It could even be an intern. In cases where your person has more than enough moxie, but no PR experience, then hiring a PR expert on a consulting basis makes all the sense in the world. 

Here’s another idea to fill in the gaps: target PR skills and connections in the job description for an advisor or board member. You can get them for their wealth and wisdom; why not a little wallop, too?

The time to hire a PR firm on an ongoing basis is likely when you successfully close that Series A funding round for seven figures, have demonstrated that you actually do have a potentially world-changing product, and you really need to seize the marketing moment. A veteran PR agency can be of great help in maximizing your opportunity quickly and to great result.

As a 30-year PR veteran who’s bootstrapped a number of companies and co-founded an early-stage startup, I could go on and on about this subject and the value of PR. But my editors say I’ve hit my word count already and have a few other deadlines looming. If you’d like to talk more about startup PR—especially social enterprise startups—just ping me; I’m happy to help: rstoddard@oliverrussell.com.