TL;DR: Biz Dev, Social, & Influencers.
Startup PR is a lot like Business Development.
When approaching PR for a startup, you need to have a little bit of sales savvy, a lot of product knowledge, and an eye for “intersections” that could lead to coverage in the media (intersections = the overlap between your company and a target journalist’s coverage or interests).
All PR is a little like biz dev; you’re simply trying to form a relationship that is mutually beneficial and drives value for your company. When you’re a startup founder, PR is 10x more like Biz Dev than normal. Why? Most larger, time-tested companies use PR to “hold the line,” or keep things positive in the press and for announcing company developments. In other words, it’s a bit more reactive (though, technically, no PR should ever be called reactive). Startup PR looks a lot more like Biz Dev because it’s scrappy and requires a great deal of research prior to peddling wares (stories). Most of the time, the outreach you’re conducting will come in the form of a cold sales email rather than an update to an established contact -- but that’s okay. You’re trying to get a brand new product or brand in front of media, so expecting organic interest off the bat is a quick way to get discouraged.
Social media: PR’s little sister.
Social media and PR do best when they operate in lockstep. It would be foolish to think that traditional PR methods alone can suffice in a world teeming with various social channels. For consumer startups in particular, much of the conversation that they need to be a part of is taking place via social. Luckily, social media isn’t just another chore for a startup PR strategy; it presents a huge opportunity to control more of your content. Tapping into channels like Medium.com is a great way to establish a founder (or other exec team member) as a thought leader -- one of the key tactics of most PR strategies. I’ve found that clients who utilize Medium are able to do many things at once: establish their place in the industry by talking about their product openly (and without getting misquoted), connect with other founders and share ideas, and build a track record of thoughtful content that can later be leveraged to secure contributor profiles on media outlets. Also, building up this presence lends itself well to a tech sweet spot between media exposure and actual customer conversions, because many Medium readers are tech-minded enough to appreciate product news. The bonus to this tactic is that any/all Medium content can be syndicated across your company’s blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. -- it’s a win-win for PR and social. This is just one example, but it’s key to stay ahead of the curve and establish a social presence for your brand, especially if you’re building a consumer product.
Don’t kill your darlings.
Speaking of social media, let’s talk social darlings. Influencers have been around in one form or another since the beginning of sales. Right now, the influencer role is cracked wide open for anyone with the time and social savvy to tap into the opportunity. It pays to get your company’s message out via this more organic style of marketing / PR, so keep an eye out for these darlings in your industry’s communities. Instagram and Snapchat are the primary outlets for this type of “PR,” and the strategy is best suited for consumer products -- but not necessarily unusual for B2B companies. Nabbing a set of key influencers is a great way to gain further control over your PR strategy, leaving less up to chance while reaching both the public eye and target customers. Influencers are an efficient way to build a community for your brand; a concept that is becoming increasingly important. Those who can develop a community are able to build loyalty and a strong narrative that propels the brand forward and helps the company stand out from competition. Sometimes, this community is the only difference between your startup and the rest.
Interested in chatting about how to leverage PR for startups? Get in touch here.
