A simple guide to PR, for startups

It's been a while since I've been in the chaotic, adrenaline-fuelled world of an early-stage startup. These days I enjoy the luxuries of corporate life, such as an office with natural light, a job description that doesn't change every month and something called a 'budget'.

Yet I can still smell the late night pizzas, rivers of coffee and the electric atmosphere of a company with a headcount in single-digits. Many ties remain and if I had a pound for every time a founder, VC, angel investor or old friend has come looking for 'a bit of PR advice' I'd be rich. Well, I'd have at least a tenner.

So I thought I'd spend a few hours of a stormy weekend writing down the kind of advice I've been giving out over the phone or a pint. That way I can spread the love, with a basic (ultimate too strong?) guide for anyone starting out on their own, or running a small business and thinking about doing some PR for the first time. Oh and it should save me having to repeat myself, a lot.

Most founders are savvy sorts and will therefore know a fair bit about communicating already, but it's that very savviness that's brought some to my door in recent years - because smart people do their research and aren't afraid to ask for advice. So let's get cracking, based on the most common questions and my humble opinions...

When should I start doing some PR?

PR means many things to many people these days, but it officially stands for public relations. So the chances are you're already enjoying some form of relationship with the public, even if it's only some potential investors, your first few hires or fifty lucky customers trying out your beta offering.

There are also many different types of PR. They include consumer PR or 'marcomms' (creative, news-generation activity usually aimed at existing and potential customers and often in support of, or in place of marketing activity); media relations (establishing a 'press office' for handling incoming interest and/or proactive outreach to journalists and other influencers); and corporate comms (as the name suggests, more suited to larger companies with activity aimed at 'professional stakeholders' such as investors, MPs and regulators, or even the wider public, rather than potential customers).

To finally answer the question, I'd recommend doing some PR - simple communications to raise awareness and understanding of who you are and what you offer - once you are clear on your brand. In other words, what exactly is it you want to raise awareness of? At the simplest level this could mean a set of key messages, an elevator pitch or your business plan, but a brand framework can also help define the purpose of your existence, your values and even tone of voice. Indeed, working on your brand may help you decide that you want to stay in 'stealth mode' and that PR isn't actually for you just yet.

What's the difference between PR and marketing?

This is a topic we could spend hours on, but that's not going to happen as we're not in a pub. Suffice to say there are many crossover areas, but as a rough guide marketing means paying for exposure to your intended audience, usually potential customers. That might be via traditional BTL (below-the-line) routes such as DM (direct mail), PPC (pay-per-click) activity on a search engine, placing ads on social platforms, or using traditional ATL (above-the-line) channels like TV or outdoor (posters). Marketers do love their acronyms!

PR is generally (and I really am generalising) about earned media exposure, so-called because you only get it when other people believe you are ineresting enough for them to provide it. Take a business journalist with a national newspaper - they will only write about your new company or service if they believe it'll interest enough readers, and therefore deserves to be explored, explained, praised or criticised. If you're a new venture with few customers, try targeting specialist startup or small business writers to begin.

The standard theory (which I happen to believe), is that earned media generally gets you more credibility than paid media, and is therefore a more 'powerful influence' on your target audience. That's because a third party, such as an editor, product reviewer or existing customer, has chosen to write or talk about you. This explains why it's common to see media quotations and awards on companies' websites, or film critics' comments on movie posters. It's a case of the advertiser (marketing) saying: "Don't just take our word for it, which we paid for - look what Wired said about us, with no financial incentive!"

There are grey areas, such as providing a relevant social media influencer with free products or service (at a cost to you and, potentially, a strong influence on them) in the hope of getting favourable reviews and shout-outs. But it's important to remember that earned media can be positive, neutral or negative.

Unless it causes a negative public reaction, or doesn't cut through the noise and influence your intended customers sufficiently (i.e. the CPA, or cost-per-acquisition doesn't stack-up), the benefits of marketing are almost always positive. That's because you're paying to say exactly what you want to say, and hopefully saying it to the people you want to reach. It's all about control - of your brand, the message, the medium and even timing.

Both PR and marketing activity can be trackable, measurable and provide huge ROI (return on investment) when done right, but that's another subject altogether and perhaps one for an 'advanced class' in the future...

Who should do my new company's PR?

Guess what? There's no right or wrong answer. Sorry, but I'll briefly cover what I see as the main choices, each with pros and cons...

• Hire a junior PR professional - they will be relatively affordable and likely cost less than an average-to-large agency retainer over a year. And anyone who works for your company will (hopefully) absorb the nascent culture, your vision and help you shape the brand and communications from within. Clearly someone with only a few years under their belt will still be learning and won't have all the knowledge, skills or media contacts you might want, but youth brings energy, enthusiasm and understanding of peers (whether younger colleagues or potential customers). Not to mention a solid grasp of digital channels comes as standard (they're native after all). I'd also suggest inexperience offers scope for development, with your support, which can be a satisfying and beneficial process.
• Hire a PR agency - this may cost you more if you want a full-service, or even specialist account team on your side, rather than on a short-term project basis (see below), but you'll get more than one communications expert, along with their combined contacts, experience and knowledge, to help boost your audiences' awareness and understanding. You may also get access to very senior counsel, such as the agency owner or an experienced account director. Even medium-sized agencies will have a whole range of experts too; from designers and ex-journalists through to social media gurus and creative directors with experience of numerous clients - and how much you'll pay for access to all that is at least negotiable. You can also change agencies more easily than lay someone off, if it doesn't work out, and you can ramp-up your investment as your business grows. On the downside, most agencies are only as good as the people they employ and the natural enthusiasm they have for you and your company rarely matches an 'in-house' team. The attention and effort received will usually be best early on in the relationship, although you will remain popular if growing quickly and becoming of public interest - a badge of honour for their client list. Yet they will never get quite as involved, loyal or passionate about your 'baby' compared to someone who works there full-time. Especially if that internal hire has some meaningful 'skin in the game'.
• Hire a PR consultant - this can be a good compromise, meaning you can find someone who only has a handful of other clients to distract them, or who may even work for you alone, and on a flexible, part-time basis, but without the expense or commitment of a full-time hire. It can be a good option for smaller businesses who don't want the headcount but can't afford an agency retainer, or for founders and ventures with little experience of PR who want to test the water. Ideally you should look for someone who has a track record of working with startups or small businesses, although a corporate background shouldn't necessarily dissuade you - after all, the trick is to behave and communicate professionally, like a more mature organisation. You can also consider searching for a specialism, such as a copywriter or digital content expert, depending on your needs, and if they blow your socks off they might even consider joining full-time. But whether you pick a consultant or an agency, make sure you create a clear, realistic brief for what you want them to help you achieve. And if you find you can't write a decent brief, you probably need to go back to your brand.
• Hire a senior PR professional - this is the gold-plated option as it will likely cost you in salary and equity, but it's the one for any confident and experienced founders who are serious about reputation and building a meaningful brand over a number of years. It's also more appropriate for ventures that are likely to attract mainstream media attention (rather than a niche play) and also hope to build a large customer base by investing in marketing. Your new hire, if you get it right, can help choose a PR agency or build an in-house team in the future but, more importantly, they can also bring years of experience to the table and help create or develop your brand, content and communications strategy (external and also, eventually, internal). They should also bring a useful network, commercial acumen and will likely become as knowledgeable and evangelical as you, as long as they believe in the mission. They should therefore be in the top team, working alongside you and the CTO, CFO, CMO, CX or product lead.

The important thing to remember is, whoever you choose to do your PR, make sure you listen to their advice. Sure, it's your baby and your hard work so far, maybe even with a touch of genius, so you think no one can know it better! But the whole point of bringing in some PR expertise is to work with someone who is better at communicating than you.

How much will it cost?

Heard the one about a piece of string? You can start engaging with relevant media contacts or social followers for absolutely no outlay of course, or you could choose to spend hundreds of thousands on a creative stunt, like beaming your logo onto the moon, but I suppose that's not very useful to know.

It's true that PR can mean sending emails, or something far more sophisticated, expensive and akin to marketing, but if you're someone on the founding team of an early-stage startup, perhaps unsure of whether any investment will pay off, I'd suggest an experiment. Find a consultant or a small (hungry) agency, likely via word of mouth or by asking your network, and see if they will do a 'trial run', on a project basis.

NOT a freebie - don't insult them - and not all agencies will be interested in the considerable investment needed to pitch for your business (it's common to ask three or four to try). But a modest fee for a short trial, with simple, achievable goals. The carrot for them will the possibility of more work, if it goes well, and if no-one seems interested to begin with you will probably need to revisit your budget - although we are talking about a few thousand pounds, not your entire seed funding - or, yep, your brand.

Working on a project basis simply means you both agree what your objectives are - such as an increase in traffic, app downloads, award entries or mainstream media coverage (if indeed that's realistic) - for a fixed fee. And likely for a fixed period, between 1-3 months for example, too. They should get familiar with you, your business, your brand and your target audiences; help you develop messaging and material; and then hopefully show you the value of PR. If they succeed, you can decide whether to invest more, perhaps in a bigger project, or in a relationship (usually a monthly retainer).

How should I prepare to lose my PR viriginity?

Again, it will depend on what kind of PR activity you're preparing for, but if intending to do any kind of media relations you may want to consider investing (time, effort and little bit of cash) in making sure you look, feel and behave like a more mature business...

• Ensure your website and social pages are up to scratch and consistent, as they will be visited by journalists (as well as potential customers) who might be interested in you. And if you're serious about going mainstream, you should include contact details for the media although, be warned, you'll likely get customers using them too.
• It's worth getting professional headshots taken - by someone like John Cassidy - of you and the founding team, plus having your logo and screenshots of your site/app available, in both low and high resolution, for any media requests.
• A succinct, interesting (and truthful) founder's story - if one exists - which can be your most realistic 'angle' to begin with, unless you've invented some world-first technology.
• Fact sheets. Sounds dull and they are, but establish the consistent data points, truthful claims and analogies you'll use to tell your story - try writing them down on one page. It's not your brand, it's more how you'll bring your story to life. And if you only have ten customers or three employees, begin with the founder's story, the problems you're solving, the macro economics of the market you're in, or even why you're called BigPyschoRabbit.com.
• Case studies. If you have any happy customers or clients, ask them if they might be willing to help with publicity - whether featured on your website (marketing) or happy to talk to the media (PR). And if they are, help them prepare. People make stories and it's far better if your customers are telling them for you.
• Media training. I don't mean hiring an interview preparation pro, like an ex-newsreader to scare the living daylights out of you while getting you 'bang on message' for a Newsnight grilling. It's way too soon for that, but unless you're an old-hand with the traditional media you'll want to work with your new comms advisor to understand the basic rules of engagement. Like the meaning of 'off the record' and what constitutes 'news' vs 'clickbait'.
• Google alerts (other search engines are available). Before you're ready to pay for media tracking and analysis, and presuming you're not working with an agency or consultant with the tools to do that for you, set-up some simple 'key word' alerts including your company name, your name, your competitors and anything else that might be useful to keep up-to-speed on, like your sector or tech interests.

Who or what should I target with my PR activity?

First, work out who your target audiences are. Is it potential customers, existing customers, potential employees, investors or new business partners? Deciding that will allow you to focus and invest in the most relevant kinds of PR activity. For example, if you're primarily targeting new customers online, you might want a social or digital specialist, with some understanding of marketing as well as PR. Whereas if you're selling services to other businesses you might want a B2B (business-to-business) expert or, if it's investors for a new round, someone with experience of communications aimed at the VC or angel community.

Next you need to consider 'channels' (the routes to your audiences). The most basic yet essential channels are your own digital assets, such as your website, app and social pages, which will determine those all-important first impressions, the longer-term customer experience and, ultimately, be the shop window for your brand. Beyond these online destinations, 'comms channels' usually refer to how you intend to reach your target audiences and might include social media, print media, broadcast media, experiential activity, events or good old radio stations for example.

The key point is you need to understand which channels will be most relevant, and therefore effective, for your particular audiences. This is a combination of reach (how many people?) and relevance (the right people?). And knowing this with any certainty usually means getting expert advice or doing some research. This can be carried out surprisingly easily and cheaply, with freemium services such as Survey Monkey, to understand exactly where your customers, investors or potential future employees spend most of their time.

Is it podcasts, particular TV channels, specialist magazines, online forums, social media, product review sites, train stations or what? And if it's all of them, because you're creating a mainstream brand and aiming for world domination, then find out which are most influential and/or popular. You can track which sites your web visitors come from, and then tend to leave for, but you can also ask them directly via live feedback plug-ins, or the afore-mentioned online surveys. And if you're not getting enough responses, try small incentives like a weekly prize draw for respondents.

Anything I should avoid?

Definitely! How long have you got?

• Spamming. No-one likes getting spammed, but you really don't want to alienate journalists with 'spray and pray' tactics before you've even established any interest.
• Hype. I'm not suggesting founders shouldn't paint a visionary picture - it's important to explain why your company MIGHT be game-changing - but the world of startups is full of hyperbole. It sometimes feel like everyone is super-excited about everything, like how super-scalable their company is or how they only employ super-bright 'rockstars'. I'd suggest toning it down until you've got some serious traction (AKA evidence).
• Lies. Obvs.
• Trying to be ubiquitous and 'super-engaged' on every social platform. For example, don't spend hours managing Facebook if 80% of your potential customers use Twitter (or vice versa, just in case Mark Z's reading this).
• Imitation games. It's the sincerest form of flattery - and so easy to think "We'll have a bit of Apple's product gloss, talk about customer service like Amazon, engage with colleagues like Uber and make the logo look a bit like Slack" - but you need to develop your own mission, purpose, tone, messages and logo. Your own brand, your own story. Almost nothing's original these days but don't start with a cut & paste.
• Complexity. Good PR is about getting simple, consistent and relevant messages to the right people and then, hopefully, starting to engage and influence. The old marketing adage that you're lucky if people recall one thing about your brand still stands true, possibly more so in today's relentless digital bombardment. So as I sometimes say in the office, "If you wouldn't say it that way to a friend down t'pub then don't say it like that at all". Not unless you're trying to impress highly technical, geeky people who yearn for detail. Otherwise, the patent-pending Moorwood Pub Test is worth applying whenever in doubt.
• Jargon. See above.
• Clichés. God knows I've used some in this article, which must make me a hypocrite, but try not to be 'thrilled', 'super-excited' or 'delighted' with your seed round. Not in print anyway. Find your own way to say things and be real.
• Fame-seeking. If your sole aim of doing some PR is to try and make yourself famous I'd suggest you look in the mirror and revisit that brand work. You might be a bit of a muppet. And that tip's also for free.

Finally, how does PR actually work?

Ahhhh, the million-dollar question! You don't seriously imagine I'm about to give up all the tricks of the trade do you? The secret sauce, the magic? Of course not, but what I can tell you are the fundamentals - which I still believe hold true whether you're Gen Z or old enough to remember handwriting press releases and posting them out with stamps. Seriously, that actually happened.

What you're essentially seeking to do is this:

1. Decide who you're trying to have a relationship with (the R in PR), or perhaps just want to influence in terms of awareness. This is your target audience.
2. Understand what they are interested in (is it financial services, fashion, finding a job, investment opportunities, or what?).
3. Understand why you're relevant to those interests (perhaps you've got a great investment opportunity, an innovative service, you're hiring, or whatever) and develop a clear, simple and compelling story to explain this.
4. Research how your audiences generally access information about their interests. This should tell you the most relevant channels to use.
5. Do it. Try giving the right people what they want and how they want it, and see what happens. And do it well - consider how you can be more creative and interesting than your competitors. Have some fun and be bold, but keep it honest and simple.
6. Listen, watch, respond, adapt and (where relevant) engage.
7. Repeat. And while it's good to experiment and be creative, the long-term aim is to communicate consistently.
8. Finally, I'd remind you that actions speak louder than words. If you're serious about creating a meaningful brand and managing your reputation positively, you'll ultimately be judged by how you behave. Not what you say or how you say it. The best kind of communication is based on meaningful action - real news, a launch, something exciting and relevant for your audience. Sure, PR is 'part art, part science' and can help influence perceptions, but it can't change reality.

I think that's plenty to be getting on with? But shout if you want further advice - equity works! And I will conclude by stating the obvious: if you've been brave enough to start your own business, you should be brave enough to give PR a shot.