When is it too early to engage in PR?

Public relations is an excellent tool to grow your professional and business profile, and compared to some other marketing practices it can be relatively low cost when you apply creative thinking to small budgets.

That’s just one reason that earned media is a brilliant place for startups and high-growth businesses to start. So, if you're thinking about it and want to get started, here are our six top tips you need to know before you do.

1. Set your goals for PR

The opportunities for public relations are endless. PR sparks conversation, it shapes how you're viewed by your customers and the wider industry, and it's an excellent way to establish your credibility.

PR can also attract investors, drive business leads and, most importantly, support the growth of your business.

However, just like everything in business you need to have a clear understanding of what your goals are and what you want to achieve from your efforts.

One way to understand this is to ask yourself what success looks like to you for your business? Perhaps you're looking to increase brand awareness in a new or existing sector, or educate a specific audience or establish yourself as a thought leader. These are great goals to have, but choose a few and stick to them. If you’re looking for a quick marketing hack that will drive instant revenue then look elsewhere - PR is not the solution.

2. Define and get to know your audience

It’s easy to get lost in the romantic idea of having your business written about by the BBC or featured in The Times. Yes, they're great media publications but they serve a particular audience.

Let's imagine you’re a B2B SaaS platform in a niche category. Are these national titles really the right place for your business? Or could you, in fact, gain more value from placing stories in industry-specific publications that are read by your customers and peers?

Understanding your communications goals, your audience, and what you success is to you, will mean moving the goalpost to the right spot. Otherwise, you might be left scoring an own goal!

3. Build the story

Naturally, everyone wants the big headlines and prime-time TV slots. But they’re highly competitive to land and journalists are usually inundated with pitches. That’s why PR is about building relationships with journalists as much as it is having a good story to tell - so educating journalists on your business is an important process of PR.

“How do you do that?”, you ask.

Well, the best way is to start small and build momentum. Each email conversation or in-person coffee with a journalist builds your profile in the media. Granted, that’s not driving any commercial awareness just yet - but you are laying the foundations for media coverage through networking and education. When you do land coverage, whether it's a comment from your CEO included in a trade publication, or a full thought leadership piece in a national title, you're establishing your business (and spokesperson) as a credible, trusted voice.

So, the next time someone Googles you or your business, guess what they'll read? And trust us, journalists use Google more than most.

4. Make sure your messages are aligned

To achieve effective PR results for any business, from startup to global conglomerate, you'll need to ensure you have an established marketing strategy in place that is performing well against your main business objectives.

Then, your PR objectives should feed into your wider marketing strategy and complement other marketing tactics. There's no point saying one thing in your social ads, and saying a completely different thing in an interview with a journalist.

A note on social: share your media coverage on your social media channels! Keep banging the drum and deliver a consistent and unique message - after all, this is what you'll want people to know you for. Share your coverage on personal and company social media accounts, and don't forget to tag and thank the journalist.

5. Where could you find PR support? In house, freelance or agency?

So, you know your objectives and you've identified your audiences. But maybe you don't have the time to commit. Perhaps you've tried and haven't succeeded. Or maybe things are going well and you want to increase your efforts. What are your options?

Freelance PR

There are plenty of great freelancers who can help, and many have industry specialisms. You pay them for a dedicated amount of their time each month, and they bring their contacts and experience. This is a great place to start and the flexibility means it can be very cost effective.

PR Agency

PR agency teams have a wealth of experience, contacts and specialisms which will really supercharge your efforts. Perhaps you're getting ready for a big launch, or gearing up for some company news, dealing with some crisis management or simply want to invest in PR as a key pillar of your marketing mix. They should act as an extension of your team, understand your brand and provide consultation on how to take PR to the next level. But they will still need management, so you'll need to think about who is best placed in your business to maintain and cultivate that relationship.

In-house PR

Hiring an in-house PR Manager is something you should think about when things are going well. Like really well. Well enough to take up someone's whole day, five days a week well. This is a great hire when you're looking to expand into other markets. They should work closely with all areas of your business and any agency teams to ensure that communications are aligned.

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