8 Effective PR Tips Every Startup Brand Should Consider Using

Building brand credibility in an organic way may be one of the top priorities for a startup, especially if they’re in an industry that heavily relies on its public image to sell its service or product. Thinking from the start on how your company will present itself to the media and earn mentions, features, and product reviews without relying on ads can prove more effective to attract customers and top talents. However, not all startups have the necessary knowledge to pull this strategy off, which can turn into their demise down the line. In our following guide, we share 8 effective public relation tips every startup brand should consider using.

 

  1. Think of Your Company’s Purpose Style

When creating your story, you have to think about the objective you want to achieve with your narrative. Whether you want to build awareness of your brand in traditional media, gain public attention for a product release or support future fundraising efforts, you have only one chance to present your company’s image before getting out to the public. Gather with your team and develop an overall theme that should be the thriving force behind all your public interactions.

  1. Focus on Relationships

While you have to rely on journalists for your PR efforts, it’s important to start interacting and engaging with these journalists through social media without blatantly branded messages. Human contributions to their discussions over threads and adding your perspective to the conversation in a helpful, interesting way is crucial to place yourself on the radar as a company without feeling forced. For instance, following these public figures on Twitter may give you a chance to pitch in when they’re looking for sources for a subject that you feel you can actually contribute to their needs. Another option you can consider is partnering with bloggers to create guest blogs that allow you to reach targeted audiences that you may not have connected with traditional media.

  1. Know Your Audience

Your company’s message may be moving, thrilling and motivating, but if the message doesn’t reach the right people, all your efforts will be lost. Take time to do your market research and understand your customer, what they need, and what they would like to receive from your brand. People will relate to your purpose and show more interest in hearing your narrative. For instance, a family-first campaign will only do well with customers from a certain demography, and a product trying to appeal to younger audiences can easily fall into cringe-worthy campaigns if you don’t research that market properly.

  1. Think Creatively

Learn how to grab people’s attention with several stories that can help hook your audience and incentivize them to learn more about your company’s purpose, service, and products. Think of all your press releases and feature stories as an overarching story where you’re building your company’s narrative with your audience. As per the blog post, How to Use Feature Stories as a Public Relations Tool, you should consider starting your feature with a fun anecdote rather than a fact to present your proposal in a unique, interesting light. While it’s tempting to go through traditional, well-known routes to build your reputation, search for that twist that will make your brand stand out and create interest among traditional and specialized media.

  1. Use the Right Tools

While preparing your PR strategy, make sure that you add a press page on your website with some key facts about the company and some photos. You can also use this section to place contact information to redirect any press-related matters to the right people inside your company if any interviews or declarations are needed. Having a clear notion of where your brand’s name is appearing will also help you in your PR efforts. Track online any mention of your company in the news and create relationships with the people behind the articles to show gratitude and open the doors to future collaborations.

  1. Distribute Wisely

It may sound tempting to send your story and press release to every single news portal or blog you can find in your area. However, this technique is inefficient if you truly wish to reach your target audience. In the journalists’ eyes, a cookie-cutter, low-effort message with a standard press release early in the morning goes straight into the trash can. Figure out the best tools available to contact journalists and sell them your stories. Usually, setting an account doesn’t make a significant dent in your budget and allows you to look at journalists’ requests and select the ones where you may achieve the biggest impact.

  1. Track Your Presence

Setting metrics of success before releasing a story out to the public will help you evaluate whether your current plans give you the desired results. Afterward, taking this information and tailoring your future stories accordingly will help your narrative have far more impact. Social media metrics and the number of visits to your site are a good way to measure whether people have read about your brand. However, you can also look for an increase in free consultations or inquiries, amount of phone calls received, among other options that may be relevant to your brand’s industry.

  1. Learn How to Deal with Bad Press

At some point in your company’s life cycle, you will deal with a negative news story. The sooner you realize this reality is unavoidable, the sooner you’ll start preparing for the worst-case scenarios and developing ideas on how to tackle these issues. Keep in mind that if you’re not actively creating and promoting your narrative, the public will start crafting their narrative without your control, which can easily backfire on your business. Therefore, during any crisis, acting fast is crucial for keeping the controversy from growing further away from your control.

 

If done correctly, your public relations efforts will result in positive results whose effects go beyond your reputation with your customers. Consider that your brand may attract better employees interested in collaborating with your cause, increasing investor morale, and finding increased support for future fundraising efforts. Taking good care of your brand is a constant battle that requires careful planning and creative thinking to achieve great results, but you’ll also see that there’s a need to take some risks to win big.