Many startup founders have it backwards when thinking about PR. They imagine you land the biggest publication you can and reap the benefits of instant fame. This process may have worked for a few startups 15 years ago, when venture capital was sparser and a handful of publications could still put young companies on the map overnight.
That perception is a relic of a different era, but founders still cling to it. They think PR is a trophy or a reward. They open a conversation with an agency by telling us they want to be in the biggest publication right away.
They don’t always like the reality. Startups need to continuously prove themselves as real companies rather than momentary bets. PR can be described as a discipline built around building trust at scale. Only seeking one-off big write ups is not a feasible long-term approach.
Traditional media newsrooms have shrunk and the industry has fragmented into smaller niche outlets, including formats that lead with newsletters, podcasts and social media. This is a challenge, but one that offers serious opportunities to those willing to adapt accordingly.
Start with the “why”
Startups grow on sales and performance marketing, and for a while that is enough. But levelling up often requires a much larger pool of customers and a more sophisticated roster of partners such as enterprise buyers, investors and senior hires. A great product, killer sales team and brilliant ads do a lot of the heavy lifting, but they can’t produce trust, and a reputation that speaks for itself.
Startups typically arrive at the point when reputation goes from nice-to-have to indispensable upon reaching a major milestone, usually their first significant venture round. A launch is rarely newsworthy, except in very specific cases, since they happen very early on and there isn’t enough traction to prove real-life impact and therefore newsworthiness yet.
PR only works once that traction exists. Until then, any energy spent chasing coverage is probably better redirected toward building the substance that coverage rewards.
The stakeholders
Before obsessing over specific outlets, slowly start thinking in terms of short and long-term objectives. Are you raising, hiring, entering a market, or pursuing a licence? How do you want the company to appear in a year or two? This will illuminate not only what you do this month, but position this month’s work within your larger vision for the company.
From there, work out your stakeholders. These are the people who help you reach those objectives. Most startups first prioritise clients, investors and talent. Additional stakeholders may include partners and regulators or other governmental actors, depending on the industry.
Often, investors and talent might do much deeper due diligence than customers. They want to know who is behind the company, why it will win, what the market looks like, what kind of place it is to work at. They will corroborate your answers from third parties, meaning reviews, comparison sites, and the earned media that PR helps to obtain. Earned media is particularly powerful, because the people behind earned media platforms are trusted, whether deep sector experts or professional journalists.
Messaging and narrative
Stakeholders are moved along by verifiable facts, strong numbers and success stories. An investor won’t spend on a team that might not deliver. A senior candidate won’t join a company where the environment is toxic. A regulator wants evidence you are competent and credible. Each stakeholder wants different things, so choose which points matter most, and deploy them at the right time in the right place.
No need to overcomplicate it, that’s what messaging is. Some messages are specific to one audience, others carry across all of them.
Unlike in emotion-driven marketing, every message has to be verifiably true and substantiated with facts, stats and examples. Founders often forget that PR reflects reality but cannot create it. A claim that does not survive fact-checking does more harm than no claim at all. Truth is the best foundation for PR. And do not confuse them with calls to action!
Everything you do will compound into a narrative, the general story about the company. This overarching narrative answers why the company exists and what it’s trying to achieve. For ambitious startups, that usually means meeting a serious problem with a scalable solution.
Provide a clear account of the problem, its size, how to fix it, and why your team is the one that will. What is the origin story and why are these founders motivated and skilled enough to tackle that issue?
Channels: the whole board
Channels are types of media platforms that can earn you trust and positive visibility. This spans traditional publications that still do print and brand new digital newsletters.
Unlike in performance marketing, these platforms aren’t pay-to-play. The journalist, editor, producer or event organiser own the platforms and use them to provide value to their audiences. You gain access by helping to provide that value.
Journalists need to write well-balanced articles that draw on sources, hard-to-get information and different points of view. Events and podcasts hosts need experienced, insightful and personable leaders and market-movers on their stages. Pitching harder and being extra friendly won’t override this, at the end of the day you need to provide the goods.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim for good rapport. People remember who made their job easier, and those are the relationships you draw on when you do have something to say. Build a reputation for yourself as reliable and reasonably generous. Don’t behave as though everything is transactional.
Consider giving trade and niche outlets a central role in your strategy. They’re approachable earlier, have more targeted audiences, and reward depth. Treat them as destinations with their own value, not just springboards.
Newsletters and podcasts suit how people consume now. When not run by journalists, they tend to be experts who own a topic and have built a real following in that space. Due to their depth of expertise, experience and specialisation, these experts are highly trusted, and followed by specific, high-value audiences. A positive word from the right one can do a lot for your startup.
Never underestimate simply being in the room, especially if that room has a stage and you are on it. A founder on a stage or a panel with a point of view and the right audience supercharges trust-building. If you choose your events wisely, they tend to have relevant stakeholders, and the impact of such a direct interaction is much deeper than any written piece.
Top-tier coverage is still possible, just don’t bank on it right away. Work local to regional to trade to national, roughly in step with your stage. If you start your journey right, the inroads to those publications you dream about will become clearer.
Ready to execute on all this? Then see you on the next article where we will discuss execution.