Much ado about PR (Pt. 2)
Last week, we introduced a framework that shows how journalists decide what to cover. This week, we cover ‘when’ the press is relevant and how to approach it.
Press is most relevant when you know exactly why you need it. e.g. why people should care about your product launch, the problem you’re solving, or a funding round. In each of these cases, you must have a strategic reason for engaging with the public, and as with everything else, you should start with ‘why’. Define your goals. Your ‘why’ could range from recruiting the best talent to securing a research grant to acquiring customers. All that matters is that you are deliberate about it.
On the other hand, Press is inconsequential when your product isn’t viable. Imagine you just launched and your press release is on a widely read and respected publication. But when new visitors flood your website, it buckles under the pressure. What, then, have you gained? Customers that churn before conversion?
More than a transaction
PR is not a series of transactions with journalists; it is a long-term consideration that helps you tell your story over time. But you must have a compelling story first. While PR might be exciting, the founder’s number one job is to focus on the product. You could have a puff-piece written about you, but if you get people interested and the product doesn’t live up to its promises, they will leave and won’t come back.
Without a solid product engine, PR is like putting lipstick on a pig: looks interesting from a distance, but won’t ever get invited to dinner (well, unless IT IS dinner).
“Treat PR like biz dev”
Cultivate a relationship with the press long before you want coverage. You have to build media friendships way before you need them.
For early-stage companies, founder-led PR is preferred primarily because your startup’s story/narrative is too important to leave to someone else; you know your domain and your business, therefore, you have something the media wants — the real inside scoop. Entrepreneurs should think, from day one, about how they can communicate directly with a variety of audiences: their customers, members of a Facebook group, Twitter followers, journalists, business partners and more. One positive side-effect of this is that it helps founders define their business in a clear and concise way (this will come in handy when you’re talking to investors or potential partners). As they say, one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else.
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Thanks to the times we live in, different forms of PR abound. “PR” doesn’t always mean being featured in a big Tech publication. These days it could also mean putting out an excellent article about who you are; speaking engagements; podcasts; social media, and other channels you operate yourself.
Are we saying journalists are unimportant? We’ll answer that next week with picking the right reporters and getting them interested in your story.
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