Many startups are too quick to engage a PR agency. In the earliest stages of a startup’s journey, it’s our view that PR should be resourced in-house.
Most startup entrepreneurs spend the majority of their waking hours refining and building their MVP. So the impulse to outsource functions that aren’t critical to the product development – like PR – is completely understandable.
However, we recommend entrepreneurs find time to engage with a handful of relevant bloggers or journalists from the nascent stages of their startup.
A direct relationship with the top journalists – as opposed to a relationship cultivated via an intermediary PR agency – will in the short-term prove more cost-effective, and in the long-run more beneficial.
Apart from the fact that many experienced tech journalists and bloggers will be able to provide valuable insight and ideas, involving them in the development of your startup will make them feel part of the process, and will make them significantly more inclined to cover your launch.
There will come a point, however, when engaging the services of an agency makes sense from an economic, practical and business perspective.
There are various factors that should come in to the thinking on this:
Do you have a clear PR opportunity that can’t be addressed in-house?
There will come a point when you simply won’t be able to deliver the same PR results in-house.
Agencies give you reach into multiple media types, in multiple geographies across multiple vertical markets.
If you have a story that demands widespread attention, it’s probably time to start talking to some PR agencies.
Do you have the internal resources to support the PR process?
When you outsource PR, your agency will require a certain amount of your time to provide the raw materials to develop PR content (like data and case studies), approve press materials, give media interviews and numerous other tasks.
PR isn’t a ‘plug-and-play’ process – it will require your input.
Do have the internal resources to support the effect of the PR process?
Over the years, we’ve delivered campaigns that have crashed client websites and driven so much traction that the startup has struggled to keep-up with demand.
Make sure you have the technology and manpower to ensure you get a maximum ROI on your PR spend.
Do have a solid – but not perfect – product?
We see many startups delay a PR campaign whilst they agonize over imperfections in their product.
As long as the product is technically robust, we urge startups to get it out there ASAP.
Early feedback and usage will prove immensely valuable to refining the product over time.
Do you have the budget to engage an agency to do the job properly?
There’s no denying PR agencies can quickly eat a significant chunk of a startup’s marketing budget.
Good PR can deliver phenomenal returns, but it takes time, and is therefore relatively costly.
It’s for this reason that we decline opportunities to work with startups who have very small PR budgets because we’ll struggle to deliver a solid ROI whilst remaining profitable.