How To Get PR For Your Startup And Boost Your Brand

Can you think for a moment of all the top brands whose names are dominating the market: iPhone, Google, Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Virgin Atlantic, you name them! For all the good services and products these brands produce, you’d be surprised to learn that behind the brand lies a robust PR strategy!

In other words, excellent goods and services aren’t enough; you have to make yourself visible to the public eye. There is no brand exposure by chance or coincidence; all have powerful PR machineries.

So, you have a startup that you’re hoping to grow big and successful? Then this guide is for you. Read about the power of PR in boosting your brand, and how you can get the right visibility to make your brand a super star.

First Things First – Why Is PR Important Anyway?

Good question! Most startups can hardly differentiate between PR and advertising. The thing is, advertising is brief and seeks to instantly win over a consumer. PR is more detailed, you’re able to tell your story to the consumer and build what we call ‘brand loyalty’.

Research has time and again shown that consumers tend to trust companies that the media constantly ‘talk about’. How can you make the media constantly ‘talk about’ your brand? By telling your story! Thus, with PR you’re able to tell your business story, business mission, you’re able to brand yourself and network widely.

Getting Media Coverage Is Not Always Easy

The media are picky regarding what it gives prominence. If your PR for your startup is plain, uninspiring, full of praise for yourself etc., you’ll be ignored very quickly. Just like it has been said in media: when a dog bites a man, that’s not news; but when a man bites a dog, that’s news! So, what’s unique about your brand, what strong points are you exactly hoping to sell? Read below:

The 3 Ps in PR Storytelling:

A great PR story should be pegged on 3 major tenets:

your PRODUCT

the PURPOSE

and PASSION

These are the three ingredients that’ll help you paint the ‘bigger picture’ aspect of your startup.

Your product: what is your brand all about, what goods or services do you offer, what niche are you in? How is your brand different or what is its impact on the existing market landscape? Do as much research as possible on your niche, otherwise your brand is competing with tens or hundreds of similar startups. You must define why your brand stands out.

The Purpose: how is your product going to benefit the consumer? It’s not enough to tell them that you have a new restaurant in town. Make them understand why they should leave their current favourite joint and try your place. It could be that your prices are cheaper, your food tastier, you offer vegetarian dishes and so on. Get the drift?

Passion: now here is where the ‘man bites the dog’ aspect of your story comes in. In order to perfectly capture the vision and projections of your startup, you have to be passionate, use an authentic tone, and be real. People like listening to stories they can relate to so be honest, don’t exaggerate, be proud of your failures and struggles.

Now that you’ve come up with the perfect story to pass to your consumers, the next phase will be finding the right journalist to run with the story. Most startups look for journalists in the business sector. But it’ll depend, if your brand is all about fashion or food, you’d be okay contacting a journalist specializing in fashion design and a chef column respectively.

In essence: get a journalist who’s relevant to your niche or something similar. You can also narrow it down by publication, for instance If your business is in waste removal for instance, go for a publication that covers environment and green solutions; it’d be a great platform to promote your brand.

Secret To Pleasing The Media – Make Friends Before You Need Them

Before you go asking for favours from the media, what have you done or offered in return? It’s not so much about the monetary aspect or paying for space, rather than you having to show an interest in the publication or journalist before approaching them.
It makes sense to join the relevant groups, reply and comment on the publication, follow them on social media actively etc. Attend industry events if they’re related to your brand.
Alternatively, you can even get a mutual friend to introduce you

When pitching your story to a journalist, always seek consent! It makes you appear more professional and serious as a brand.

Every great PR has 3 major traits:

Timeliness

Relevance

Novelty

Timeliness: You have to look at what’s current and trending in the news before drafting your PR story. Try and time your message to coincide with something audiences can currently associate with. For the waste removal business for example, wouldn’t it be great to have your story told on the world environment day? Or when communities or schools are marking a special environment-related fete? Timeliness is key!

Relevance: Take time checking some of the major stories that have appeared before yours, what the response has been, which angles or perspectives have garnered most readership. Tailor your message similarly.

Novelty: Like we mentioned, try and be authentic, original, innovative, believable, and never exaggerate your successes or failures!

Here in the UK, there’s no better time to tell your business story than now!

With all the uncertainty of Brexit talks and what the future may look like, the earlier you start exposing and promoting your brand, the better!

Manuela Willbold is arguably one of the best PR and business writers in London today. Get your PR written by a professional who’ll package and communicate your message extremely well.

No matter the nature or size of your business, here’s someone who’s gifted with words and can connect emotionally with your consumers to create that soft spot for your brand.

Plus, she’s sufficiently well versed on the local London business landscape and terrain.

For more details on some of her published business stories kindly check here.

Author Profile

Manuela Willbold: Blogger and Educator by Passion | Senior Online Media & PR Strategist at ClickDo Ltd. | Contributor to many Education, Business & Lifestyle Blogs in the United Kingdom & Germany | Summer Course Student at the London School of Journalism and Course Instructor at the SeekaHost University.