Last week I had the pleasure of attending Monta Johnson and Mary Keating’s “PR Fundamentals for Startups” MaRS Best Practices talk at the MaRS Studio in Toronto. These great best practice sessions are held monthly and provide entrepreneurs with practical sales and marketing advice. In the past, our own Mark Elliot has presented on the B2B sales process.
Both Monta and Mary are senior executives at Hill + Knowlton, Canada’s top-rated public affairs and public relations firm. Providing an overview of public relations specifically tailored for entrepreneurs, their talk focused upon developing a media relations strategy as part of a greater public relations strategy. This blog outlines a very helpful 4 step process that will help you “tell your story” to the media.
Define Your Story
An important first step in developing any strategy is articulating what you want to say about yourself and your company. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What problems does your product or service solve?
- What are your key points of competitive differentiation?
- Who will buy your product and why?
- How did your company develop? Where did the idea come from? Media outlets always love human interest stories, so don’t be afraid to inject yourself into the conversation
Research & Target
Before you can engage with the media, it’s crucial to understand the landscape. Take the time to get to know the relevant media in your industry and local environment. Find out who the best journalists, bloggers, analysts, and evangelists are in your industry and make an effort to get to know them. Remember that PR is not free publicity – you only own a small piece of the pie. To be successful you have to align your efforts with the goals of the media. Then, decide on a “hook” you can consistently use to attract and keep media outlets interested in your company’s development.
Contact & Follow-Up
After understanding your story and the media landscape, you’ll be ready to start building relationships. It’s important, however, not to rush this step. Monta and Mary pointed out that many startups reach out too early and their efforts suffer because of it. When you have newsworthy content, reach out to your media contacts and bloggers and share the news with your partners, employees, customers, investors, and as many other stakeholders as you can.
Build & Continue
Utilize marketing tools that complement your PR efforts by providing the media with more opportunities to cover what you’re doing. These tools can include:
- Social Media
- Blog posts
- Tradeshows
- Conferences
- Articles, Case Studies, and Whitepapers
- PR Opportunities with Partners
A well-developed PR strategy is a crucial marketing component for any startup. Solid media relations can enhance understanding of your product or service, build reputation, trust, credibility and longevity, and create sustainable pubic interest in your company.
Is your company ready for PR? If you’re looking for help creating a PR strategy, please feel free to reach out to us at any time for some complementary tips and guidance.
