Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Forming a startup is a lot of hard work for an entrepreneur. You’ve come up with an idea, developed a business plan, secured funding and put the business plan into action with your first customers or clients. But where do you go from here? The natural next step for any business is growth, and many startups often use PR to enable this growth.
One of the biggest obstacles a startup faces is getting the word out there. Simply put, if the public — or at least the intended customer base — of a business does not know it exists, that business is likely to end up among the more than two-thirds of startups that never deliver a positive return for their investors. Thankfully, public relations is the perfect way for a startup to announce its existence to the public.
Relate: How PR Can Attract Investors and Add Value to Your Startup
Why is PR for startups important?
The key function of public relations is to build brand awareness. To succeed in a crowded marketplace, startups must make themselves known to the public, and PR can help new businesses spread the word about their launches. Using tools like press releases, social media, events, influencer collaborations and media relations, a public relations campaign can transform a business from brand new to a household name.
Public relations also plays a vital role in helping a business shape its brand identity — a quality that is particularly important for businesses in the startup stage. How a business and its leader present themselves in the media provides the basis by which the public sees the company. PR efforts allow businesses to establish a consistent and compelling brand narrative that will resonate with their audience throughout their life cycle.
However, the most critical impact a PR campaign can have on a business and its leaders is helping build trust, credibility, and authority. Because startups are, by definition, new companies, they typically don’t have a reputation to build on. In rare cases, they may have serial entrepreneurs as founders or angel investors who lend the business credibility, but for the most part, business leaders have to work hard to earn trust.
Related: Why Startups Should Invest in Public Relations Right Now
What are some PR strategies to help startups find the right audience?
One approach to startup PR that can be particularly beneficial for business leaders hoping to develop this credibility with their customers and investors is “thought leadership.” In contrast with traditional PR, which focuses on pitching you and your business to people, thought leadership PR tactics are about establishing you as a subject matter expert in your field.
By being interviewed by journalists, appearing on podcasts, getting strategic media placements and contributing guest posts and op-ed articles about topics relevant to your business and industry, you will be seen as a leading voice on those topics.
You may be thinking, “That’s nice, but how does that impact the growth of my business?” Ultimately, it all comes down to reputation. When your target audience sees that you are one of the premier thought leaders on a particular topic, they know that you know what you’re talking about, and the chances of getting them as a customer or investor increase significantly.
How does public relations help startups achieve their business goals?
In some cases, public relations campaigns can lead to customer acquisition. The effects of stories about you and your company are more direct, while the effects of thought leadership-style PR are more reputational and have long-term impacts.
Business leaders can track the success of their public relations strategy in a variety of ways. Some media outlets may allow you to plug your business with backlinks, and if so, you can use a tracking URL to determine the source of your traffic. Otherwise, you can add a question like “How did you hear about us?” to the purchase page for your product or service. Although not exhaustive, both methods at least give you a better idea of how well your PR strategy works.
The other financial benefit of PR is an uptick in investor confidence. Many startups are either looking to attract additional funding for growth or sell to a larger company as part of a merger or acquisition. Public relations can help business leaders achieve these goals.
If your accomplishments have gotten meaningful press coverage in top-tier outlets and industry-specific niche publications, it means that you are doing something right as a business leader. Investors trust media channels like Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch as the authoritative voices in the business world. If your name comes up in these places (for something good), they are more likely to trust you.
This is why public relations is crucial for startups. Business leaders must understand that public relations is an investment, and like any investment, it takes time to work with the right PR firm to pay off. However, with an effective PR strategy, the right PR professionals can attract customers and investors to your business, making public relations indispensable for any company looking to grow.
