Three Takeaways of Doing PR for Startups

By Cara McAteer, Supervisor at PRLab

As a PR practitioner you may find yourself with the opportunity of having a super innovative, trendy, and unique startup company as your client. Helping a startup build their communication efforts from the ground up can be very rewarding and exciting, however, it can also pose real challenges. Here are three things that are universally applicable to all startups, to keep in mind before you begin your PR work:

1. It’s not just PR, it’s IMC. To get themselves off the ground, startups needs to explore the use of many promotional tools, and make sure they are working together in harmony. Public relations practitioners need to understand the power of integrating communications approaches and need to be prepared to put this concept to work for their startup. While writing press releases, pitching stories, or hosting press events all still may be relevant to a startup company’s communication efforts, don’t expect that your PR work is limited to traditional efforts. In successfully building the startup’s brand and value, IMC is an important approach to coordinate communication efforts across multiple channels. Therefore, expect to have to dig deep into your toolbox and be ready to implement tactics such as blogging, search engine optimization research, or writing copy for email marketing campaigns.

2. Be Flexible. By definition, a startup company is one that is likely to experience growth at a very fast rate. This inevitably may call for changes to the original PR plan along the way. During your time working with a startup, especially one in its early stages, anything can happen. Target audiences, goals, and even structure are subject to change, especially when growth is happening so quickly. The PR pro needs to remember to stay flexible and be able to shift efforts in a new direction in order to better server the needs of the startups vision.

3. Don’t Get Discouraged. When working for a newly developed startup, there’s a good chance you are the first one doing their PR. You may have to come up with tactics from scratch, which leaves nothing to fall back on, and no previous examples as guidance. Further, startups usually have limited connections with the media or little manpower to stir up good press. Don’t let the newness of the business, a small budget, company changes, or a disorganized structure discourage you and your ability to produce great work. Be realistic with the PR goals of your startup and if one strategy doesn’t work, get creative and try something else. Remember, all big companies started off small. They too had to go through countless trials and tribulations to get where they are today.