There comes a time in every business’s living cycle when the company turns to public relations. Reasons may vary, but the most common cause is merely the fact that everybody seems to be doing it. Doing PR has become somewhat a must for every market player, but many of them often approach this subject without a clear understanding of why their business needs it. The most common misconception about PR is that any PR-related activities should inevitably lead to soaring worldwide popularity and long queues of clients waiting to sign off the highest cheques. As tempting as this picture may seem, such expectations may be harmful to the company and eventually jeopardize the real potential outcomes that a good PR strategy could bring them. Choosing an appropriate PR strategy with realistic goals can help you raise awareness about your business and products, gain the trust of potential partners, and even get better investment proposals – which is particularly important for startups that are just starting out. This is what I learned from my own experience working with such brands as Qiwi, Whirlpool, Jumeirah, Alrosa and many other major and tech brands in the industry. Key Things to Know About PR The effectiveness of PR activities cannot be measured by the number of leads. No specialist can guarantee you clients as a result of a particular media publication. PR is a long-term strategy. Not only do you often have to wait for weeks before your first headlines come out, but there is also a big preparation stretch that needs to be done prior to that. The PR specialist needs to study the company and its products, find and connect with the right journalists, pitch the articles and prepare the publications strategically to reach certain goals in the long run. All of that takes time. Key Steps to Take Before Investing In PR Define Your Company Goals and Understand How PR Can Help Decide what you are trying to achieve and whether it’s PR that is likely to solve your problems. Some goals that you may set for your PR activities are: Increase your media exposure and take over your industry niche to bring in more clients, and increase revenue, become the market leaders PR helps influence consumers’ behavior by communicating the brand’s value. However, it’s important to keep in mind that PR guarantees no immediate increase in clients and revenue flows. If the company is limited in its budget, it might be worth investing in other promotional activities instead: a marketing campaign or a fruitful collaboration with relevant influencers can generate results much faster. PR is a powerful instrument in the long run, so it would require more patience and significantly more investments. Appeal to potential partners and investors by creating a reliable, influential image of the company A portfolio of media publications is often needed to provide the company’s credibility to investors. Such articles may highlight the business’s growth, its increasing popularity, or generally showcase that it’s interesting enough to receive some media coverage. Promoting an HR-brand If the company is struggling with its hires, the goal of the business is to help more people learn about the company and become interested in its work opportunities. In this case, PR can help increase the company’s outreach to the audience of popular media outlets. Understand Your Expertise Before consulting any PR specialists, try to put down a few thoughts to answer the following questions: What is it that your company is most knowledgeable in? Who can be your speakers? What kind of expert advice can they share? If your business can’t offer any particular expertise, or you’re struggling to come up with the speakers, there are two ways to tackle this problem: Bring in an external expert or speaker (e.g. high-profile advisor in your industry) Choose other methods of promotion Decide on Your Hire Who will be doing your PR? Three options to consider are: Hire an in-house Head of PR (with a potential perspective of growing a whole PR department) Appoint a PR agency Sign up a freelance PR Manager for a certain amount of tasks When to Hire a Head of PR? The more work there is to do, the more likely your business needs one. A big company with a large product portfolio that strives to generate more news and engage with a broader audience would definitely benefit from an in-house specialist that fully concentrates on the brand. A Head of PR is someone who works for one particular company, which means they can handle a bigger workload and consequently produce more significant results. They are always at the very center of the company’s activities and stay on track of everything, thus generating more news hooks and press events. Benefits Fully immersed in the company Always on top of the news Generates news events Finds and hires all the necessary specialists and experts Has a deeper understanding of the company’s PR strategy and a personal interest in its success No limit on KPIs, since you’re an in-house expert Drawbacks May have narrower expertise due to specializing in a particular industry May be less responsive and adaptive to trends occurring in the markets different from theirs Has fewer chances to consult other specialists and compare the company’s activities to other cases If there is not enough work to do for a PR specialist, such a hire can barely be justified Might be less efficient due to less control, as all the KPIs are usually set by the Head of PR themselves When to Hire an Agency? If the company hasn’t grown big enough to consider creating its own PR department, it might be worth hiring contractors instead. However, agencies can be just as useful for bigger corporations once their in-house specialists no longer cope with the workload: in this case, bringing in some help from the agency can impressively maximize the company’s PR efforts. An example of a successful synergy between the company’s in-house PR specialists and contractors is when the first ones are handling the personal brands of the CEO, and the key speakers (e.g., by managing their appearance at key industry events), and the agency covers the KPIs in media publications. Benefits: Offers combined expertise of multiple specialists that can brainstorm together in particularly challenging cases Agency specialists are often highly professional and experienced, as many former Heads of PR continue their careers by opening their own agencies Provides a package of services provided by different specialists (including copywriters, editors, and designers) Own media contact base, personal contacts with journalists, and an ability to build a relationship with the right media in shorter timeframes KPI-oriented approach Drawbacks: Slower speed of response due to handling multiple clients Unless the news event is urgent, the whole process of pitching and preparing media publications can take more time Less integrated into the company and therefore less familiar with its products and activities When to Hire a Freelance PR Manager? This may be the best option for companies tight on budget, but still eager to start diving into PR. Benefits: Cost-friendly Allocates as much time per client as needed, as they have to guarantee some result to justify their service Drawbacks: Less services provided (including consultations) Harder to hire, as the proof of relevant experience is particularly important Decide on the Metrics to Evaluate Your PR Efforts There are a number of parameters that you can use to define the key KPIs for your PR performance. They may include: Number of media publications Audience outreach Quality of the audience Tone of the publications Choose Your Speakers We touched on this subject earlier when we talked about defining the company’s expertise. Now, it’s time to pay closer attention to the profiles of people who will be representing your business. Your speakers are those who… Have a particular expertise Share this expertise with a PR specialist in written form and/or audio recordings. These chunks of information are later transformed into media commentary and publications Usually, the main speakers are the top managers of the company and/or genuine industry experts within the team. If there are no suitable candidates to cope with this role onboard, a PR specialist can suggest bringing in an external expert. For example, a dating app startup can be represented by a popular psychologist. Shortlist Your Preferred Media Not every company needs to be featured in Forbes. Your company’s media needs should be determined by your business goals. For example, when working with the world’s leading diamond mining company Alrosa, we were mostly aiming at industry and luxury lifestyle media, the same media outlets were used for a 5-star hotel chain Jumeirah, including the travel outlets. But when working with fintech company Qiwi, national, business and finance media were used to get the most results for the brand. To Conclude Going through all these steps one by one will help you re-evaluate your PR needs and maximize the effect of your activities without splashing too much cash over nothing. We’re always all in for a startup-friendly approach!

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