Would you like to raise your business’s profile or level up yourself as a thought leader? Want to build credibility and brand awareness with your target audiences?
Public relations (PR) helps companies and individuals earn media coverage, burnish their positive reputation, and even attract new customers. That’s why it’s wise for business and industry leaders to hire a PR agency.
This guide explains everything you need to know about finding the right PR firm, vetting them, and getting the most out of what they offer.
What public relations and media relations are
The purpose of doing PR, which is also referred to as media relations, is to get media placements for you or your brand. PR strategies are different from advertising or marketing campaigns, however.
Instead of paying to run an ad, PR positions businesses at the forefront of their industries. These tactics boost brand reputation by giving spokespeople opportunities to display leadership and goodwill toward the public. This serves to make viewers — including tech pros and top investors — feel connected to your company.
In this way, PR campaigns often find ways to insert an organization’s spokespeople into current discourse about public affairs. While media strategies like these have the potential to bring in new business, they generally do so indirectly by shaping public perception. The main thrust of PR efforts is to demonstrate your business’s expertise, thought leadership, and ethical character.
The benefits of startup PR
Doing this kind of holistic PR has notable benefits for tech startups and other high-growth companies in particular. Since PR professionals focus on making your company look good, they help startups gain credibility. That’s why hiring a PR agency is an essential part of investor relations.
According to one classic study, new businesses that do PR campaigns in their first three months are 30 percent more successful in raising funding than those that neglect to do so. In addition, 78 percent of survey participants were so impressed by their outcomes that they intended to use some of the funds they had raised to do further PR programs.
Research also shows that using PR buoys product launches in particular. In their book “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR,” father-daughter co-authors Al and Laura Ries investigated 91 new product launches. When campaigns utilized PR strategies, they were more successful than those that relied solely on marketing. For that reason, the Rieses state that PR is a better investment than advertising for most businesses.
If you’re part of a startup looking to hire a top PR firm, the first thing to understand is that not every public relations agency is the same.
Spotting the best PR firm for your startup
High-impact public relations requires PR companies to maintain excellent relationships with journalists, editors, and media outlets. Since reporters have a wide variety of beats, companies should look for PR teams that already have an established track record with the kind of business they do.
For instance, if you have a high-growth tech business or venture-backed startup, then you should look for an agency that has done strategic public relations for similar enterprises. Ask to see relevant case studies. If it turns out they’ve never done technology PR, they probably aren’t the best partner for tech companies, and you should look elsewhere.
A great strategic PR team should also ask you what media outlets you would like to appear in. While they might not have contacts in those specific places already, they will make those partnerships a priority and start working to establish effective media contacts on your behalf.
The same is true if your digital marketing or content marketing campaign would be well served by an influencer marketing component. Full-service public relations agencies will offer social media management, immediately identifying and approaching the right social media influencers to conduct community relations outreach for you.
How to hire the best PR agencies
After you’ve identified a handful of top-tier PR companies positioned to help you meet your PR goals, it’s time to research their fees and find one that would give them the most value for your buck.
Many traditional media relations firms for startups require an expensive one-time fee up-front along with a long-term commitment. Don’t assume that tech PR services have to involve the legacy firms and be expensive, however. Recently, startup PR firms have begun offering lower prices and more flexible relationships. Newer agencies offer a next-generation approach, giving fledgling businesses access to effective media relations campaigns for less.
Once you’ve hired the right firm, however, there are still things you should do to get the most out of this key partnership.
Get the most out of your public relations firm
Many startups don’t take full advantage of the public relations services they have paid for. This usually happens when the company’s leadership just wants to write a check to the PR firm and have nothing more to do with this part of their strategic communications plan.
This is a big mistake. Startups aiming to reap the unique rewards of doing PR should understand that the quality of public relations and content marketing campaigns depends on the client being willing to collaborate with their PR professionals. This means spending time each week communicating with your tech PR firm, doing interviews, and answering questions from journalists.
The more insight your team can get into you, your business, and your industry, the more they will be able to craft creative PR pitches that get the media’s attention. The more journalists’ questions you are willing to respond to, the greater your chances of earning mentions in the media.
Make 2025 the year your business grew through PR services
Helping startups gain their feet and take flight — that’s the PR game in a nutshell. Many players in the PR industry offer free consultations, so there’s no reason not to explore what PR could do for you. Create PR success today — book a call!
