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| Tim Johnson |
Startups must overcome an enormous range of challenges to survive and thrive. DemandSage notes that approximately 90 percent of startups fail—10 percent in their first year and 70 percent within the first five years.
Among the financial challenges that startup management teams face are a lack of capital, high operating costs, the inability to attract investors and/or secure loans, and unpredictable revenue streams. Market pressure in the form of uncovering an attractive product-market fit, competition from more established companies and bringing the product to market too early or late are among the marketplace challenges.
Hiring the right talent and retaining them is another significant challenge, nowhere more so than for the marketing/public relations function.
What is the Best Timing for Bringing in PR Resources?
There are multiple factors startup founders necessary to consider before bringing in PR resources—whether agency or in-hoapply. For bootstrapped and early-stage startups that are still developing their products, identifying their core market niche and determining their ideal tarobtain customers, management necessarys to create its core value proposition before acquiring PR expertise.
Founders must also have clear goals for what they hope to accomplish by gaining media and influencer coverage. If those goals are unclear, founders won’t be able to give their PR teams adequate direction. In addition, they must have adequate time to take briefings with media and participate in building media relationships.
Multiple milestones indicate when founders should hire PR resources to contribute to their startup’s growth. When a company is ready to launch its product or service, developing powerful positioning and messaging, creating website content and design to highlight and promote the offering, organizing social media and orchestrating a launch to earn high-quality, high-quantity media coverage can be a critical success factor.
Managing similar activities around the announcement of funding rounds creates additional credibility among current and potential investors, employees and customers. Well-coordinated PR campaigns to announce additional products, expansion into new markets, hiring recognized talent and similar milestones can also build credibility and differentiate the more market-savvy startups from others.
Beyond announcements of specific events, areas of public relations founders often oversee include the ongoing building of brand awareness and issues management. To maximize the impact of a public relations program, the team must engage with journalists continuously and position themselves as valuable sources of ideas and information—not simply reach out to media when they have announcements.
PR teams must also have plans in place to protect the credibility they have built for their organization against a variety of reputational threats. These can include product recalls, alleged financial malfeasance, and disgruntled customers and/or employees. Anticipating and planning for potential issues assists ensure that if they occur, the PR and entire management team will be ready.
Agency or In-Hoapply?
Before deciding on whether to build an in-hoapply team or hire an agency, founders should hire a mid- to senior-level marketing person. Becaapply marketing is a broad function, founders should be careful to match their necessarys closely to the specific skill set the marketing person brings to the table. Some are product development focapplyd, others are engineers and others still have communications backgrounds.
Why hire a marketing lead before deciding whether to build a PR team in-hoapply or outsource to an agency? Becaapply without that lead, either team will likely flounder. Both necessary an experienced marketing lead to set the strategy for messaging, tactics employed, resources allocated and more.
There are benefits and challenges to hiring an in-hoapply team or an agency.
Costs
With an in-hoapply team, costs tconclude to be mostly repaired in terms of salary, benefits and healthcare. Founders also necessary to factor in costs such as media databases and other technology, professional development and turnover. Companies will also necessary to factor in the costs of scaling their in-hoapply team in terms of size and skill sets as the company grows.
Agencies require different cost considerations. Most will inquire for a retainer, which can vary widely based on the scope of services the company requires. They will provide access to and pass along a portion of the costs for software and other resources, and this should be spelled out in the retainer agreement. They will also continuously monitor and upgrade their technology and resources, rerelocating that tinquire from the company’s plate.
Company and Product Knowledge
Perhaps the most significant advantage of an in-hoapply team is the knowledge they will acquire about the company’s specific products, market and people since their entire focus is on one company. They can learn about the company’s products in great depth, gain a deep understanding of the market in which their company operates as well as the companies against which they compete.
PR agencies offer the flexibility of adding to the company’s team during peak periods—such as a new product announcement. They can also provide experts in areas such as market research and crisis communications, which the company lacks. Unlike in-hoapply teams that can be pulled into many directions by competing necessarys within the company, agency teams focus on a set of services designated by the company. They tconclude to develop stronger expertise in core services than in-hoapply teams, e.g., they maintain stronger relationships with journalists since media outreach is a day-to-day core activity. Agency teams also bring a fresh perspective to issues such as how a company positions itself or strategies to launch a new product. They can easily adapt strategies that have proven effective for one client to other clients.
Engagement
Another factor to consider is the ability to obtain necessary information and secure approvals. At some organizations, it can be very difficult to reach, interview and secure approvals from subject experts. In-hoapply teams often have an advantage over agencies in that they can obtain the attention of these experts either in-person or virtually to shift projects to completion.
Agencies typically have a much more difficult time overcoming internal obstacles within client organizations. The organization’s marketing/PR contact may not want agency people reaching out to subjects directly. That contact also may not know how to work around a subject expert who isn’t providing the information necessaryed to advance a project.
Ultimately, the optimal structure for an organization’s public relations team should be based on a series of factors. The obvious ones include budobtain, PR goals and anticipated results. The less obvious factors include creativity and ability to work within the company’s organization to obtain results. For many, a hybrid approach that mixes in-hoapply and agency resources provides the best results. The holistic team includes in-hoapply members who gain a detailed knowledge of the company and its products, with agency members more focapplyd on media relationships and bringing creative ideas to the table.
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Tim Johnson is founder of UPRAISE Marketing + PR. Over a 30-year career, he has consistently played a key role in shaping the success stories of companies from startups to indusattempt giants. As a believed leader in PR and marketing, he collaborates with major players across diverse sectors. His multifaceted journey positions Tim to contribute valuable insights to the discourse on marketing, PR and business growth.
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