4 Questions That Need Answering Before You Hire A PR Agency For Your Startup
4 Questions To ask yourself before you hire a pr agency for your new business…
Just starting your business? There’s so much advice on every aspect of sales and marketing that it’s very easy to get confused and overwhelmed with all the options available to you.
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PR can be a valuable starting strategy for many brands, but it’s definitely pays to know when the time is right for you – for your brand, your resources and your budget.
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This week on the blog, we’re discussing *when* a new business should engage a professional PR agency. You may be surprised by our thoughts, so keep reading to get our honest, unbiased advice…
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Let’s get down to it…
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Timing is everything.
Here at In The Bag PR, we see a range of businesses at various stages of growth.
And while we love to help people share their message with the world, we’re the first to say that PR isn’t right for absolutely everyone from the get-go.
Before you start working with a PR agency, make sure you can answer these 5 questions, so you can be sure timing is working for you, not against you:
- “Why am I doing PR?” When you’re setting up a business, absolutely everyone will have an opinion on what you should do to market it. Some people swear by traditional PR, but be aware that it might not be the best way to spend your startup budget. Be careful who you listen to: take advice from people you trust who have direct experience of your industry and target market. Don’t do PR because you ‘think you should’ – do it because you think it will work for you. Useful link: Scared Of PR? You Need To Read This…
- “Can I afford PR?” This may seem like a very obvious question, but sometimes it can be overlooked. Typically, PR success comes from a consistent approach and building relationships up over time. Sure, some brands can have runaway hits with the first round of press releases, but we wouldn’t be doing our job if we said that every brand will explode onto the scene in month 1. When you come to investigate PR services, choose an agency that will set goals with you and work to a strategy. This will help you manage your budget and your expectations.
- “Is my business ready for PR?” There’s so much to do in a new business that sometimes the list seems never ending. We rarely take clients that haven’t got their website finished, had their professional photography & product shots done, and haven’t defined their message and brand story. Sure, it would be easy to take the fee and do the work anyway, but ultimately the media isn’t too interested in a half-done business. Build a strong foundation, then start your PR campaign.
- “Am I happy with my product / service? Is this the ‘final’ version?” There’s nothing more frustrating (for you, for us, and especially for the media!) than to embark on a widespread PR campaign only to change key details of your product or service 3 months down the line. Even if the changes you make are in the best interest of the product and your target market, you will have essentially ‘lost’ 3 months worth of work. Journalist contacts can also lose patience pretty quickly if the goalposts keep moving around, so it’s in the best interest for your media credibility to pick one key message and run with it. If you’re not 100% sure, wait.
To your new business success!
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