How Startups Can Benefit From A Solid PR Program

If you're like a lot of startups, your marketing budget is extremely tight, or perhaps even non-existent. And if you do have some money to spend, your first thought is likely to put that money toward something that seems easy, like AdWords or maybe even a small social media buy. And while those can be good tactics to generate sales, chances are they'll have a small short-term benefit, fizzle out, and then you'll be back where you started. 

Every business is different, but if you're interested in refining your messaging, building your brand, and generating buzz that doesn't die when your budget does, you may want to consider investing in a PR program first. PR doesn't just mean press release - it means public relations, but it's become so much more than that. PR is about the way you communicate your business or your product not only to external stakeholders like media, customers and partners, but also to your internal stakeholders like employees, investors and board members. 

A good PR person is a good communicator, and above all, a good writer. They should get to know your business, how it works, and what makes it hum. They should help you refine your messaging: How do you talk about your brand? Is it the same way that your sales team talks about it? Your developers? Can you explain what you do to your mom? To my mom? They'll help you develop the written content you need to use throughout your marketing channels. Do you have an intern running your Twitter account? Great, but maybe they could use some guidance. A good PR person can help you with that. Ever written a press release or wondered how you competitor got that profile on the local news/tech pub/trade media? Either they got lucky, or they had public relations support. A good PR person will find those newsworthy nuggets and use media relations to reach out to targeted media that might be interested in covering your business.

PR isn't just about spin or managing public opinion in a crisis. Yes we do that too, but if you haven't engaged someone to manage your communications before a crisis hits, you'll likely find it's too little, too late. A solid, wholistic marketing program incorporates a variety of paid and unpaid media across channels, but if you're on a tight budget, want to boost your visibility and don't know where to put your dollars, consider a solid public relations partner. 

What Makes You Think You're a Writer?

There are writers, and then there are writers.

You know, the real kind. The kind that write incredible novels, or screenplays, or tomes on the future of technology. 

I write a mommy blog. I write website copy for my clients. I write press releases, and white papers and bylines and sometimes I even write thought pieces on expectations of women in motherhood.

But rarely, very rarely, do I refer to myself as a writer. 

Instead, I say I'm a communications consultant. Or that I do PR. Sometimes I say I'm a mommy blogger, but only in the right company, because you know, people are assholes about mommy bloggers. 

But if I look at everything I do, and everything I love and care about, it comes back to my love of the written word. I am a WRITER. Why am I so afraid to say it then?

Is it because I don't, like Ernest Hemingway did, sit down every day with a pencil and write one true sentence? 

Is it because I don't, like Stephen King does, sit down every day and bust out 10 pages? 

Is it because I don't, like Virginia Woolf did, spend two hours every morning writing? 

Is it because some days, lots of days, I don't even write? 

No. I write every single day. It's just that lots of days, what I write is, well, it's boring. You might say dry. I enjoy what I do as much as the next technology geek, but sometimes you have to admit, the average Joe isn't exactly yearning to read about mobile phone app usage. Or my grocery list. Or the cover letter I helped my sister write.

So is it what you write about then that makes you a writer? Am I comparing myself to lots of dead white men (some alive, ok) who are granted, wonderful writers, but don't occupy the same space in the world that I do? Or fiction greats to whom I couldn't ever possibly compare?

Is it because I don't have the confidence to say I'm a writer?

I am a woman. I am a professional, and a mom, and I watch The Good Wife on TV. I spend my days obsessing over work, whether my kids are happy, and trying to squeeze in time to walk the dog. I sit on conference calls and shop online all while eating lunch and thinking about what I should cook for dinner. 

I do all of these things, and all the while I write.

I may not be Virginia Woolf, or even Jennifer Weiner. But here I am writing, today at least. 

That's what makes me think I'm a writer.  

How to Write Messages That People Actually Care About

Marketing today is big.

Big data, big degrees, big programs, big money.

Digital, content, direct, inbound, outbound, external communications, internal communications, social, media relations, there are a million ways to slice and dice a marketing program today. Yet at the core of it all, there’s the message.

You can have the best marketing program in the world, but if you don’t know what you’re talking about, no one else is going to either.

In large and small businesses alike, getting everyone to agree on the messaging is a difficult proposition. The CEO says one thing. Sales says something else. Marketing wants everybody to say something completely different.

So what’s the secret to getting to a message that everyone can use, and that people actually care about?

1. Get everyone involved. I mean everyone. It’s human nature to want to be heard. Involving members from every team in message development may seem tedious and lead to a longer process, but if everyone from the technology team to sales has some level of involvement in the process, they’ll be more likely to embrace the final product.
2. Once you have your inputs, develop a storyline. Just like in your high school English class, think about the 5 W’s. Who, what when where, why. And just like in your high school English class, the “why” is still the clincher. Whatever you’re trying to say, remember to convey why it matters.
3. After your basic storyline is in place, tease out your key messages. You can use a messaging map or other brainstorming technique to do this, but make sure your messages can translate into tactical usage so that when you go to implement your big marketing campaigns, they work across all platforms.
4. Go back to your stakeholders. Once your messages are clearly defined, make sure everyone who was initially involved in the process is on board and excited about the final result.

Building a brand is no easy task, and with a multitude of marketing communications platforms, it can be overwhelming. So take a deep breath, pound your coffee, pull out your moleskin and get to work. Once you have messages that people actually care about, the rest is just details.*

*Shhhhh don’t tell design I said that.