Setting B2B PR Strategy

Why is public relations for startups important? How is PR different from marketing?

You need to educate the market – before you can get sales, your target market needs to understand the problem and how you solve it. If you’re a disruptor in a newer market, a PR program is especially important for educating the market about what you do and why it matters.

PR shapes perception, marketing caters to sales – PR and marketing can and should work hand in hand—but ultimately, marketing helps drive sales in your target market, while PR shapes perception, establishes expertise, secures press coverage, and builds relationships. PR also touches on customer experience and analyst relations to make sure all your messaging aligns.

When should an organization start to think about investing in PR efforts? What triggers the need for PR?

If DIYing, launch PR efforts when you have a newsworthy story – you’ll get a lot more traction from PR campaigns if you’re announcing a fundraising round, new product, feature or other milestone. PR efforts (internal or external) maximize earned media attention around milestones and accomplishments.

Early on, a PR firm might help you intermittently – if you’re hiring an outside PR firm at the seed stage, you might just leverage them for a press release or other one-off project that isn’t as comprehensive or expensive as an integrated PR approach.

Many companies professionalize PR at Series A – at this point, companies have the money for a PR firm and investors may want to see PR as part of a go-to-market strategy. Waiting till Series C or D means you might miss key opportunities to align your messaging and capitalize on your early momentum, or you may be relying on an overworked and under-resourced in-house employee for PR.

What are the different channels of PR content? How should you engage with each?

Contributed Content
What it is	Contributed articles authored by your company—think pieces and thought leadership.
How to find a good fit	Look at outlets that you know have a following in your target market. Find out if they take contributed content, their editorial calendar, and who to pitch.
Tips for leveraging it	– Get to know your target publication, its employees, and their policies well – Look up pitch guidelines for contributed content (many publications have these on their website) – Create content appropriate for the publication audience in terms of style and technical level – Contributed content has to be non-promotional, so you typically can’t reference your company—look at past examples to see what the publication allows
Do you need a PR firm?	Anyone can do these, even a pre-product founder—but it’s very time-consuming to handle yourself.

Media Relations/Interviews
What it is	Written or podcast interviews and news coverage of key employees or your company.
How to find a good fit	Look for publications and podcasts that are popular in your target market, where your competitors have been featured, and what reporters cover your beat. Don’t be afraid to branch out a little – you might get interviews in publications that will run stories that are adjacent to you.
Tips for leveraging it	– Research your target publications and tailor your pitches from a standard pitch template – Build a media list of places to send pitches (this takes hours) – If you don’t have a specific story, it’s very difficult to get coverage – Response to your pitches varies by how newsworthy your story is—you can make up a story but you have to have a story – Your piece is at the mercy of the news cycle—if it coincides with a globally – significant event, you may have to resubmit later – Build relationships—if you’re cozy with key reporters then they will be more amenable to your pitches
Do you need a PR firm?	Difficulty depends on the tier of media you pursue—your small hometown paper will likely run the post. A PR firm can help you get into higher-tier publications.

Rapid Response/Trendjacking/Newsjacking
What it is	Commenting on trending news while it happens through inbound requests for comment or outreach to journalists—you’re typically sending a quote to comment on a story adjacent to you.
How to find a good fit	Inbound: a journalist reaches out to a PR firm with pitched topics and asks for sources who can provide comment. Outbound: blanket the press with comments on a topic during a story.
Tips for leveraging it	– You have to send out a lot of comments to get a response – If you consistently supply interesting commentary to key journalists, you’ll build trust and get more consistent requests – Services like Help A Reporter Out (freemium) or Qwoted (more expensive) send requests for comments regularly. – The only mention of your company will read something like “John, the CEO of Acme Corp.” – It’s non-promotional but provides evidence that you’re an expert in your field
Do you need a PR firm?	You need to have a PR firm to successfully execute inbound. If you try outbound, it’s a lot of time for a few hits.

Awards
What it is	Awards vary from low-prestige pay-to-play to high-prestige industry recognition for excellence.
How to find a good fit	Look for industry awards that seem legitimate, respected people are posting, and competitors have won. An unsolicited email saying “We’ve selected you among our top 50 and you make the finals if you pay money to be a sponsor,” is typically a mass mailing that everyone in your industry has gotten.
Tips for leveraging it	– Awards are typically easier to win for later-stage companies unless the award is a “best-emerging” type accolade – Even legitimate awards often have an application fee – Pay-to-play is not as effective as earned. It’s fine to start with them—but look for ones that are selective in who they let pay and where you get additional benefits like press announcements – Create public-facing information to build your reputation before you get in front of judges – Run your submission by customers or your CAB to get input on whether it properly articulates the value of the product – Do research on judging committees before submitting – The primary goal is to position your company as a valuable service and product and build your reputation—don’t do anything to undermine it – Watch out for free awards applications that come with a “licensing fee” if you win—these may be far more expensive than paid applications
Do you need a PR firm?	Some companies with PR firms still handle awards themselves because they have a mature Product team that wants to go into the technical details. PR firms can help your company with extensive application processes.

Speaking Engagements
What it is	Talks at professional conferences or podcasts. They can be industry, academic, or business leader-focused.
How to find a good fit	– Evaluate the attendee list of events for relevant companies – Look at event sponsors and try to identify competitors – Some conferences have a regional circuit of events with different target markets – Alumni network events are good opportunities to build your speaking portfolio – For podcasts, find out which ones have large followings in your industry. Look for trending lists or 5-star reviews.
Tips for leveraging it	– Look for events with an open call for speakers – If the only current speakers are name-brand executives, you probably won’t get in without paying (and maybe not then) – Top-tier conferences require exponentially more effort to apply and you still might not get in – but the credibility you gain may be worth it – The later stage your company is, the more invitations you’ll get to better conferences – A small event with 35 attendees can have a powerful impact because of 1:1 networking – Podcasts are a great way to establish your speaking reputation if you sound intelligent (many conferences want to see past speaking engagements – podcasts often count) – If you’re a vendor, top-tier events typically require sponsorship, which can cost $10K-$100K. Some conferences negotiate on price; the top ones generally won’t.
Do you need a PR firm?	PR firms will have a network of podcasts that they can help tailor your pitch to. If you’re an established speaker, you can handle without a PR firm.

What are the steps to run a PR campaign?

Figure out what your goal is – your PR program’s messaging, relationship building, and platforms shift depending on goals and stage. Early-stage startups should build awareness and position themselves as experts. Late-stage startups may target buyers, sponsor publications and try to get their name in front of particular audiences.
Research the companies and news outlets in your space – look at where competitors are featured, talk to your customer advisory board, figure out what target buyers read and their decision-making publications (e.g., if someone sees a cybersecurity company in a cybersecurity news site like Dark Reading, it’s more likely they’ll give credence to it than a note they see in Readers Digest).
Build a publication and reporter list – build a media list tracking all the relevant information—outlets, key reporters, contact information, relevant articles published by that outlet, prior touchpoints between you, etc. You’re creating a CRM of publications but you’ll likely do it in a spreadsheet. It informs how you pitch and helps avoid gaffes that sour relationships.
Pinpoint your company’s expertise and its spokespeople – identify the areas of knowledge and best spokespeople on your team who you will be pitching to platforms as your figurehead—it could be the CEO, someone smart on the product team, or different people on different beats.
Tailor a pitch – you’ll likely have a couple of different pitch templates and you’ll personalize them. Your pitch might offer demos to bloggers and influencers if you’re getting started. The beginning of the pitch should always tell the journalist why you’re reaching out to them specifically – why is this particular story relevant to their coverage or interests? Doing a bit of research to personalize the pitch and find the reporter most likely to cover you makes it less transactional and gets better results.
Evaluate different programs and time commitments – if you’re doing an internal PR program, you’re probably not going to be pitching everyone all the time—you might pitch when you have a major story coming up, you might pitch podcasts once a week, or if a major award is approaching you might prioritize that.
Repeat, potentially moving up to more prestigious outlets – be persistent with your PR efforts and tweak what you’re doing to get better results—PR rewards consistent engagement with its mechanisms.

Funding Pitch template – use this to pitch a story about your company to a media outlet:

“Hi [MEDIA CONTACT],

[Short, customized introduction based on their outlet/what they cover – e.g. “First off, I really enjoyed your recent article on chatbots. Since you cover conversational AI, I thought you might want to know about an upcoming story from my company/client.”]

My [COMPANY/CLIENT] will be announcing a significant funding round tomorrow. [COMPANY], a hot conversational AI startup [based out of office locations if prominent or interesting], will be announcing a funding round of $X million on [DATE] at 5:00 am PT.

[one-line sentence of what the company does, e.g. “With its proprietary low-code/no-code platform, [COMPANY] streamlines development and improves UX and customer retention.” “Similar to how Slack revolutionized office collaboration, [COMPANY] transforms the way that [PROCESS ]works.”]

They participated in [ACCELERATOR] in 2022 and are an alum of [prestigious events, e.g. YCombinator, Disrupt Startup Battlefield]. They previously received recognition as [a Gartner Cool Vendor, other awards/honors].

Please let me know if you would be interested in reviewing the embargoed press release or speaking with [NAME<LinkedIn profile linked>], the founder of [COMPANY] or [PARTNERS].”

Authority/Expert Pitch Template – use this to pitch commentary on an adjacent news story to a media outlet:

“Hi [MEDIA CONTACT],

[Short, customized introduction based on their outlet/what they cover].

Since you cover [SUBJECT], you might be interested in talking to [PERSON], who is a former CISO, the founder of [STARTUP], and an expert on [INDUSTRY SUBJECTS]. He has an impressive background and would be happy to share his insights from years of experience as a CISO at some of the world’s top companies.

He would love to talk with you about exciting developments in cybersecurity and what they mean for the future of the industry. If you would be interested in interviewing [PERSON], please let me know, and I’d be happy to arrange the details.

I’m including some additional information about [PERSON] and his background below.”

What can you do to increase the chances of a media outlet or individual journalist picking up a piece about your company?

Research and tailor your pitch – your pitches should reflect any research you’ve done, and end up in the correct journalist’s inbox. Don’t use blanket emails and avoid gaffes like emailing an entire publication or the same reporter (occasional follow-ups are fine on a single email thread).

Personal relationships – utilize your personal and alumni network to connect with any relevant contacts in your network—you’ll likely get a warmer reception from them than you will from cold-emailing.

Produce and capitalize on timely stories – it’s a lot more difficult to get coverage of a story you pulled out of thin air or a thinly disguised product pitch. Identify and leverage the PR value of your company’s milestones and newsworthy events.

If you work with a PR firm, what will the relationship look like?

Initial ramp-up interview – they will do an internal messaging and marketing review to understand your target audience and goals. They’ll review your existing messaging, your core ideas, technology, industry, and previous results.

Sync communications with the internal team – they’ll meet with your internal PR or marketing team to create a unified communications strategy. They’ll look for any existing reporter relationships and evaluate whether your messaging works and how it compares to competitors.

Review abstracts – The PR firm will work up abstracts for your review, based on their understanding of your company. From there, they’ll work with your company to refine, talk to your experts that will be pitched, and create bios, photos, and company assets (logos, branding, etc.) that the media might ask for.

Hold weekly or bi-weekly meetings – regular meetings keep both abreast of updates from each other and provide an opportunity to unify messaging.

How do you source and evaluate firms?

Source firms via word of mouth – talking to your network and investors about who they work with—connecting with their PR firms can lead to engagements or referrals to more relevant PR firms.

Evaluate a PR firm on:

Alignment with your team framework – some startups have legal, structural, or political considerations that a PR firm needs to be able to work around to make sure you get the best experience and most effective solution.
Alignment with your timeline- not every PR firm has a quick ramp-up. Some firms have messaging workshops that last for months—find one that can meet your needs.
Client references – talk to other clients that use the PR firm and get feedback on their results and approach.
Look for a PR firm that serves your niche – you need a PR firm that understands your industry somewhat—if they’ve only worked with B2C companies in the past and you’re B2B, or they position themselves in a niche you’re not part of, that’s a bad sign.
Early results – if after six months messaging help is all you get and you’re not sure what your PR firm does, that could be a sign you need to move on.

Who should be involved in the creation and execution of your PR initiatives?

Internal PR – anyone who handles PR duties on your team should align their efforts with your external PR help—they might be the PR firm’s primary point of contact at your company.

Marketing – marketing should work with external PR to ensure that they’re pushing messaging that’s unified (but not identical) with your PR function.

Spokespeople – whoever is the public-facing voice for your company and your messaging needs to work with PR on their content and bookings.

How do you maximize the benefits of the press coverage that your PR does get?

Once you hit a critical mass (4-5 hits), add a “News” page to your website and share on social media – when you have enough press that it serves as a signal of legitimacy for your company, make it accessible to customers. This is external validation of your claims—even if your company or employee wrote the article, it got published.

PR efforts produce compounding gains – your PR efforts don’t just increase recognition among customers and investors—they’ll produce easier and better PR results in the future. Published content produces trust among journalists; if they can find past coverage of your company, they’ll be more likely to cover it in the future.

How can PR firms help you with Analyst Relations?

PR firms often have pre-existing relationships with analysts – PR firms can provide introductions and set up meetings with industry analysts in their network that you may not have received independently.

PR can help with preparation and briefing notes – messaging for an industry analyst needs to depart from your typical messaging to customers. PR firms can provide in-depth briefing notes to help you prepare for specific analysts, and review and refine materials and messaging for your meeting.

Help position your product in a favorable category – PR firms can help you understand positioning feedback from analysts, and help with messaging positioning and placement in favorable categories. PR firms have the media monitoring required to understand the sentiment in various categories.

What are the most important pieces to get right?

Messaging should convey the material potential of your product – a lot of companies focus on the technology, but what matters to your customer or buyer is how the product will make their life better. Your messaging should explain the product’s impact on your target audience, and what your company believes in and can speak to with passion.

Be genuine – journalists can sniff out marketing language. If you’re hiding something, they’re trained to look into it. You need to genuinely believe in your message before you tailor the exact wording to your audience—the heart of it should be true and speak to the potential of your company.

What are common pitfalls?

Don’t be a jerk – no matter how important or amazing your company is, you need to have humility. Don’t enter into a conversation with journalists with the mindset that you’re doing them a favor by telling them something. Be respectful of their time.

Selling the wrong story to the wrong person – you may have one main message, but you shouldn’t blanket it. You can have four or five stories for different markets. Make sure that you’re not getting too narrow with a general publication or too broad with an industry publication.

Scooping your own PR program – if you use a PR firm, keep them up to date on company developments. Don’t scoop them with your own story. They can be a really great resource to help amplify the impact of the story you have.