When entrepreneurs turn to PR specialists, many have the same expectation: “Provide media coverage, and the business will grow.”
It’s clear where this expectation comes from: people see founders on magazine covers, products of companies announcing funding rounds, and in gift guides of major publications. From the outside, it may seem that PR is a direct path from media coverage to revenue. But that’s not the case.
Experience in the PR field shows that those who benefit the most from public relations are not necessarily the entrepreneurs with the biggest budgets, but those who understand what PR can actually do, what it cannot do, and what needs to be invested to make it work.
Here are five key points that every entrepreneur should understand before investing in PR:
1. PR is more than press releases
PR is not just about gathering links to articles.
Credible media coverage can strengthen a company’s online presence and give potential customers another reason to trust. It can also help establish expertise when searching for the company or founder’s name in search engines.
But if the entire PR strategy is built solely around publishing articles, that’s only part of the picture.
It’s important to consider where business is actually happening. A conference can put a founder in the same room with potential partners. An exhibition can create sales/distribution opportunities for a consumer brand. An industry award can introduce the company to other stakeholders.
For example, participating in a small business expo can lead to a number of valuable connections that ultimately help expand the business. That’s a successful PR outcome.
2. PR builds trust before securing sales
One press release is not a sales strategy.
A press release can inform about a product’s existence, an interview can explain the reasons for its creation, and a lengthy article can provide potential customers with more context about the company. But whether someone will make a purchase depends on many more factors than just seeing a name in an article.
Consumer behavior shows that people may learn about a company through an article, then visit its website, check reviews, social media pages, and competitors before making a decision. PR becomes part of that trust-building process.
3. Lack of news means lack of PR
This is one of the biggest reasons why PR campaigns lose momentum. Campaigns often slow down three or four months in because the company simply has nothing new to announce.
The initial task might be, for example, the launch of a new product in the fall, which provides a story. However, in the months leading up to the launch, it’s possible to introduce the founder, discuss the industry, and offer interviews, but ultimately offering the same story over and over becomes impossible.
A PR specialist cannot endlessly invent news. The company needs to provide content about how news impacts the economy, whether research has been conducted, whether significant milestones have been reached, or whether unexpected feedback has been received from customers.
These developments provide PR specialists with material to work with. A PR specialist can find the right angle, but the company must provide the foundation.
4. PR connections do not guarantee coverage
Relationships with journalists are important, but they are not enough. A journalist may know and trust the PR specialist, but still reject the pitch.
Journalists have an audience they must serve, editorial calendars, and editors they are accountable to. They are not obligated to publish a story just because the PR specialist is their acquaintance.
Entrepreneurs should pay attention not to how many “media friends” the PR specialist has, but whether that specialist understands how to craft a story that journalists can actually use.
5. PR should be measured by opportunities, not coverage
This is where the relationship between the PR specialist and the client can become complicated.
Clients want to see visible deliverables because they are paying for the service. But a published article cannot always be the sole metric of PR work because the final editorial decision belongs to the media, not the PR specialist.
For example, after weeks of work, edits, and negotiations on an op-ed, the editor may suggest publishing it only as sponsored content. If the client rejects that option, it may be the right decision, but the process still requires significant PR work.
The PR specialist researches opportunities, develops angles, pitches journalists, tracks progress, responds to editorial inquiries, revises materials, and negotiates.
Sometimes the result of that work is an article or interview, or just a connection that becomes useful months later. And sometimes, despite the efforts made, the opportunity does not materialize.
