Creating Robust Strategies For Start-ups

Establishing a business is no easy feat. There are manifold things that take up space in one’s mind, right from arranging for and managing funds to knowing precisely what the customers are looking for. To bring one’s business in the limelight, marketing and public relations play a pivotal role. If done the right way, PR can give a company stellar results and would utilize only a miniscule amount of the total budget set aside for marketing.

Basically, PR is imperative for everyone, be it individuals or organizations.  It can be understood as a social effort in furnishing a polished image amongst the wider community that would help develop companies. PR comes with its own set of benefits. It helps in seeking investors or making funding announcements. Funding process is one of the most crucial stages for early-age start-ups. The role of PR is essential for building the company’s image so that it attracts more investors. PR announcements help in the launch of latest products and services as well as works immensely for driving business growth. As a growing company, start-ups need great sales figures, thus PR helps improve the company’s reputation and cement an image that develops trust between companies and customers.

PR encourages companies to take the plunge for international expansion. The role of public relations in building and sustaining the company’s reputation cannot be undermined and helps tremendously in the growth and development of the company itself. International expansion requires long-term communication strategy to be carried out by PR firms for start-ups. Therefore, public relations has proven to be an effective way of telling a brand’s story and printing that image in the mind of the customers. To put things in perspective, studies have shown that it is almost 90% more productive than other advertising channels.

For a start-up, one of their main goals is to construct a positive brand image and reputation. The PR firms for start-ups help raise more awareness and enable business owner to have greater control over how the company is perceived by the general public, media, customers and the industry at large. When done right, this awareness turns into faith, thus scaling up leads, profits and success. Despite all the benefits it offers, PR makes it into a young company’s radar a little too late. Developing valuable relationships with influencers and reporters is something that the company should get to from day one. PR is an investment for the long term, and hence needs to be an integral part of every start-up’s growth agenda.

Here's why start-ups need a robust PR strategy:

Helps Build Thought Leadership

Most founders lack clarity on how PR really works. PR is like a bridge between the brand and its intended audience. The media coverage helps the brand communicate with the audience and persuade them in a positive direction, so that they are prompted to engage with the brand in some way. Several stakeholders are involved in the entire process – spokespersons, stock analysts, influencers, investors, industry insiders and experts, staff, customers and even competitors. And as a business, having control over the minds of all stakeholders together is not possible. This is where PR comes in as it helps a brand’s voice be heard and build a thought leadership for it in the industry.

Builds Brand Credibility

Advertising gives one control over the graphics as well as the exact placement of the ad. But in PR, the brand communication depends minutely on the relationship shared with the journalist who would be according the media coverage to the company. To authenticate it, validation is required from the industry experts. Once the audience reads the coverage that the brand gets, they must take its products and services as being worthwhile and show interest, unlike the ads that they just look at briefly.  This way audience builds a trust in the brand’s offerings which, in turn, builds brand credibility.

Helps Develop a Personal Connect with the Audience

PR, at the outset, has a personal touch to it as the communication is direct from the horse’s mouth. The audience learns about the business and personal side of the founder which enables it to directly relate with the brand. Start-ups can connect with the audience directly and build a circle of people who share common interests. Great brands come to life by developing and nurturing strong relationships with the influencers and audiences. These relations can make or break a business’s clients, hence trust and faith are paramount.

Tool for Building Brand Advocacy

Public relations has an essential role to play in strengthening a start-up’s credibility. The various trusted intermediaries act as brand advocatesby publishing their opinion in the media which strengthens brand image. The consumers are usually bombarded by unnecessary advertising messages and hence through PR, the message filters out and declutters the unwanted communication that they receive. As a tool, PR must be used for sharing important messages that reiterate the brand’s story through compelling writing and storytelling skills. This helps a start-upknow its own needs and align it with the needs of the audience so that the business and its messages fall in sync.

PR Goes Beyond Business

A start-up’s relations with its stakeholders does not always have to be about business. PR helps provide an inside-out approach about businesses to the audience and helps solve issues by recommending their products and services. PR firms for start-ups help the companies be seen doing good because once the stakeholders lose interest they will move onto the competitors. The best PR firms for start-ups help the latter evaluate what is newsworthy and will help them stay relevant. This way PR makes brands scale new heights.

Emergency Exit

The best PR firms for start-ups help leverage the reactive side of PR for the purposes of crisis control when negative publicity takes place. As a founder, one obviously hopes for the best, but they need to even prepare for the worst. When running a story, one needs to be ready for all kinds of feedback. It could be anything – data leak, security issues, a death taking place within the company, or probably an unexpected product malfunction.

PR firms for start-ups prepare an exit strategy for situations that create media buzz. In such situations, the founder needs to be ready with answers that they will have to give for tough questions which they might be asked.

PR – A Must for Entrepreneurs

Additionally, PR firms for start-ups will help in negotiation for exclusives and magazine covers, and in organizing interviews, trade shows and exhibits. The PR professionals act as intermediaries and work towards the delivery of a message to the relevant audience, to create awareness, bring acceptance and drive the sales of a product or service when it becomes available. 

Media Mantra is the best PR firm for start-ups in India. Commanding a solid track record of sharing stories in the media that highlight the growing success of the start-up industry, Media Mantra has contributed towards bolstering the position of various start-ups.

Summing Up

It’s a no-brainer that to grow, a startup requires effective and consistent promotion – and there are few things that will give an organization the boost that it needs as profitably as a press coverage will do. This is because PR converts and generates conversion rates way more than advertising does. Hence, start-ups need to adopt a proactive approach towards PR for their own success.