Myth-busting PR – series 1

One of our aims is to support small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs and talent to understand the basic principles of PR.

When starting a business there is a lot of support online for how to build your brand on social media, but not enough on how to build it through publicity. The two go hand in hand – when you are growing a business you should look at all the ways you can maximise your marketing, and that includes speaking with the press.

Here are 5 myth-busters for PR:

“I have to hire a pr agency”

Hiring an agency can leave a big dent in your pocket, with one-year retainers that can be upwards of £60,000 a year. For a small business or startup this isn’t always feasible. That’s why we have a solution that bridges the gap, giving you the ability to learn for yourself or have a professional to run the PR programme.

“I need to pay to get into press”

You certainly can pay – but a good PR programme aims to get you coverage for free, and is called ‘earned media’. This is done by providing real value to journalists. It’s worth noting though that the media are under intense pressure to get ‘clicks’ on their articles, so need to be extremely selective. This is why it’s important to have a PR plan in place to make sure you have the most compelling content, angles and insights.

“I never received a reply from the journalist – so they’re not interested”

We’ve all been there! Journalists receive hundreds of email pitches a day and they simply can’t always reply. This doesn’t mean it isn’t right for them. When reaching out to journalists there is a fine balance between a follow-up and becoming spam. Follow up once only – a few days following the original email. If you get no reply, then move on!

“I have no media connections”

It takes years to build up a list of good media contacts. But no matter how good your relationship is with a journalist, they still can’t magic up coverage if the story isn’t right. Your best bet is to research the journalists you want to target, read their articles, follow them on Twitter and pitch them a story that you know will be up their street.

“You only need PR in crisis”

PR and communications are no doubt an essential part of crisis management, but it’s not the only reason you’ll need them in place. It will help raise your profile, build and protect your reputation and support SEO efforts – read more here about how PR can help your business.