HOW TO MAKE USE OF PR FOR START-UPS
Best Practices
Posted 07 Apr 2020
With the first successes, young companies also face many new tasks. After the realization of your ideas and the founding of the company, you have to take action to draw the attention of potential new customers. A PR concept that is created specifically for your start-up can help you generate a great deal of attention. To get a first glimpse of important PR activities, we created this guide to give you an overview of actions that are crucial for young companies.
To be successful in the media, PR officers need to create a concept that aims to achieve the marketing goals. It is important to know that each media landscape has specific characteristics that need to be taken into consideration when planning PR activities. In this case, it can be helpful to work with a local team or agency. Local contacts have experience in the market and are already in contact with the journalists relative to the interests of your company. In this way, the company’s main message can be communicated more effectively.
In Germany, PR agencies typically work behind the scenes. They maintain contact with the media, help with social media activities, and organize interviews at events and trade shows.
In Germany, the largest amount of the advertising budget is spent on print publications (3.9 billion euros for newspapers). Because of this, Germany is often referred to as the “land of print”. Social Media and internet advertisements are also growing significantly in this market. In 2019, 1.2 billion euros were invested in social advertising. The spendings on social media advertising are equal to the spendings on outdoor advertising.
According to Statista, television and radio are still the most used media channels in Germany. Of these, TV is used the most. Internet use in Germany has increased enormously in the last years, with 86 percent of Germans using the internet on a daily basis. Germans spend around 196 minutes per day on the internet, and for younger people, the usage time is 214 minutes per day.
In order to establish contacts within the media industry, you have to address the most relevant journalists for your business. With increasing awareness in the media, you reach potential customers quickly and, with the selection of the right media, more precisely.
As soon as you have defined your target group, you need to do research on what kind of media they use. After the research, it is time to create a list of potential media outlets where you see potential to be mentioned in or place articles, ads, interviews, and more.
It is important to find the right contacts from your selected media outlets – who of the journalists is responsible for the topic? Don’t be afraid to ask for help here. As we mentioned, it can be useful to partner up with experienced agencies for tasks like this.
If you want to be remembered, you cannot stop at one publication. Only constant attention and the generation of touchpoints lead to sustainable success. Not every potential customer reads the publication in which you were mentioned.
If you plan on publishing an article, put the focus on a good storyline rather than a simple product description. Journalists prefer stories around a product and not the simple presentation of features and data. Don’t be afraid to play with emotions by presenting a touching customer story in conjunction with your product. Or, let the reader know something about your last big event or success story. In many cases, this is a better than only sending out a simple product description.
Besides the publications that you have in mind when you think about placing your products in the media, vertical publications can also be an option. Publications that seem unusual or even unfitting at first glance can also have the potential to also raise awareness among the general public.
Your new product has “only” gotten smaller and slimmer, but otherwise has no new functions? You should definitely communicate this differently. Instead, use phrases like: The product is more compact, more convenient, powerful – the perfect innovation. With clever formulations and the right presentation of the products, small changes can be communicated more effectively.
The use of PR in start-up companies is a big chance to get awareness pretty fast. However, getting in contact with the right people in the media industry can be very challenging. Therefore, it can be useful to partner up with experts that have knowledge and contacts at the right publications, especially when you plan to conquer new markets in other countries. It can be more difficult to expand without the knowledge of the peoples’ mentality or market insights.
We at HBI have supported numerous start-ups with market or product launches and know that close communication is essential.
One of our most recent projects is the market launch of the Israeli start-up, Aurora Labs. Read more about it here.
Or, get directly in contact with us.
Melanie Kehl
Marketing Assistant at HBI Helga Bailey GmbH – International PR & MarCom
Melanie Kehl has been in charge of HBI’s internal marketing activities since 2017. As a student in the field of online marketing, she is responsible for the implementation of SEA and SEO campaigns, setting up landing pages and writing articles.
