PR ON THE GO June 11, 2022

How to Do Startup Public Relations In 2022

Public Relations Trends

We asked our PR and growth experts to advise entrepreneurs on the 2022 trends in Public Relations for Startups. Which new PR tools are out there? Which new media outlets should startups follow /pitch? What are the communications strategy trends in 2022?

Here's the insight.

Do-It-Yourself

Evan Nierman, CEO and Founder of Red Banyan

"Public relations can be expensive if you hire a professional agency but there are some things you can do yourself when money is tight. First, define your target audience so you know who you are trying to reach. Second, decide how you will share your message. Will you use social media, press releases, blogs or op eds? Third, create a “brand” story that outlines why people should care. Understand the media. If you are unsure, take a quick course in media relations to up your business savvy."

Omnichannel

Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO of Mavens & Moguls

"Communicators are using a more omnichannel approach in PR to create a seamless experience regardless of channel or device. We now engage with a company in a brick and mortar store, online or mobile app, by text, chat, e-mail, or via social media. Every piece of the experience should be consistent and complementary. People use multiple devices so make sure that you are able to listen and respond to these interactions wherever they occur. Owned content and pay-to-play strategies are reaching similar significance as earned media efforts today especially with niche audiences."

Podcasts Are PR Gold

Cody Candee, Founder & CEO of Bounce

"While most businesses focus on PR through social media and traditional outlets, many ignore the growing opportunities in spreading your brand through podcasts. The amount of podcasts is exploding, and there is a constant need for one very important component to their shows, guests.

By researching podcasts that are related to your industry, you can reach out to those who are looking for guests, providing them an interesting show, while introducing you to an entirely new audience. In podcasts, you will find one of the most effective PR techniques, that costs almost nothing but your time."

The Why

Daniel Foley, Marketing & SEO Specialist at Emma Sleep

"Tell us about yourself and why you are doing what you do. It's common for startup founders to be engaged with the product and to avoid talking about the origins of the company they founded. When I first began out, I was able to create trust with my customers since they felt like they already knew me. Once you've settled on a theme, it's time to draft an outline. You can tell if your ideas will catch the interest of a reporter or blogger by writing an outline. Prepare your pitch by anticipating and filling in any questions or gaps."

Affiliate Possibilities for Journalists

Daniel Carter, Marketing Specialist at PharmacyOnline.co.uk

"You should look at ShareASale, Skimlinks, Rakuten, or something similar if you are offering a product or service. Most media outlets are looking for affiliate possibilities, and many of them require them, because they assist media outlets, influencers, and retail partners generate cash."

Pexels

Jay Soni MD of Yorkshire Fabric Shop

"Visuals are an important part of every successful digital PR effort. However, because much of the content on the internet is covered by copyright and ownership rules, finding the correct images can be challenging. Pexels is one of the most popular photo providers for digital marketing companies since the platform offers hundreds of stock photos that are all licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0), allowing agencies to alter, copy, and distribute the images for commercial use, such as in press releases."

BuzzSumo

Joe Troyer, CEO & Growth Advisor of ReviewGrower

"BuzzSumo is one of the most effective web tools on this list, owing to its ability to do a wide range of useful research for you and your customer. For starters, the tool presents some of the most important news and current topics in an easily accessible format, together with data on how quickly these stories are spreading across various social media platforms. The program also sends keyword notifications for selected keywords, ensuring that you are aware of all recent content relating to rivals and related sectors."

Prezly

Steve Pogson, Founder & E-commerce Strategy Lead at FirstPier

"Prezly, an online newsroom or hun that can be used to prepare and post a multi-media press release, is another useful digital PR tool. The site allows you to upload high-resolution material such as photographs and movies, which it then optimizes before sharing. The tool makes press releases more sophisticated, sleek, and seamless, increasing their chances of being picked up by the publications you wish to target. To make things even better, the application lets you share the release with a single click and then track clicks, opens, and reaction rates. While these features of the application may look intrusive to some, they are exactly what you need to guarantee that your outreach processes are improving."

Hemingway App

Daniel Foley, the SEO Specialist at UNAGI Scooters

"While you don't have to follow Hemingway's advice to the letter, he may help you increase the readability of your press releases, articles, and tales. This is particularly useful after you've run a Grammarly check to see if any sentences may be trimmed before you press publish. You'll be performing a favor for your readers."

Public Relations & Content Marketing

Nick Jordan, Founder & CEO of Workello

"Public relations and content marketing have played similar but distinct roles in a company's marketing strategy. PR has always been about promoting one's brand or one's self, whereas content marketing has always been about educating and providing value to the audience.

However, as the industry continues to evolve, PR is no longer only a self-promotional tool, but a means for brands to educate and offer value to the market. It will become increasingly important for public relations and content marketing to work together. Despite the fact that the functions of PR and content marketing remain unchanged, marketers must adapt to the shifting roles of their organizations."

Shorter Agency Retainer Agreements

Kenny Kline, President & Financial Lead at BarBend

"It is not a sprint, but a marathon: My belief is that public relations requires the development of long-term strategy, coupled with patience and consistency, with media relations consuming the majority of its time. The greater a brand's exposure to audiences, the greater its chances of establishing trust and credibility. However, keep in mind that any targeted media outlets must be notable..

Be an early riser: Similar to the benefits of purchasing early tickets to a music festival, I believe that implementing a PR plan prior to an official debut will result in shorter agency retainer agreements.. A three-month package to support your launch becomes significantly more inexpensive. Additionally, it gives a variety of advising and advice with added value, as well as access to relationships you would not otherwise have."

Engaging Content Assets

Paul Somerville, Editor-in-Chief at Electric Scooter Guide

"Cutting through the competitive clutter will be challenging if you merely do the basic minimum. As a result, among your technology and tools should be succinct and engaging content assets, such as infographics, that summarize the story. These should also work nicely with other resources available to reporters, such as white papers, videos, and blog postings (whether on company or media sites). These types of content materials aid in the creation of individualized pitches instead of one-size-fits-all pitches. (The latter can make you appear obnoxious and overbearing.)"

Email Hunter

Dean Lee, Head of Marketing at Sealions

"Any digital marketer, regardless of experience level, should own Email Hunter. With this app's help, journalists and others within an organisation will have access to previously unavailable or otherwise difficult-to-to-find contact information. It's another easy tool that only requires you to enter a domain name to get a list of all the email addresses associated with that domain. You can use this tool to get someone's email address if you know their name but are having trouble finding their address. It isn't especially sophisticated, but it can be useful in targeting certain journalists or conducting manual outreach to the appropriate people at the appropriate newspapers."

Publication of Surveys

Adelle Archer, Co-Founder & CEO of Eterneva

"Surveys are popular among bloggers and journalists alike, and using your database to create interesting ones, can attract a great amount of attention and act as an effective PR tool. Marketers use data to create promotional strategies by looking at trends, and these same patterns can be utilized for questionnaires.

By issuing surveys based on that information, you can showcase interesting points that will attract attention, spark discussion, and be referenced in articles, blogs, and newsletters. Each time the survey is mentioned, your business name will be attached to it, enhancing your branding and PR."

Communication for Diversity

Max Whiteside, SEO & Content Lead at Breaking Muscle

"The 21st-century workplace necessitates the development of values such as empathy and solidarity. In 2022, one of the goals of communication is to promote dynamic meetings and dialogues that build business sustainability and social respect. The internal consistency between what is defined, planned and said must begin with dialogues with partners and key audiences."

Live-Streaming

Kevin Callahan, Co-Founder & CEO of Flatline Van Co.

"One of the biggest PR communication strategies of 2022 is live-streaming. Consumers want authentic, real companies. Live-streaming keeps everything transparent in that respect because it functions in real time. Live-streaming is also cost effective and helps build a strong social media presence."

The Strong Angle

Dan Shortridge, author of DIY Public Relations

"The classics never go out of style, and it’s the same with PR. Good stories with compelling narratives and characters will beat new tools and flashy tech every time. Spend 70-80 percent of your time drilling down on and crafting your company’s story, and only then worry about pitching and distribution. Have a good hook, a strong angle, and a unique voice. That will win you more mentions than dropping money on an expensive agency."

Authenticity & Engagement

Daniel Chan, CTO of Marketplace Fairness

"In 2022, public relations is more important than ever for startups. Traditional media outlets will continue to decline in influence, while new media outlets will become more important. PR firms will become more specialized, and startups will need to be more careful about who they partner with. The most successful PR campaigns in 2022 are those that focus on authenticity and engagement."

Follow The Writer, Not The Outlet.

Kosi Harris, Owner of Kosi Harris PR

"Follow the writer, not the outlet, a lot of writers are going rogue and doing more freelancing then being committed to one publication. If there is a writer who writes a particular beat that aligns with what you are promoting my recommendation is to follow the writer then the outlet second.

In addition, many writers are also taking control of their own narrative by publishing their work on Substack and creating newsletters of their work and/or publishing leads for publicists to view the stories they are working on for outlets they are freelancing for. Substack is a platform that helps writers and content creators use an email subscription newsletter platform to convert their subscribers into paying customers."

Societal Impact

Dina Mostovaya, Founder & CEO at Mindset Consulting

"In 2022, one of the key trends to transform “public relations” into “perfect relations” is a value and social-oriented strategy. I believe that businesses built upon clear principles achieve better and more stable results.

According to researchers, more than 60% of consumers want brands and company leaders to speak out on issues that have considerable potential for societal impact, even if they may not have a serious impact on business. Given the recent activities of various public movements, it’s clear that audiences expect companies to take a stand on important social problems."

Data-Driven

Leszek Dudkiewicz, Head of Marketing at Passport-Photo Online

"If you want to be the kings and queens of PR in 2022, you better get ready to track the impact of your strategies and become more data-driven. Google Analytics, HubSpot’s Website Grader, or BuzzSumo, for instance, are your friends. The data-driven insight will help you figure out how to keep your PR strategy on top."

Media Monitoring Tools

Marco Genaro Palma, Web Developer & Head SEO Manager at PRLab

"PR in 2022 has shifted into the digital world, with social media and online blog platforms thriving within PR campaigns. Nowadays, it is strongly recommended to use media monitoring tools to have easy access to data that relates to content performance, web traffic, and overall brand visibility. Examples of tools are Meltwater or Moz, which are easy to use and provide deep insights. Startups should also look to engage with media outlets that are specific to their clients’ area of expertise (e.g. tech-specific, finance-specific) and secure strong relationships by providing relevant content on a regular basis."

Critical Mention

Chandra Gore, Publicist & Principal Consultant of Chandra Gore Consulting

"A PR tool that I have found is Critical Mention. This is a new tool that manages your earned media and is about getting quick, accurate results, understanding the value of your coverage and finding effective ways to grow your brand."

Funding News Fatigue

Clara Armand-Delille, Founder & CEO at ThirdEyeMedia

"Anyone working in the startup scene will know that it’s an extremely fast-paced environment, which makes keeping up with new trends and hacks absolutely vital. The most recent trend we’re seeing in the media is a general “funding fatigue”. As reporters have been flooded with funding stories in the past years, they are now steering away from these. Startup growth stories or product launches can be good alternatives to attract press attention!

Some tools we’d advise any startup founder to refer to as they’re taking the first steps in the PR world would be:

• Haro, to pitch smarter and learn some PR strategic advice, really important when you’re a beginner in the PR world

• Business Wire to help create media footprint, this platform distributes press releases to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, etc."

Digital PR

Kevin Miller, SEO Expert, Entrepreneur

"The newest PR trend is blending with Digital Marketing to help companies scale their business. Organic SEO marketing strategy combines Digital PR with Marketing to pitch journalists industry-specific expertise to gain placement in top-tier publications.

This mutually beneficial process utilizes online tools like HARO, Prowly, or Terkel to connect businesses with journalists and media organizations in order to gain valuable backlinks in their publications which then redirect back to the businesses’ websites.

As companies earn more backlinks in these PR efforts, they also grow higher Google rankings, which result in higher sales and targeted traffic."

Hosting Physical Events

Amanda Berlin, Founder of The ABerlin Agency, Inc.

"In 2022 more than ever, startup founders and staff need to focus their public relations efforts on creating substantial relationships...with their stakeholders, with the investor community, with their customers. It's time to get back to basics as we rebound from the distance between us the last two years have created. The best PR tactics to employ right now are strategic partnerships and event marketing. Startups engaging in strategic partnerships leverage the power of their partners to create new relationships outside their typical spheres of influence. And in hosting events -- even in collaboration with their strategic partners -- startups create an experience for their audiences which deepens the relationship and encourages their customers, stakeholders, and even new investors to engage more deeply and feel more connected to the mission."