PR For Startups

The Challenge In 2012

As the economic situation shows no signs of improvement, many small companies and start-up businesses do face the problem of how to compete in 2012.

Big businesses are OK, they have established marketing campaigns, a reputation in the industry, large marketing budgets and are known in the industry.

Smaller businesses face the problem that they do not have the reputation, they need to compete with the big boys and (most importantly) they do not have the funds to throw into marketing.

For this rearon, smaller businesses and start-up companies are looking for marketing that offers guarantees or a low risk return on investment.

Public Relations In 2012

Public relations has been around a long time and is all about telling a story, communicating a message and boosting a businesses profile.

No matter what industry a start-up company is in, they can still make an impact in a highly competitive industry given the right marketing and PR approach. Consider Innocent Smoothies, a newcomer that offered a boring product that was in a highly competitive industry, and made it a brand over a short period of time. The online dating industry is highly competitive, however new dating sites are springing up all the time and getting good PR.

Bill Gates is renowned for saying 'if I was down to my last $50, I would spend it on PR' showing that as a highly successful person he recognises the power of PR and how a well positioned PR campaign can be worth it's weight in gold.

PR For Start-ups

The main difficulty that many start-up companies is the money factor, as banks are not lending getting funds is either done from personal resources, family loans and going into debt via credit card etc. Many businesses could vouch that by using PR agencies in the early days, they have been able to get a foothold in a market that would otherwise have been difficult.

PR is not just about the buzz, or the exposure that the media creates, but online element of doing press releases. The internet is one of the main marketing tools that small companies will use to create a media buzz and PR does have many SEO benefits that go alongside the main benefits.

TV advertising is popular with new companies, however the funding for an advertising campaign is very expensive and is only really possible for businesses that have had funds allocated via private investors, banks or private resources. As most start-ups do not have this available, the next best alternative is public relations.

By choosing a PR agency that is experienced in your area of PR (online dating, food, events, music, medical etc.) start-ups should get good advise and a well targeted campaign that can be built on and developed as the business grows and marketing funding increases.

Marketing Quotes is a free price comparison service to UK businesses to help get free quotes and advise from local marketing companies.

No comments:

Post a Comment