8 PR Tactics Examples You Can Use For Your Startup

According to Forbes, PR is more successful by 90% in influencing customers than regular advertising because of the credibility it creates. Clearly, you’re doing your business a disservice by foregoing PR tactics to scale your business. 

PressKitHero believes that every business should have its own press kit to spread the word about their value. We make it easy for startups to create their own professional press kit. If you want to raise your brand awareness and elevate your business's public image, read on to find out how. 

What are PR Tactics?

Public relations (PR) tactics are actions that a business uses to mould its public perception, with the aim of building a strong and loyal relationship with its customers. As a startup, you may have a dedicated marketing team that handles this by managing any press or social media interactions. 

No matter how small your business is, public relations is essential for its success. We’ll explain how. 

How Can PR Tactics & Strategies Benefit Your Startup?

Elevated Brand Awareness

Public relations campaigns, if done right, can broaden your scope of communications, ultimately increasing your brand awareness in your industry. This also extends to your potential customer base. 

PR offers your business a unique type of attention because it expresses your new and innovative ideas that are relevant for the time. Additionally, if respected publications share your story, you get more valuable attention for your business. 

Increase Your Brand’s Credibility

Credibility is a major benefit of successful PR strategies because the type of content that’s spread is genuinely authentic and informative. It’s a common misconception to believe that when it comes to public relations, lies are at the centre. 

However, according to Sword and the Script, 95% of PR specialists confirm that they present the truth in their publications. This is why customers are more likely to take a business with a firm PR strategy more seriously than those without.

Positions Your Brand as a Potential Industry Leader

Public relations focuses on creating dialogue that adds relevance to an industry as a whole. So by including killer PR tactics, you add a high level of value to your content that can help set you apart from competitors in your industry.

This allows potential customers to see how your product or service fits into the bigger picture. If your dialogue resonates enough with your audience, you can position your business as a potential leader in your niche. 

Generates Short & Long-Term Lead Generation

As your company’s reputation and credibility elevate, so will your sales leads. As a startup, your leads are the foundation of your sales effort, and they help your business to scale, so that you reach your full potential. 

Things to Consider When Planning Your PR Tactics

Before we present some amazing PR strategies you can use for your business, let’s look at the factors you need to consider before you start: 

An effective tool you can consider is PressKitHero’s press kit builder. It helps you showcase your company’s value to the media and helps them collect any useful information they’ll need to write your story. Fortunately, we specifically cater to small businesses, so you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank to have a successful media kit. 

8 Great Examples of PR Tactics You Can Use For Your Business

#1: Original Research

As daunting as it may sound, carry out your own research! It’s a way of usefully contributing to your industry because similar companies can link your research to their own publications, resulting in more backlinks. Journalists will also take you more seriously when they see that you are knowledgeable in your industry and can provide them with the data they need to write your story. 

There’s always something crazy happening in the world, and you can use it to your advantage. By using current affairs to inform your PR strategy, you become more relatable to your target audience and beyond.  

#3: Events

Participating in community and industry events can greatly improve your brand awareness. The best part is you can also gain more real-life knowledge about what’s going on in your niche and the current trends that you should be paying attention to. 

As a startup, it’s much better to attend other companies’ events so that you’re noticed as an industry contributor. You may even be able to make useful connections with PR experts and journalists that are present to cover the events. By participating in panel discussions, especially on topics you’re knowledgeable about, you’ll push your business towards the visibility it needs. 

#4: Photo Ops

Take the opportunity to be photographed at industry events rubbing shoulders with experts in your niche. Besides documenting memorable moments, photo ops can be included in your press kit to tell your company’s story. Your photographs may even feature in major publications that cover the event, so don’t be afraid to get your company in front of the camera. 

#5: Monitor & React to Media Inquiries

Keep a lookout for journalists or bloggers who need expert contributions in your niche. They don’t have to be major publications either. Responding to as many media inquiries as possible will help you build your status as an industry contributor, thus bringing your company to the forefront.  

You can subscribe to specific media feeds to make it easier. Some services for this include; 

#6: Partnerships

Partnerships are an amazing way to elevate your small business because you can gain credibility by aligning with a company that is a leader in your niche. It encourages trust with your audience and draws potential customers to consider your brand. 

Try reaching out to experts, influential brands, or even influencers with similar values as your business and convince them to work collaboratively with your brand. The most genuine way to achieve this is to build a relationship with them first so that your long-term partnerships can add to your business value. 

#7: Press Releases

A press release is a common PR tactic that businesses use to share announcements about their new products, events, and newsworthy insights. It should read like a detailed news article by using an interesting story angle to get journalists excited to write or share your story. Press releases don’t only have to be written for your website but can be shared with publications in a media pitch. 

#8: Press Conferences

You can consider press conferences when your company has grown to a much higher level in the market. This is because you need to have secured a good following for journalists to actually attend. At a press conference, journalists can ask their pertinent questions in a controlled time frame to gain the information they need for your story. It’s great to display your company’s transparency and share your insights in real-time. 

#9: Creating Controversy Around Your Brand

As unorthodox as it may be, creating controversy can be a helpful tactic in your PR campaign to better connect with your audience. People enjoy a debate, and if you can provide that in your PR campaign, it may work in your favor. 

It works because you gain attention from different audiences who may want to add their own insights on your stance. It is quite a risky strategy that needs thorough and careful planning to be successful. You can consider this strategy once your business is well established. 

An example of this is Nike’s “Dream Crazy” campaign. The campaign featured professional football player Colin Kaepernick who sparked controversy when he kneeled during the National Anthem at the beginning of every game in the 2016 NFL season. The move was a protest against racial inequality. Nike knew featuring him would trigger an uproar, most notably seen when some people even shared videos of themselves setting their Nike purchases on fire. However, the campaign worked in their favor as it resonated with millions of people and their sales spiked by 31% days after its release. 

Conclusion 

The PR tactics you choose are meant to elevate your business, and you don’t have to start big. Just start with the basics, like creating your press releases, using original research, securing partnerships, and building your press kit. 

At PressKitHero, we want to make sure that startups have the opportunity to build their PR, even if your budget isn’t the largest. If you want to discover how to create a press kit for your business, consider the free trial to get a feel of what you can achieve.