When it comes to standing out as a start-up business, PR can be the extra leg-up that you need. Extra eyes and ears make all the difference when spotting opportunities, and PR professionals can help you to know what to do to make the most of them.  
 
PR can help start-ups to think outside of the box when it comes to marketing your products and services, giving you the tools to engage your audience in a way that ensures they remember you. This can bev ital for young businesses, however PR is often overlooked as a tool for such businesses to stake their claim in their respective sectors, with many believing that PR is for more mature organisations. This just simply isn’t the case.  
 
The world of business has never been so broad, and achieving start-up success in ever-more-crowded sectors can be daunting, but there are some things which can help almost every business, especially from a PR and marketing perspective. Here are our top five tips to help start-ups make the most of PR support:

Help You To See and Take Opportunities  

It may be easy to see the size and influence of a business as the end-all measure of its success, but this just isn’t the case. You don’t need to be a behemoth to thrive in your industry – in fact, you can reap the benefits of being small and dynamic. 
 
This is where the adaptability of an experienced PR team comes in handy, allowing you to jump on opportunities and pivot your PR and marketing when necessary to make the most of any situation or news-scape. Put simply, start-ups have more freedom in how and when they can act, and this is what you should look to take advantage of.  
 
A PR agency should recognise your unique flexibility and suggest ways to use it to get ahead of your competition. 

 

Expand Your Network 

It may be tempting to reach out to as many people from the industry as will listen when you start your business. However, casting a wide net can be detrimental, and leave you caught spending more time talking to people than actually running and growing your business. It’s better to have a few high-quality contacts to rely on and network with than a large pool of people who may not have the tools to help you grow. A PR agency can help maintain and expand on these valuable relationships.

 

Keep You in The Loop 

Keeping up to date with your industry and space is crucial. What are the industry leaders talking about, where are your competitors investing their money, what are their PR and marketing focuses?  

It is also important to listen and be aware of the current market, and what trends are popular – and more importantly, which are here to stay? Know your story and where you came from, as your PR agency can use it to anchor your brand to these changing interests. This will maintain your sense of authenticity while still taking advantage of the landscape within your industry. 

A savvy PR agency can keep you updated with the ebb and flow of your sector, so that you can spend where you need to, and make the most of the current industry trends. 

 

Give You Your Time Back 

As a start-up, your company’s successes are all ahead of you. This is exciting, of course, but how do you get to them? Planning and knowing your direction is essential to the success of a brand over the long term, and this is where the value of PR comes in.  

The day-to-day running of the business can, and should, take up your time and energy. That leaves little time for much else. A PR agency is invaluable in this situation, allowing you to take a step away from your marketing and social media, as both can be time consuming, and require huge mental investment and know-how to get right. 

Outside expert advice is invaluable to help start-ups measure their success, and keep them grounded and moving in the right direction. A PR agency can help to do exactly that, and will be both honest and constructive, helping you to achieve you goals as you grow. From inside the machine, it can be difficult to know what to prioritise, and what steps to take to ensure success. PR teams can help you make these decisions, or just give you more time to make them yourself.

If you’d like to hear more about PR and how it can work for you, get in touch with the HeadOn PR here.