​Should Your New Startup Hire a Big Expensive PR Firm? A Cautionary Tale for Startup Founders and Niche Emerging Brands

By Jennifer L. Jacobson, Founder of Jacobson Communication
 
What if I told you I could save your new startup tens of thousands of dollars on public relations costs, and position your unique brand for success better than big-box, bulky, one-size-fits-all PR firms? I’d have your attention, right? Well, it’s true.
 
I want your startup to succeed, and I want public relations to play a big role in that success.
 
In my decades in public relations, I’ve worked with hundreds of startups across all levels; from brand new entrepreneurial passion projects seeking patents, to established startups seeking acquisition. At some point they all need public relations, but this can be an expensive, confusing, and time-consuming process.

I’ve seen too many new startups hire giant (often global) PR firms, and while that might sound like a good idea, these firms don’t speak startup; they specialize in maintaining high-volume PR for established, already known brands. These firms don’t build brand PR from scratch. They don’t know how to cater to your potential audience for the first time, with a new product or idea. They don’t know how to plant the seeds that become a garden of demand for the unique thing you’re bringing to life.
 
I have yet to meet a new startup founder who hired a big-box PR agency and felt like their time or money was well-spent. In case you’re a new startup founder, considering hiring a big-box PR firm, here is a hypothetical story about what I’ve seen entrepreneurs go through with big box agencies. May it serve as a cautionary tale.
 
Act 1: Everyone Else Has PR
Your new startup is ready for PR! You just closed a major funding round, and your investors are itching to see you get some real press. Your friend’s startup just got a writeup in TechCrunch. Your competition just landed a multi-page article in New Science. Everywhere you look, other startups are making headlines, so you take the first logical step; doing PR yourself. How hard can it be?
 
After spending a week or two researching reporters, tracking down their contact info, and reaching out to them on social media, you have nothing to show for it. You even asked an intern for help. Still no reporter has written about you. Time for the next step; dropping some serious coin on a real PR firm. It’s a good and logical idea, right?
 
You’re the kind of high-achieving entrepreneur who likes to do things right the first time, and because of this, you look for the best PR firm money can buy. You start looking for PR agencies that work with some of the best-known brands in the world. You find out who does PR for brands such as Apple, Disney, Nike, Coca-Cola, NVIDIA, Google, and maybe even luxury brands like Balenciaga, or Dior.
 
You now have a list of a dozen shiny, well-known global PR firms to court. Their websites glisten (even though they take a few extra seconds to load). The client logos displayed on their footers are known throughout the world. You want your logo to be one of them, and you have a healthy budget; enough to last six months. You may have enough to extend it to twelve months if you like their results.
 
Act 2: You Close the Deal
You meet with these respectable PR firms. They show you flashy results, more metrics than your data team could process in a week, and a presentation you wish your own mother could have seen. You meet with a top-level executive at the firm and three of their team members who will personally handle your account. You’re in good hands. You sign up and sign a check; confident you have made a wise choice.
 
Your instincts were correct; your first meeting with the PR firm, as a client, is a 2-hour blue sky session where they map out what kind of audiences best resonate with your brand. They’re professionals, who know the industry your startup is in. They know reporters covering your vertical. They work with the brand who makes the cell phone that you use every day. They have to be good.
 
By the end of the week, you have a rough map of what the PR firm wants to accomplish in the first six months: two press releases, a contributed article they hope to land in a specific publication, and one CEO feature article their friend at The Times has promised to publish. You’ve never done PR before, so you assume this is a reasonable plan.
 
Act 3: The Cracks Begin to Appear
As the weeks go by, the top-level executives that were in every meeting are now only in your weekly meetings for a few minutes before they have to “hop on another call.” Eventually, your meetings are led by one or two junior members at the firm.
 
The first press release goes out, and you get twenty thousand impressions. That’s good right? But then you start digging into the report the agency provided. Your press release was reprinted 100 times, but it was on websites you’ve never heard of. When you look at actual clicks, the number is abysmal. Your web traffic team didn’t notice any uptick in the week’s numbers. But the PR firm insists this is normal for a first-time press release and they swear that they pitched it to their personal reporter friends.
 
Your second press release goes out the following month, to much the same effect. You ask when reporters will actually start covering your stories, but the firm insists this trajectory is still normal for a brand of your size.
 
You write your contributed article, which gets published two weeks later, not by the publication you had hoped, but by a smaller one. You see maybe a dozen new hits on your website. You have the nagging feeling you may have misplaced your money, but you’re not giving up hope yet.
 
In month five, you are finally interviewed by The Times, but the final article only quotes a few sentences you said, in a larger piece which features several other CEOs. You see an uptick in web traffic, but no real user conversion. This was supposed to be your big break when your public relations boils over, but it’s not even at a simmer!
 
By month six, you’re re-evaluating your relationship with this mega PR firm. Yes, they got you stories in a very humble smattering of small to mid-sized publications. Yes, you were invited to be on two podcasts you’d never heard of. But none of it really made a difference you could measure. You didn’t see any significant web traffic over time. You haven’t noticed a higher customer conversion rate. Your mom is still texting you, asking when you’re going to be in the news.
 
You face the music; this isn’t the kind of PR you thought you would get for your money. In six months, this PR firm has easily cost you the price of a high-end luxury car, and you have very little to show for it.
 
The Takeaway: The PR That Works for Established Brands Doesn’t Work for Emerging Startups
You just learned a powerful lesson; mega-PR firms who specialize in large-scale, established brands don’t typically specialize in the kind of PR it takes to start brands from nothing. Unfortunately, this won’t stop them from taking your startup’s money; you are, after all, still a business.

So How Do New Startups Get PR?
There are many solutions that can work, but you have to think outside the box. What works for your startup’s PR needs today won’t be the same thing that works once you’re acquired, or once you go public. You need solutions that are flexible and customizable, from boutique PR firms and individuals who specialize in growing startups in or adjacent to your industry.
 
1. Find Someone Who Helps Make Brands
Look for a boutique PR firm or contractor that specializes in “making brands.” This kind of firm should have a variety of startups they’ve worked with and a variety of results to show for their efforts. Ask how long the firm worked with key brands. Ask how long it took to start seeing results. Ask what industries the firm specializes in. Ask how long the terms of engagement are and what kinds of results you can expect to see in this period of time. Ask who you’ll be meeting with regularly.
 
2. Find Someone Local or Already Known
Look for a PR firm or contractor that is local, or regional, or at least one that your colleagues have worked with and like. There are lots of boutique agencies that specialize in specific industries, and their rates are typically much less than big-box PR firms. There are even independent contractors (such as myself), who can do wonders with the right new startup if your brand’s industries overlap with my focus and experience.
 
3. Find Someone Who Scales
Some firms are great at working with smaller and medium-sized brands. These firms often offer a variety of comms packages at various price points. Ask if the firm has a three-month trial to see if your brand is a good fit for what they can do.
 
4. Work with a Contractor As-Needed
Some new startups work well with an independent contractor on an as-needed basis. They may have two press releases a year that need attention, but require nothing else in between. For these early-stage startups, this kind of PR arrangement can be a cost-saving way to maintain the appearance of PR without handing over too much money. When your startup is ready, you can move on to a more regular PR plan or switch over to a boutique agency that offers more.
 
Note: If you’re on a tight budget, but really need PR coverage, beware of budget-friendly communications firms that “do it all.” It’s tempting for comms firms to focus on social media and flashy videos because social media engagement is so easy to measure and report on. Who doesn’t love seeing tens of thousands of likes and comments? But this isn’t PR coverage, and, as the kids say, it “hits different.” Potential investors, and often potential clients might like flashy social media posts, but it doesn’t carry the same mental and emotional gravity as an unbiased, unsponsored article in a publication or media outlet they trust. A lot of firms that “specialize in social media, branding, PR, and media production, tend to treat PR as an afterthought.
 
The Bottom Line: Your startup is still new; it’s not a fortune 500 company yet. You don’t need a crisis PR team and big-box agency with five junior executives replying to inbound reporter requests. You’re not Apple. You’re not Disney. You aren’t inundated with so many reporter requests that you need a team to manage it all. PR at the startup stage, is something you and a small team should easily be able to wrap your heads around. And, when your brand does start growing, you’ll have a much better idea of what kind of PR firm you’ll eventually want to hire.
 
About the Author
Jennifer L. Jacobson is the feral PR consultant who loves to get her clients in the news. She is the founder of the one-woman PR firm, Jacobson Communication, which often replaces big global firms and gets better results. Jennifer has shaped some of the biggest news narratives in the last 20+ years in social media, startups, tech, branding, activism, and philanthropy, despite the world often being on fire. She also creates custom songs for theme parks and growing brands. She has a penchant for enchanted places and impossible sounding ideas. Don’t give her a metaphorical lever and a place to stand unless you mean it; because she will find a way to move the world.
​
​To learn more, visit https://jacobsoncommunication.com

---