6 PR mistakes startups should avoid making

1. You’re not going to be famous overnight
Seriously dude! You thought you’ll hire an agency and overnight you’re going to be famous! You think you’ll be in Times of India front page on day one and The Economic Times in month one. The fact is, any PR person or agency employed does have their own learning curve. If you yourselves are young and adapting what your business is with time, then the external experts you get on-board are also going to take some time absorbing all that road-map. I am not saying don’t expect the best pieces of coverage, rather, realize that performance will peak and the start could be slow.

2. The focus should still be on your product
It’s always a pleasure to have you available at all times in a day for any possible interaction. That’s actually such a relief! But your primary focus cannot move away from the product/ service. Ultimately, whether it’s for funding or for customer acquisition, they’re only going to come on board for your product or service. PR is only going to get you users to your product; his experience thereon is a totally different ball game.

3. Your passion for your business, does come across when you talk
You may not be much of a talker. You may not know English. You may not believe in people itself. But trust me when i say, your passion shows! For good products, talking passionately helps get more eyeballs. For crappy products, it helps you get some eyeballs. But don’t be modest and not show the belief you have in your product.

4. Look at the people first, instead of the agencies who’ll be handling your account
The biggest of companies today are looking beyond the agencies or companies and rather prioritizing the people who work on your business. Of course you should look at their past work profiles, but judge for yourself if they’re knowledgeable, creative, agile and trustworthy.

5. Don’t ignore content
In a world where the consumer is flooded with marketing messages, content is how you’ll stand out. By content, i don’t only refer to the quality of content, but also the disciple of documentation. Many a times concepts, ideas and upcoming product features are discussed and not documented. This should change with zero error tolerance. Not only will your PR expert get better quality with a written brief, it will also get clarified in your own mind as to what is it you’re talking about or launching. The written word always provides more clarity on what the product/ concept is and how it should be positioned and that’s crucial from a communications point of view.

6. Define your goals
It’s plain stupid if your measure of success is if your neighbor has heard about your startup or if the portal/ publication you read carries your startup news. You need to have more precise goals. It should be achieving x number of stories in top tier publications (that are decided in advance) or the number of impressions or accounts reached on social media.

Hope this helps.