Five PR mistakes NZ startups keep making

Five PR mistakes NZ startups keep making.

With 20 years of experience in PR and media, Jody Boshoff knows the newsroom inside out. Having worked extensively as a journalist, she understands exactly what grabs a reporter's attention—and what doesn’t. As a masterful storyteller, she’s guided countless startups on how to use PR to fuel their success. Today, Jody shares the top 5 mistakes Kiwi startups are making when it comes to PR—and how to avoid them. Launch PR serves over 100 of New Zealand’s best and brightest startups of all sizes.

1. Humility is great; but not when it comes to public relations (PR).

I love New Zealand and its community of technology pros. They do, however, have one very serious flaw: they’re way too humble. Case in point: I met an engineer once who had worked on the tallest building in the world. At one point in our conversation, I told him I was putting him forward for a chat with the building industry’s leading journalist. He leaned in and whispered almost inaudibly “But why would they want to interview me?” Kiwis like to fly under the radar; to underpromise and overdeliver. Quite often, I have to convince companies that their ‘world first’ or ‘only’ or ‘best in class’ product is newsworthy. Here are three compelling reasons to get over yourself and tell your story:

• It leaves a ‘breadcrumb trail’ that helps legitimise you for future investors who will look you up during their due diligence process.
• A rising tide lifts all boats! We need more Kiwi success stories out there as they help build our industry’s reputation.
• You are doing awesome stuff; and telling your story is a good way for you to build reputation and trust through third party endorsement. Media really is how you get eyes on your product!

2. Thinking the headline is about your product.

Plain and simple: it’s not. The media is interested in what your product can do for people; its impact on the world; and how it rewrites what has been done before. They want to know ‘why this matters to people’ / ‘what’s in it for me?’ because that’s what gets people to read further than a headline. ‘Business process optimisation tool launch’ is boring. ‘Companies use a new tool to save 20% on admin costs’ is interesting. There’s a big difference!

3. Dismissing PR services outright due to cost.

There’s a time and a place for signing up with ‘big brand’ PR agencies skilled at media buying and very large activations. It’s probably called ‘Series B’. The ‘average’ Kiwi startup probably won’t have enough news to justify such an agency’s minimum retainer but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about PR at all. Some alternatives include:

• Getting some PR mentoring for your in-house marketing team so that they can get better at identifying ad hoc PR opportunities; handling certain parts of the PR process to reduce cost (such as writing up a release or even a decent brief) and even actively driving PR themselves.
• Thinking ‘niche’. You might not be able to secure tier 1 national coverage just yet, but there might be a targeted industry publication that is interested in hearing what you have to say.
• Partnering with an agency who will take on PR work on a project-by-project basis when you need support. Even better if they are ‘outcomes focused’ and only charge when they successfully secure you a story in media.

4. Thinking you can control the story

Unless you are paying (in which case it’s called an ‘advertorial’), journalists think and write independently and this is why people trust ‘the news’. You will seldom receive a story for approval; so make sure you know exactly what you want to say in an interview and stick to your key messages (more on that below).

5. Not preparing for an interview.

If you can control the narrative, you can influence the outcome of an interview. Before chatting to the media, it’s a good idea to get some thorough media training and to rehearse replying to standard questions (like ‘What does your product do?’) as well as tricky ones (such as those about turnover, competitors or your strategy and USPs). I have seen many off-hand or ‘off the record’ comments turn into headlines the next day. Nothing you say is ever ‘off the record’, so make sure you’re happy to be quoted on absolutely everything you say. It’s also in your best interest to be as interesting as possible because a story is never guaranteed.

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