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Entrepreneurs often ask: How do I get my small business featured in the press?
The full article is set out below but if you'd prefer to jump to a particular section, here are some quick links.
15 questions to ask before you hire a PR agency
How you measure the performance of your PR agency
How to get out of your PR contract
In 2013, I set up my own sustainable consumer ecommerce business which I ran for five years. In that time, I hired and fired four PR agencies before landing one that really worked (and charged me A LOT less than I’d been paying the others). The final and best agency secured coverage for me in The Spectator, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Forbes and others. I also appeared on BBC TV and radio.
I learned so much at the time about how to get press and media coverage. And I've learned more since, about what can go wrong with PR and what you need to do to make it work. I now advise companies on PR and marketing growth strategies.
In this post I’m going to share my top tips on what you can do to make PR a valuable part of your small business marketing plan. And how to spot a red flag.
First, getting PR right is not as difficult as it might seem. It’s certainly not the mystery many think it is – where agencies have a special ‘black book’ of high-profile journalists and influencers that is unique to them and has taken years to cultivate.
If you wanted to manage your PR in-house, and had the staff and time to do it, you could.
If not, there are plenty of PR agencies to choose from (provided the cost fits within your budget). You just need to check they can deliver what they promise. Let me show you how.
What is PR?
According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, PR is how a company strategically manages its relationships – with its customers, employees, investors, suppliers and the general public. According to this definition, a company’s main PR ambitions are to create and maintain a positive public image, enhance its reputation and build strong relationships with its stakeholders.
As well as media relations, PR covers crisis communication, event management, influencer marketing, social media management and community outreach.
Yet most businesses just think of PR as press coverage (in print or online) and appearances on TV, radio and podcasts.
The idea is that this will bring greater brand awareness. More people will be exposed to your product or service – people who may not find you organically, say during a Google search.
And the more often people see your brand, the more likely they are to trust and buy from you.
The other bonus comes from website backlinks – ideally from high-ranking domains. If your company is featured in an article, some media outlets will include a backlink to your website (not all, unfortunately). Major media outlets often have high domain authorities which means a backlink from them scores higher with search engines like Google. These backlinks can do wonders for your small business SEO (search engine optimisation) and how highly you rank during an internet search.
Both are ways that help potential customers find you and increase your sales (provided what you’re selling solves a customer’s problem).
How much does a PR agency cost?
Hiring a PR agency is not cheap and most work on a monthly retainer basis. The cost can be anywhere between £1,000 to £3,500 per month for a boutique agency. Large agencies can charge a lot more.
Always take note if they have an expensive office. The big ones always will. But remember, it’s the clients (you) that pay the overheads. I remember the head of one PR company telling me she took all her staff to an exclusive resort twice a year!
Some PRs need to showcase product, e.g. luxury goods, and so need premises that look the part. Mostly though, good PR can be done with a phone from anywhere.
15 questions to ask before you hire a PR agency
A certain amount of blind trust is involved when small companies hire third party suppliers, such as PR companies. That’s perhaps understandable given the assumed expertise they’re hiring. Any reputable agency will demonstrate their credentials with impressive examples of the press they’ve secured for their clients.
But this doesn’t mean you should rely exclusively on trust before you sign on the dotted line. Or as you keep a regular check afterwards.
If you’re thinking of hiring an agency or want to understand how your current agency is performing, here’s a checklist to help ensure you get what you’re paying for.
1. What do they know about my company and my industry?
No one knows your business, or probably your industry, better than you. But if they want to win your business, a good PR agency should be able to prove they’ve done their research too.
They should be able to tell you clearly what your business does (specifically the problems you solve for your customers) and how it fits within your industry (what distinguishes you from your competitors). Your USP (unique selling proposition) should be clear to them.
They should also have researched the CEO and any other founders. Entrepreneur stories – why people set up their businesses – can make for great opening pitches (especially if they involve a major change of career).
And they should stay on top of all this information. They should know what’s on your website, receive every email campaign, follow all your social media accounts and know about every event you attend.
2. Do they have any conflicts of interest?
It’s probably best to avoid PR firms that have any of your competitors as clients. Often people think their experience with your competitor or a company in the same sector will mean the PR has insights that are useful to you. It’s actually more likely to lead to a conflict of interest.
The most obvious situation is when there’s a good idea to pitch – one that could work for you and your competitor. You have no guarantee your PR company will put you first and you may miss out.
There may be opportunities to hire a PR firm where the client profile is complementary. For example, one that specialises in heavy industry and has clients in construction, steel and manufacturing. Even then you need to be careful as conflicts of interest can still arise.
3. What media do they consume?
Your PR agency should be able to tell you which newspapers and magazines they read that are relevant for your company and your industry.
This should also include smaller titles. They should know the trade or niche publications that talk about or can be relevant for your sector.
And they should read them, not just be aware of them. Every publication (both print and online) has its own style, voice, readership and often politics. It will be clear what sort of stories make it to their pages.
The best PR people read as many as they can – whenever they can. Because that’s how they find out the most relevant media to pitch your business to.
The same goes for TV, radio and podcasts.
The best PR agents know not only what’s going on across the media industry but also how the landscape could evolve in the future.
4. Do they know the right journalists for your business and industry?
This may seem like an obvious question but it’s not. Journalists can change jobs and the subjects they write on frequently. The media world also hires a lot of freelancers who may not appear as staff writers. Does your PR agency know who they should be speaking to and how to contact them?
If they’re following point 2, they’ll likely have a good list.
If not, they should at least be using Twitter which is a great place to find journalists and freelancers. Many on there are also open to direct messaging and include their email addresses.
There are three key Twitter hashtags to follow — #prrequest, #journorequest and #mediarequest — where journalists and freelancers post story ideas or requests. You or your PR should be monitoring these at least once a day.
LinkedIn is another platform to find journalist profiles although the free version limits the number of searches per month.
Social media should already be a feature in your small business marketing strategy. And if you want to take your PR in-house, Twitter and LinkedIn are good places to start building your contact database.
5. Do they know what these journalists are interested in? What they write on?
Again, this may seem like an obvious question but if a PR plans to approach a journalist they need to know that the story they’re proposing will interest and be suitable for that journalist.
If they’re following points 2 and 3, they should be well briefed. If not, they need to do some digging first. It’s worth remembering that journalists covering the same sector may work different angles. For example, some may look at the economics of an industry while others focus on its social or environmental implications.
Also some journalists may have an entrenched view on an industry. For example, if they write negatively on the airline industry (say, because of its carbon emissions) it would be pointless for a PR agency to pitch about an airline client that’s set to expand its fleet.
And by the way, if you disagree with the content of an article, there’s little point trying to persuade the journalist to change their view. They won’t. Journalists don’t contest their own views. Corrections are only issued if something is factually wrong.
Anyway, back to the point – so it’s about more than whether a journalist covers your space. Your PR needs to know what their angle might be. They should check what else they write about and what positions they take. They should also take a note of how often their articles are published and what other publications they write for.
And before contacting a journalist, remember they’re like anyone else. They’ll be flattered if they think someone’s taken the time to understand who they are and what they do.
Journalists complain mainly about two things – being sent pitches that not relevant to them and pitches that have no angle or don’t get to the point (more on that later).
Either is a surefire way of annoying the journalist (by wasting their time) or making you look unprofessional. Both can get you blacklisted which is never good.
A good question to ask a PR company is if they’ve ever been blacklisted by a journalist. If so, who it was and why?
6. Do they rely on journalist databases?
Several companies produce extensive contact lists of journalists – for a fee and often a hefty one.
The risk with this approach is that the data may be out of date. For example, when journalists change jobs or switch what they cover.
These databases also come at an additional expense. And we already know that client fees are what cover an agency’s costs. So if your PR agency uses these lists, you’ll bear some of the cost.
As mentioned in point 4, it’s never good to pitch to the wrong journalist (say, because the database information was incorrect). This can be embarrassing and could annoy them.
If the database is out of date, you can also expect email bouncebacks – which you should check to see if they include any big names. If you’re hoping to pitch to Forbes and all your emails bounce back, you’re (almost) back to square one.
And don’t forget that going through bounceback emails can take time you could be better spending elsewhere.
The more reliable way to be sure you’ll get in front of the right journalists is to do the research – who’s writing on what and what their correct contact details are.
In the first instance, this will take longer than using a paid-for database but once you’ve done it the first time, you can build on and refine it – which should take less time. And then you should have your own high quality, in-house database.
Also, you may not have to do all the leg work. If your small business marketing strategy is working well, journalists may also find you. So be sure to check you have optimised your SEO, your digital marketing strategy is effective and you’re appearing at the right industry events.
7. Is your PR agency writing pitches or sending press releases?
If your PR agency’s approach is simply to issue press releases, you won’t have much chance of landing any coverage.
Most journalists don’t like or use press releases – mostly because they’re just factual and rarely contain an angle that can become a story. They especially don’t like press releases about staff changes (unless there’s an important change at a large company).
In fact, some journalists won’t even read a press release.
You’re better off working with your PR to craft useful, relevant and pithy pitches – ones that a journalist can skim and decide quickly if it’s worth considering.
And as well as the pitch, the email subject heading is just as important. If the heading doesn’t grab the journalist’s attention, they may not even open the email.
You should have regular brainstorming sessions with your PR to come up with ideas. And, of course, you should review every pitch before its sent.
8. Do they know when to pitch?
As a general rule, allow a two-week lead time for newspapers although journalists can take longer if they need to do more research or the story has to be shelved because of other events.
Only breaking news would work with a short lead time.
Magazines have deadlines and a good PR will know when these are and will work to meet them.
Television and radio schedules will depend on the programmes. News will always run a short cycle – sometimes even on the day.
9. Can they write a good pitch?
This may seem like a stupid question but you’d be surprised how often a pitch fails at the first hurdle.
Pitches most often can go wrong for the following reasons:
They’re too long (no one has time to read long emails)
They have no angle (a journalist can’t write a story without one)
The writing is poor (short, clear sentences are what every journalist wants)
The story is stale or has moved on
A good pitch should be short and to the point. You should aim to keep it as brief as possible. Think of how short you’d like an email you receive to be.
And it should be easy to read. PR representatives who were once journalists should know how to write in language another journalist will appreciate (although this is not always the case).
A good readability check is the Flesch-Kinaid reading ease test (included as standard in Microsoft Word under the Review tab). A score of 90-100 means the text should be easily understood by an average 11 year old. 60-70 is for an average 13-15 year old. Below 30 would apply to a university graduate. So you may want to aim for a score of 50-60.
And if you’re wondering, this article has a score of 66.2.
10. Does your PR agency proactively come up with ideas for pitches?
If your PR agency takes a reactive approach to coming up with ideas or relies on you to do it for them, you’ll lag your competition.
Of course, you need to bounce ideas off each other but your PR should take the lead here.
If they know your company, your industry and what’s happening in the media, they should bring ideas to you.
11. Can your PR agency pitch you as a guest writer?
Being invited to write a press article can be a great way to be featured.
Your PR should know which commissioning editors to approach to suggest this.
While you’ll need to stick to the brief, guest writing is ideal for getting your story across in your own words (although expect it to be edited before publication). When journalists write a story, there’s always the risk they mis-quote or take your comments out of context. Checking quotes before publication can help with this but it’s not always possible. But journalists will be careful about this as they won’t want to burn a contact (if it’s a good one).
And if your story performs well (lots of people read it), you may be asked to write again. Or you could be spotted by another media organisation which could then open up another opportunity. Being featured in the press can have a snowball effect.
12. Can your PR think laterally when it comes to pitch ideas?
While it’s obvious to pitch to journalists covering your industry, you should always be thinking of opportunities that could get you in front of a broader audience.
Here’s an example from my experience. I ran a sustainable and socially responsible womenswear brand. While pitches went to fashion journalists, we also approached other journalists. It won me extra press. I was invited to write and speak about working and hiring practices, the impact of Brexit on UK manufacturing, equal pay, making a major career switch and other topics.
You may have your own ideas but a good PR should always help you come up with new and different angles to win wider press coverage.
13. How does your PR send pitches?
Most agencies will send pitches directly from their own accounts as this is standard practice.
However, the best agency that worked on my business took a different approach. They sent pitches that looked like they came directly from me. We’d set up a separate email which they managed. They would send the pitch and review any responses. Only the interesting ones were forwarded to me – which saved me the time of managing another email inbox.
Journalists receive lots of emails from PR agencies every day. They actually welcome (and often prefer) to hear the story directly from the company. And even better if it comes from the CEO or someone senior in the company.
If you’d prefer to hand over all your pitching administration to your PR that can work but you should make sure you know what they’re sending.
14. How should PR work with your marketing team
Your PR agency should always work closely with your marketing team.
This is to ensure your messaging is coherent across your entire marketing efforts.
It can also help generate ideas. For example, PR should know what stories are hot which the marketing team can then use to create marketing campaigns.
The marketing team can similarly tell your PR about the best-performing campaigns which may lead to a new pitch idea.
Your PR and marketing teams should brainstorm ideas frequently.
15. How much does your PR rely on giveaways?
Giving away product as samples is a part of doing business. It’s also often used to generate journalist interest. But if your PR team is relying on this too much (check the performance measure below) it could suggest they’re not generating enough pitching ideas.
This also applies to service industries. If your PR is giving away your time to win press, that also has a cost. Obviously, this doesn’t include the time you spend in an interview with a journalist.
A good PR should be able to sell your story without giving too much away for free.
How to measure the performance of you PR agency
We talk in detail about setting KPIs (key performance indicators) for your business in this article. But the main PR KPIs to look at would be (and probably measured over a quarterly period):
How many pitch ideas does your PR agency suggest?
How many pitches have they sent out and to which media outlets?
How many times have you appeared in the press?
How many backlinks has this secured over the same time period?
What are the domain authorities of each backlink?
How many visits to your website have come from those links and how does that compare with total website volume?
Have those visits resulted in increased sales? If so, what is the volume of those sales and how does it compare with total sales?
Are those sales higher than the cost of your PR spend (agency fees plus the cost of any giveaways), i.e. are you getting a return on investment?
These results should be reviewed every quarter with your PR agency. Press can be lumpy so you may not see great results every quarter but there should still be a positive trend. If not, you and your PR may need to consider a new approach. Or you may need to consider your alternatives.
How to get out of your PR contract
If it’s not working, it may be time to part company with your PR agency. This is never easy but if the numbers above tell a disappointing story then it will be difficult for your PR company to dispute the facts.
They may push for more time especially if stories are taking time to land. That’s for you to decide.
If you do choose to end the relationship then you need to be aware of the notice period. For most agencies, this is three months (although you should push for something shorter).
I’d advise you negotiate the service you expect over your notice period given the contractual obligation (on both sides) lasts until it ends.
Some agencies simply stop working on an account once notice has been given. But still expect their fees to be paid. They won’t tell you they’re doing this but you’ll know by the sudden lack of activity. If you haven’t agreed notice period terms, you need to challenge any loss of service (on the grounds of a breach of contract). Otherwise you’ll be paying fees for nothing.
Bottom line – PR can add a lot of value to your business. You just need to be selective about how it’s done. Or do it yourself. There’s also AI (artificial intelligence) now that can at least help you write pitches so getting started has never been easier.
Featured links: The Spectator, The Guardian, The Huffington Post and Forbes