A PR firm is one of the most influential decisions you can make for Series A funding. The media exposure and brand awareness generated from your PR campaign will introduce your product and service to investors and consumers. Or, if your PR firm fails to generate exposure, your chances for funding dramatically decrease, especially if you fumble the message.
So what should you look for when trying to decide the best PR agency for your Series A Tech Startup?
Do your homework on PR firms
Make a shortlist of no more than five agencies who have worked in your sector. Which of these PR firms are consistently getting media mentions for their clients? How experienced is the PR firm or media strategist. Do they understand your product? You will have more success by creating a very targeted due diligence list. Click here to read questions to ask your PR firm.
Talk to the PR Firms
Once you have created a list of ideal PR firms, talk to those agencies. More important, speak directly with the person who will be handling your account. Many of the larger agencies will have you deal with a senior account manager – until the actual campaign is launched. Then, they’ll pawn you off to a junior account executive right out of school. I saw that all the time as an Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS. The junior account executives right out of college would pitch me with little concept of strategy. Protect yourself; ask the firm directly – who is running my campaign? With MACIAS PR, all clients work directly with the founder – an experienced media strategist with time spent in local and national TV.
Should you go with a large or small PR firm?
Larger PR firms can quickly eat up your budget. It’s also unlikely you will ever become a priority since the firm’s resources will always go to the larger clients. A boutique agency – like MACIAS PR – might have a smaller bandwidth, but also won’t get lost in the client shuffle.
Ask to see firm’s porfolio
It’s important to see how the firm has delivered with other clients. But don’t be deceived with media placements secured from years earlier. You want to see what the PR firm has done recently. This is one of the reasons why MACIAS PR publishes quarterly media reports. We want potential clients to see the media placements we have secured in the last month or two. Click here to read our 2019 Q1 Media Report.
How much will PR cost?
Agencies are usually on a monthly retainer that last a minimum of six months. Many PR agencies accept project work if you show potential for growth. However, clients on the project scope of work will always receive less attention since retainer clients require more priority. We don’t recommend this approach to PR because your campaign won’t get the required resources needed to succeed.
If you’d like to hear how MACIAS PR can help, shoot us an email, or click on our PR estimate page to get a free quote.
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017 and 2018 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He’s also a frequent contributor with CNBC and author of the books, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and the Tao of PR.