Start with PR

I used to think that public relations (PR) should come after sales and marketing.

I have changed my mind. 

At least if you look at PR as broader than just media relations.

If PR is about sharing your knowledge and expertise in a generous way that builds relationships and forms a community, you could view digital community building on platforms like LinkedIn as a modern and highly effective form of PR – at least for B2B companies. It creates organic reach and earns media exposure just as media publications do.

And it’s easy to reach people here on LinkedIn without spending a dime on ads. I am astounded that more companies are not using the opportunity it brings!

Because no other big social media platform gives you that reach organically. All you need to do is to create valuable content for others, and instead of only celebrating your success: share your failures, learnings, experiences, and where they brought you. Tell the story about your journey, not the destination you are at. Switch perspective from “What will people press the like button on?” to instead asking the question: “What can be valuable and exciting for others to know?”. One share from a potential brand ambassador with deep networks among your stakeholders will bring you more than thousand random likes. Go deep.

Being able to take your knowledge and share it in a way that brings value to other people will make marketing and sales easier. And it will make other stakeholders notice you. Hint to all startup founders who think raising is difficult right now: there is money. But DMs and random cold emails will not help you get it. Building a community will.

So, know your story well. Learn to tell it in a way that makes others want to spread it for you. Share value and knowledge with your community. Teach them everything you know. Everything. Do not hold back. The more you teach, the more of an expert position you create for yourself. The more of a specialist position you make, the less you need to pitch your work. You will go from having to talk about your product’s benefits to selling it to jumping right into collaborations, partnerships, and doing business. So much easier. 

I am seeing this happening with Heartspace as well. Everything changed when we switched from pitch emails to customers about how great our platform is to sending out knowledge-based tips, e-books, white-papers, and reports. Customers are coming to us and bringing their friends with them. 

So, if you want to market your company:

Do PR.

If you want to sell your products:

Do PR.

If you want to build a thought leadership position:

Do PR.

PR is something that every company should start doing from day one. And when you grow and want to scale your business, you benefit significantly from the community you have built.