Should you hire a media agency?

Startups in particular struggle if they should enlist the services of a PR firm to promote their brand. Big PR firms can charge upwards of $5,000 a month to promote your brand among their media networks. They can also help strategize and craft your message so that the masses are receptive to it.

Mark Cuban famously said that startups should never hire a PR agency in that they will simply contact the same reporters you know. While it is true that a lot of these agencies pitch to the same media contacts, the good ones have a solid reputation of acting as a conduit for good stories.

There is a big difference between a regular PR agency and a good one. There is definitely an area in which you should not cheap out. A client of mine once told me they cheaped out on a PR firm and in a period of three months got one piece of covering. It cost them upwards of $15,000 to achieve this.

I would recommend a startup hire a PR agency if they will spend around the same in paid advertising.

First, contact a media buying company (www.greysmokemedia.com) and see what sort of prices you can obtain. Then, figure out how much you are willing to pay for a media hit.

Here is a perfect example. If you hire a PR firm at $5000 a month and they get you 5 major media hits, those cost you $1000 each. A major media hit may be a 3 minute news segment in which your brand is mentioned three times. This is invaluable, much cheaper than any sort of commercial and passive content. Consumers know when they are being sold to and have a strong aversion to it. On the other hand, watching TV shows, consumers are seeking to soak in content. This is where Pr is way more advantageous.

You can also look into affiliate marketing instead of PR to get your message moving among social circles. In essence, contacting bloggers/sending samples etc is all an attempt to access their own social circles who they have trusted influence over. There are a couple sites out there such as Commission Junction which allow you to do this.

There is always the option of you taking on your own PR efforts in house. If you choose to go down this route make sure you have someone who has a communications background. They will need to know how to craft a message and write a press release. In addition, PR companies bring with them long media lists with email contacts in the niche you want. You will have to source your own if you don’t have any. You can build a list but it will take a while. There are PR news wire services in which you can pay around $300 to send you message to a list of media lists. These might be your best bet if you don’t have you own contacts.

Good luck in getting lips moving about your product.