Choosing the right tech PR firm

Searching for tech PR firms? Learn how to find the right tech PR firm / tech PR consultant

We know with certainty that good PR can directly result in new customers, funding, partnerships, etc. Long-term PR is vital to properly positioning and maximizing revenue potential for a product or company. Without PR, your success can never be fully maximized.  PR requires long-term commitment that provides short-term results along the way, culminating in a desirable market position. You can then sustain the position and adapt as market changes occur.

Paramount to the PR process is developing and securing good stories and press releases spread over time. Simple, right? Not really. Good PR people understand how, when and where to do a press release. They understand how to develop key messages and a “storyboard” that leads to a proliferation of attention for you and, ultimately a preferred market position. They understand how to properly communicate with media. Improper communication with the media can quickly get a PR person on their bad side. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, illustrated this in a 2007 blog *post where Anderson called out dozens of ineffective PR people. Anderson wrote, “I’ve had it. I get more than 300 emails a day and my problem isn’t spam…, it’s PR people. Lazy flacks send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can’t be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they’re pitching.” This was part of his post titled, “Sorry PR people: you’re blocked.”

So, alongside the strategic expertise required, there is also a requirement for meticulous tactical execution, day-to-day, month-to-month and year after year. With so much riding on finding good PR help, here is a FAQ and answers covering the typical questions we get from technology executives about finding the right PR firm or consultant.

What media connections do you have that will get us great press?
Many PR people try and tout that they have so-called “connections” with the media. In fact, it is becoming more the norm than not. So much so that companies looking for PR firms sometimes ask PR firms to provide media references. As the Wired example illustrates (in the opening paragraph), media connections are not what is important. Any PR person worth their salt knows how to reach an editor or reporter at a magazine. Being “friends” with many reporters or schmoozing with them to try and get article “favors” is not going to get you any stories, let alone consistently good PR either. It’s business, pure and simple. If you have a good, compelling and current story the press is more likely to run that story because it’s a good story, not because you’ve had a beer with them. If you don’t, no number of schmoozed reporters or favors can help – it’s business. So, what you need is a PR partner that can help you create compelling stories that increase the potential for media coverage and that knows how to engage the right reporters at the right time with the right story.

What related experience to our technology do you have?
It’s very important that your PR partner understands your technology, this much is true. But, that’s it. Making sure of this by looking only for a PR partner that has past specific experience is the wrong way to go about it. First, it is the nature – and an ethical standard – of a successful PR business not to have similar clients because it’s a conflict of interest to service two companies at the same time that have similar / competing technologies. Second, the very nature of technology is that it is innovative, essentially rendering past experience unlikely. But let’s say one still wants to hold their ground that they definitely want a PR partner with at least some related past experience. Let’s say perhaps you want a PR partner with past experience in DSP chips for high end audio equipment. You’re already limiting your potential candidates to a small few. What is more important is that you find a PR partner that can come to understand YOUR DSP solution best and quickest, regardless of past experience AND that has demonstrated proficiency in getting media attention across multiple technology sectors. This shows that the PR partner has a command for adaptation and achieving success regardless of the technology. Don’t forget the end goal – you need a PR partner that has demonstrated an ability to understand technology and get attention for it, regardless of what it is. Furthermore, if you do find someone with specific related experience, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is still relevant:

1. Does the person who managed the work still work at the firm?
2. Will they work on your team?
3. How long ago was it and for how long was the work?
4. Why are they still not working for that previous client or clients; etc?

It’s likely if these questions are asked that you’ll find out it’s not as applicable as you would prefer. Don’t limit your possibility to get a better PR partner because another company once worked with a similar technology to yours.

We need a PR partner that is local to us so, where are you located?
This is one of the most over-rated requests. First, any good PR partner will visit your offices as frequently as possible to sustain and grow the relationship. But, more importantly, you are looking for a PR partner to primarily get you media coverage. The media they are targeting are not local to them, no matter where they have their offices. Even if some media are, it’s not possible they can go to the editor’s offices to pitch them at their desire. PR today is primarily done by “digital” means. Since the primary reason for getting a PR partner is having them get you media coverage, their proximity to you – or anyone – is of little concern. Again, worry more about if they’ve demonstrated an ability to get their clients consistent and meaningful media coverage.

Don’t we need a big PR firm to manage our multiple PR needs?
Are you sure about that? Unless you are a big public company with multi-national offices, dozens of products and thousands of employees, you’re probably better served by a consultant or a small to medium-sized PR firm. Even some multi-nationals with a small product count might be better served by smaller PR partners. Truth is if you are a private company with a handful of product families it is likely in your best interest to seek a smaller PR partner so you can get the devoted attention they provide that large PR firms typically reserve for clients dropping some $10,000 – 20,000+ a month. Think small if you want bigger results. Typically, the larger the firm the more likely they are to lack in focus (do more than just technology companies, etc.) and attention for you.

How much should I pay for PR?
While there is no single answer to this question, there are some general “windows” on pricing. A startup technology company (and this does not necessarily include marketing support – just full PR) setting to launch its initial product under a staff of some 10-20 people should typically pay around $2,000-3,000 a month for PR. A step above that might be a company that has 2-5 products out for more than six months, under a staff of, say, 20-50 people – this might call for a budget around $3,000-4,000 monthly. Say you’re bigger than that – you have some 6-12 products out, some for more than a year and employ some 50-500 people. This might call for a budget around $5,000. A smaller public company with 1-2 dozen products and some 500-1,000 people might be between $6,000-7,000 monthly. That’s pretty much it.  Anything less and you’re probably getting less than an expert.  Anything more and you’re probably getting ripped off.  Big companies with dozens of brands would approach $10,000 or more. There are some variables that may raise costs here or there. For example, if you would likely fall in the $2,000-3,000 range but, your product is going to sell into a lot of verticals (i.e., health, finance, real estate, education, transportation, government, etc.) this may increase the cost because each vertical market has its own tiers of magazines and thus, more editors and reporters that need to be considered.

Isn’t it better to do PR projects rather than month-to-month PR?
Plain and simple, this is a big mistake many companies make. Many companies think they can turn on the light switch at any time to do PR. The problem is, when the light switch is off, your company is in the dark. More concerning is it’s likely that while you’re taking a “project-approach” to PR your competitors are blazing away with consistent PR efforts that are positioning them or repositioning YOU to their advantage. When you’re not actively engaged with media, analysts, etc. you’re in the dark about how you are being perceived. Furthermore, it is never possible to maximize a desirable market position for your company or a product or service with a few press releases here and there during a year. It just cannot be done and any great marketer understands this.

Do we really need PR since we are doing a lot of marketing?
This is another common mistake. In fact, you should be doing PR before any marketing. Marketing will never be as effective without PR having first established a sustainable perception and market position about your company and its products or services. Simply put, PR is what establishes the credibility so marketing can be more effective. Attempting to market a company or product – to its maximum potential – without having mindshare first is a daunting and almost-impossible proposition. PR first. Marketing second. PR then maintains a market position and adapts it as needed. Marketing continues to ride the coattail of what PR establishes. It’s a simple theory but, it is one that requires strategic planning and meticulous short and long-term execution – an expert at tech PR and tech marketing.

We do social networking – isn’t that enough?
The growth, and importance, of social networking in the tech PR and tech marketing mix is indisputable.  Today, it is rare that a company should not be engaged in social networking – yes, there are still some rare cases where it’s not advantageous.  However, the notion that social networking is enough is a false one.  How do you think one gets friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, etc. – through being known?  What is the most effective means for a company to become known and stay known?  PR.  That simple.  Your social networking efforts will never reach full potential without PR short-term and long-term.

Don’t we need a PR partner that is an expert in doing social networking?
To a point, yes.  Obviously, your PR firm partner should know about social networking: its role within PR and marketing; its opportunities, weaknesses and threats.  More on threats in a bit…  In fact, the role and implementation of social networking should be managed and controlled by PR.  After all, it is a public-facing mechanism that has the ability to spread good, as well as bad, word of mouth about you.  Social networking also represents a threat.  So, while you may want someone that knows social networking, we recommend you never let your PR firm do any social networking on your behalf.  We’ve read about incidents that put a black eye on a company because of a PR rep’s bad “social networking” rant.  You should always control outbound social networking messages and PR should serve as your filter / firewall to ward off any potential threats that outbound messages can bring.  So, concern yourself more with finding a PR partner that understands how to avoid and manage threats if they do arise.

Don’t we need a big team to handle multiple products?
It’s a common misconception that a big PR firm is more able to handle the PR needs of a company with many products. Unfortunately, it’s often wrong in many ways. While there are big PR firms that do a decent job, it’s probably just as likely you could have found a smaller firm – and more affordable – that could have done the same or better job. Many times, big PR firms will bring in their big guns to pitch you for your business. You’ll be introduced to the big VP of Creative Whoopla and the other VP of Strategic Brouhaha, or maybe the VP of Branding Woohoo. You’ll be given the impression that these folks will be involved in the day-to-day execution of work done on your behalf. Later on, you’ll see that your work is actually being delegated to people with far less experience than you had thought were going to be doing your work. You may even see your team change quite a bit, contributing to a lack of continuity for you. This is because those big guns have moved on to finding other clients to sign up.  They may pop in from time to time but, the day-to-day work is in someone else’s hands and, often a junior person.  This is bad because at the end of the day, while strategic planning is important, it’s the daily tactical implementation that makes or breaks success.  So you have multiple products. It doesn’t mean that a small PR firm can’t handle it. Talk to a PR firm and see if you find someone that has handled PR for a similar amount of products under one company, and make sure it was for at least a year period. You’ll probably save yourself a lot of frustration – and money.

How can we make sure our budget stays in line?
If this is a concern – and it always should be – you better double-check what you’re signing with big PR firms before you commit. The bigger the PR firm, the more overhead they have and that means the more they will likely try to bill all types of things back to you. Thought those phone calls to UK editors were not going to cost you extra? Did you think all those hard copies of press releases for the trade show were not going to be billed back or at least were going to be billed back only at cost? Did you ever imagine that writing a 500-word press release was going to cost $2,000-3000 of the budget? Well, the bigger the PR firm, the more likely these scenarios will play out against you. The bigger they are, the more people with high hourly billing rates that want to get involved at random occasions, often contributing little value because they lack continuity but, certainly billing you more for it. Should it really take 3-4 people at a PR firm reviewing a press release draft before sending it to you (remember, that means 2-3 times the cost) and then having all those people again review your edits? If it takes 3-4 people to get you a draft press release one has to wonder how much of an “expert” they really are.  Typically, the more people that are involved the more rounds and cycles of reviews that happen. This is good for a PR firm’s revenue but, not your budget. Truth is any veteran PR person should be able to draft a press release for you to review without requiring 2-3 other team members to review it too. All of these things add up and require bigger budgets. Make sure the PR firm you are looking at outlines all fees and added costs. Also, ask them to define their process for producing documents like press releases so you are not surprised later on.

Your checklist for finding PR help.
We’ve created a simple checklist you can **download to do a review of PR partners when trying to find help.

*Wired blog post referenced herein