10 PR mistakes for startups to avoid
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Some of the PR mistakes we see at startups include starting too early, lacking clear messaging, ignoring owned media, and failing to measure results. These missteps can damage your brand’s credibility, slow business growth, and even make securing startup funding harder.
Below, we break down the key mistakes - and how your startup can avoid them.
1. Starting PR before product-market fit
Starting PR without confirming product-market fit is a major mistake. Without real customer validation (through organic advocacy or referrals), media coverage will fall flat.
Tip: Focus on building and proving your product first.
2. Failing to create strong brand messaging
PR success depends on clear messaging. Without it, your brand’s narrative will be misaligned and therefore your PR pitches will confuse journalists.
Tip: Nail down your brand’s core messaging before developing a simple, memorable elevator pitch for media outreach.
3. Treating PR as a one-off campaign
Often, startups treat PR as a launch activity, then go silent. This inevitably harms momentum, and can weaken investor confidence during startup funding rounds.
Tip: Build a sustained press office PR plan that aligns with growth milestones. It’s also helpful to begin to build relationships with journalists in your sector to help maintain momentum.
4. Targeting the wrong journalists
Pitching irrelevant journalists is a common PR mistake for startups. It damages your media relationships, and can reduce your chances of positive coverage.
Tip: Use tools like Muck Rack to find journalists specialising in your industry.
5. Overhyping without evidence
Exaggerated claims can kill trust fast, especially during critical startup funding stages.
Tip: Share honest milestones, customer successes, and measurable growth data.
6. Sharing news that isn’t newsworthy
Often, startups will share all company updates and deem it newsworthy, even when it’s not.
Tip: Newsworthy news should pique the interest of your external stakeholders, your consumers, and your competitors. We’ve written another blog on this.
7. Ignoring owned media channels
Focusing only on earned media (press) and ignoring your own channels (like your website or social media) is a lost opportunity.
Tip: Update your blog, website, and social media channels regularly to reinforce your brand story, and share coverage on socials when you achieve it.
8. Being unprepared for interviews
Securing an interview with a journalist is just the start of your media relations journey. Failure to prepare for your interviews properly (and ignoring media training) will affect the quality of coverage achieved, and potentially damage your relationship with the journalist.
Tip: Invest in media training to ensure you communicate your business’ key messages effectively.
9. Lacking a crisis communication plan
Startups aren’t immune from crises, and without a crisis communication plan, your brand’s reputation is at risk.
Tip: Create a simple crisis management plan and share among key stakeholders.
10. Not measuring PR results
Focusing on vanity metrics (like article counts) to measure your success is a key PR mistake for startups.
Tip: Measure outcomes like website traffic growth, share of voice, inbounds, and quality of media coverage.
