How do you know if your business is PR ready?
I have worked with a lot of startups, scaleups and SMEs over the years and as anyone who knows PR will tell you, it can take time to deliver results.
For companies around Series A, timing it right is particularly important.
As the business grows it takes on more cost, and (in the UK at least) runways are getting longer with Series B rounds taking longer to close.
Rush in too quick and get it wrong, PR will accelerate the burn rate. Leave it too late and play it too safe, you’ll risk missing your moment.
But it’s hard for founders (particularly those who are less-familiar with PR) to judge it right, and know what a freelancer or agency will need in order to succeed.
Whilst any new partner will require some time to allow for briefing and settling in, founders can save a lot of time and money by getting PR-ready before they start to invest.
A big part of being PR-ready is, frankly, having scale and brand profile. Small companies with no brand profile find it very hard to earn attention, let alone media coverage. This is why Series A is a good benchmark, as the company will have some provable traction and product-market fit.
But of course scale is not enough. Other elements need to be in place. But what?
My self-assessment tool, created with ScoreApp, helps Series A founders start to answer that question.
The Assessment considers three key things.
💬 message (what you want to say)
💰 assets (what you have to offer)
⚙️ operations (can you deliver)
I've spent a bit of time to boil it down to just 16 multiple-choice questions, so it can be completed in about 5 mins. The Assessment requires no preparation, just a little consideration before you answer each question.
I will then review each answer to each question, explain why the answer got the score it did, and offer practical steps and tools that will help founders improve in each area.
You can take the test here: http://www.mattphillipspr.com/pr-assessment
It’s designed to be answered by founders, with the score based on their perceptions.
Whether you’re a you're a founder (or working with a startup or scaleup) thinking about PR, or involved in comms some other way (a PR or marketing buyer or practitioner) I'd appreciate your feedback.