When a founder is starting a business, they know that at some point they're going to have to tell other people what they’re doing and why, in order to reach their prospective clients and customers.  Word of mouth is key.  However, to reach further afield, marketing and communications will strengthen the launch, brand building and SEO.  As part of the marketing mix, I find that PR is often considered but rarely embraced to its full potential - and often left to the last minute when it is too late.  

I started Fallow, Field & Mason in order to combat the wariness that founders have of PR, coach them to own the function in-house and help them to understand what value it can bring to their search result rankings.  As this mini-series is a more practical ‘how to’ it felt like the right place to speak about my day job, so I invited a fellow PR professional to discuss the topic. 

In this episode I chat to Katya Zemtsova who runs her own marketing, media relations and project management company, Elephant, who set up and develop businesses in Russia, the CIS and the UK.  She shares insights on why storytelling is so important and how it can support SEO, as well as common mistakes and misunderstandings business owners are guilty of when it comes to PR.

Katya’s advice: 

• PR, or public relations, already exists in all of your communications, it is simply spreading public awareness, so your word of mouth is also considered as PR
• Words matter, they feed search engines (SEO)
• Securing editorial content can not only build brand awareness but feed your search rankings 
• When starting out, use a professional copywriter to deliver high quality text as the written word is key
• Remember to take into account lead times for the press, and think ahead with a three month lead time as a minimum 
• Public Relations is the means to secure editorial (not advertising!) in publications, however it is also speaker opportunities, awards, newsletters etc. too
• Founders are always the best storytellers where their own brand is concerned so it is best to embrace this and conquer your fear of speaking to the press 
• Ensure you know how best to approach the press, when and with the right messaging 
• Be strategic in your approach with the media, make sure the publications are of high quality so when you’re searched, you’re affiliated with the right environment for your business 
• Be patient; it takes time to build relationships plus the press need time to research, write and pitch to their editors too

You can reach Katya via [email protected] 

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.
LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
For contracts check out Law Depot.

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2021 founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field

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