PR Insights

What is a Boutique Agency and Should You Consider One?

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As you research PR agencies you may see many touting that they are “boutique.” What is a boutique agency? A boutique agency is an agency that prides itself on its smaller size, usually under 20 employees. Boutique agencies tend to offer either specializations or a more hands-on approach to client services.

Is a boutique agency right for you? Whether a boutique agency is right for you certainly depends on your needs. So, let’s explore some common questions about boutique PR agencies.

Do Boutique Agencies Offer the Same Services as Larger Agencies?

In so much as all agencies vary in services offered, yes, but boutique agencies expand and contract as a client needs. To do this, they often rely on a trusted team of subject experts and implementation specialists. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. The advantage is you’re not paying for services and team members you aren’t using. The disadvantage is adding to scope and implementation may take longer. Let’s say you need a 3-minute video done, and you need it finished yesterday.

Regardless of agency size, you’re dealing with the adage of “pick two: fast, excellent, or cheap.” But a super-fast turnaround may be firmly in the realm of possibility within a large agency. They may have a scriptwriter, videographer, and editing team at the ready. Meanwhile, if you ask a boutique agency to script a video, record a video, and edit one, it may take slightly longer as those team members aren’t ready right away, and to make it happen, you may pay more for the additional scope than at a larger agency, since these are “on-call” specialist team members as opposed to those employed full-time by a larger agency. So if you need an agency for services at the last minute, or with a 24-7 approach, a larger agency may be your better choice.

On the other hand, at a larger agency, you are paying for 24/7 service whether you need it or not. Another consideration of larger agencies vs. boutique pr agencies is the experience level of your team. Larger PR agencies often have less seasoned account managers running your PR strategy, and that may lead to more turn over and missing out on decades of experience from executive-level PR teams. 

Do I Get The Same Level of Service?

Of course, it depends on your definition of service. So let’s break down how agencies of different sizes handle client management. Boutique agencies have more “working managers,” which means your account managers are frequently agency executives. Their level of engagement will vary depending on factors like your PR budget, but they’re more deeply involved with your account than at a larger agency. You may even work with the CEO of the agency at a boutique agency; a highly unlikely occurrence at a large agency.

Also, typically, larger agencies assign more clients per team member than boutique agencies do. While a strategist at a large agency may carry 6-8 clients, at a boutique agency, your strategist may carry 4-5 clients at once. For example, at our agency, we’re regularly receiving service inquiries, but our current clients always come first. We make that choice because our senior strategists are involved in both biz development and client work. If personalized strategies and personal attention matter, a smaller agency may suit you better.

At a larger agency, it’s very common to work with an executive during the RFP or decision-making process, but that executive is rarely involved in the day-to-day of your account; you may see them once a month. So if working with executive-level strategists is important to you, you may appreciate the personalized attention a boutique offers. But if you are someone who only wants to hear from your agency’s account team when necessary or you’re ok with a more junior account team for the day-to-day, then you may appreciate the larger agency’s approach. But if you want more engaged and experienced strategists, who are regularly active in and with your account, then a smaller agency might be better.

Are Boutique Agencies Less Expensive?

First, some perspective. Your $20,000 budget might be a minimum at a larger agency, but quite substantial at a boutique agency. So, you should consider the value of PR for your company and working with a larger agency as part of the whole value proposition (like the additional services mentioned above). Sometimes hiring a larger agency is well worth it; “no one ever got fired for hiring Edelman.”

So, even though your budget doesn’t command the same level of respect from a larger agency, there may be a real advantage to having a named agency as your agency of record.  But if you want the red carpet rolled out for you, at that price range, then a boutique agency may be a better choice for you.

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2024 B2B Media Trends Leaders Need Today

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With the emergence of ChatGPT, the world is waking up to changes in content. While these disruptions aren’t always visible to the average reader, top PR agencies have been aware of these changes for quite some time; well before AI-generated content. These changes are impacting all media, including tier one media outlets. These changes aren’t all bad – in fact, for PR savvy B2B companies, leveraging these opportunities can be game-changing. Whether you’re a challenger brand, an emerging industry or Pre-IPO, from CleanTech to HealthTech to Cannabis and AI companies, these are the 2024 B2B media trends leaders need today.

 

2024 B2B Media Trend #1: Thought Leadership, Not Just for CEOs

While CEOs will always play an important role in B2B brand reputation, today’s B2B companies can leverage other brilliant C-Suite leaders to expand their horizons and speak directly to their customer base. Let’s say you’re a SaaS platform for accountants – why not take advantage of thought leadership opportunities for your CFO? Your CEO probably has insights your customers and potential customers would really appreciate, and the signal you’re sending to them is “we get you.”

There’s no reason your C-Suite leaders need even to write their own content, ghost writers do the heavy lifting. In fact, from a brand reputation and thought leadership standpoint, having a ghostwriter is the most optimum choice. Top PR agencies have excellent writers in their ranks and you can take full advantage of their decades of discipline by leveraging that talent to do the heavy lifting of creating content calendars and ideas, not to mention eagle-eye editing.

While owned content remains extremely important, third-party thought leadership opportunities abound today. Never have there been so many opportunities for the C-Suite to make their mark. Today’s ambitious leaders are contributing to Forbes, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, and even industry verticals regularly. And that’s relevant because according to eMarketer, content marketing is the #2 channel driving revenues for B2B companies.

 

2024 B2B Media Trend #2: Give Me The Data

As advertising revenues decrease for top publications, there have been huge swaths of layoffs for journalists. Today’s freelance journalist doesn’t have the weight of the publication behind them in the same way and that means gathering marketplace, consumer, or trending data is harder than ever.

B2B companies can double down on earned media by commissioning credible research or leveraging their own data to provide insights to journalists on trending business stories. And remember, even the top business publications are chasing stories that are of broader interest to the public. Data is the hero of B2B PR – use it.

Not only will using data give you a burst of earned media coverage, but your customers will appreciate it, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. A well-structured survey will be useful throughout the year and position your company as the top of your industry immediately. Reports like this are also an excellent way to build out your database of potential customers.

Is commissioning credible data expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? Only if you enjoy seeing your company in media outlets like Fortune, Inc., and Bloomberg. Even the Wall Street Journal uses third-party data, and there’s nothing like a quote from your leadership that solidifies a point of view with hard data.

While we’re at it, make PR decisions based on data, too. Modern PR firms have access to data that extends beyond reach and impressions. Identify target KPIs with your PR agency and demand they keep track of those KPIs quarterly. Your stakeholders, like B2B investors, will love this data and allow you to create credibility. Avaans Media uses a combination of social listening and AI to project trends and report on KPIs.

 

2024 B2B Media Trend #3: The Purpose Matters

As 2024 is an election year, there will be ever more eyes on how businesses impact culture. B2B companies can help their customers and themselves by articulating purpose beyond making money. Purpose-driven PR isn’t just for consumer brands anymore. This is especially true for Pre-IPO B2B companies.

Numerous B2B brands have leveraged purpose to distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace. According to the Harvard Business Review, “Purpose-driven companies make more money, have more engaged employees, more loyal customers, and are better at innovation and transformational change.” Purpose is your secret weapon to productivity and PR because purpose gives you another connection to make to timely news stories, especially trending stories like climate and the changing labor force.

If all that isn’t reason enough, because so many B2B leaders shrug off purpose-driven initiatives, it’s a great way to create a competitive advantage, even and especially when there is uncertainty.

2024 B2B Media Trend #4: Re-Thinking Social Media for B2B Companies

For the past two decades, Twitter was the town hall that gathered VC, potential customers, and media. PR-savvy CEOs took a personal interest in Twitter and knew how to leverage it. What’s more – media outlets LOVED going to Twitter to find sources, take a pulse, and find perspectives. But today, Twitter (X) is a red hot mess. The platform is unstable; the future is uncertain; the bots and trolls have taken over, and media outlets have jumped ship because of reduced credibility. There has been an onslaught of Twitter replacements, from Meta’s Threads to Jack Dorsey’s Blue Sky. But neither of them have quite reached the levels of Twitter (yet). But LinkedIn is a trusted standby and more and more professionals, including journalists, are finding refuge there.

LinkedIn has so many ways to improve a B2B brand, but one of our favorites is the LinkedIn newsletter. Leverage this this with premium content gets delivered right to the inboxes of your subscribers. Inboxes that your newsletter doesn’t have access to. LinkedIn is also experimenting with AI-generated content that allows thought leaders to contribute.

2024 B2B Media Trend #5: Use Your PR for Recruitment and Sales

Media coverage provides proof to investors, clients, and the public. But it also provides social proof in recruiting and sales.

From a recruiting standpoint, when your brand is an industry leader, PR helps you attract the best talent. This is especially important for hypergrowth companies who need top talent to take them to the next level or emerging industries that need to establish broader credibility. Your media coverage tells a candidate as much about you as your recruiter does. Plus, ambitious employees like to imagine that there is room for them to be included in media coverage.

PR takes a lot of heat for not being trackable. We disagree, PR is trackable, when your PR is aligned with your business strategies. But nowhere is that more clear than how PR increases revenue. PR helps your current customers stay confident in their choice, reduces friction for new customers, and stimulates potential revenue by allowing you to share solutions that potential customers didn’t even know could be solved.

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3 Media Trends Emerging and Ambitious Brands Need to Know

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When it comes to media trends emerging and ambitious brands need to know, no one knows that better than top PR agencies. Many things are driving media changes; social media is one. But so is the decrease in advertising revenue for publications, which drives a need for publications to get creative. You’ve probably seen an uptick in publications behind paywalls; that’s but one-way media outlets are changing revenue streams. PR firms need to be aware of the entire media landscape and provide their clients with the latest best practices; after all, expertise at the heart of what a leading PR agency does. These are the top 3 media trends emerging and ambitious brands need to know.

 

2024 Media Trend #1: Lead with Top Quality Content Creation

Be prepared to contribute content. This is an especially critical need for emerging industries and ambitious brands. Since the dawn of the internet, creating content has been a critical tent pole to any strategic PR or marketing plan. The difference today is that there is more opportunity to contribute content to premium outlets, from Entrepreneur Magazine to Forbes. Not only will this contributed content provide you with a premium platform, but your brand and voice will benefit from the media cache for social proof and SEO. It’s a win-win.

To be clear, this isn’t like writing a blog post; this content is a hybrid between earned content and owned content because it still goes through a stringent editorial process. This process can be very frustrating to time-crunched CEOs or marketing pros used to writing in a promotional rather than editorial style. Lean on your PR experts for this type of content; our team ghostwrites regularly and knows how to work with editors to reduce editorial friction and increase publishing speed.

Your owned content is perhaps your most valuable asset; besides controlling the message, it’s the most prominent voice of your brand. Some of this content should include very high-quality content targeted toward stakeholders and decision-makers, while other content should be for your consumers, and yet still other content can be for your SEO. There are many ways to maximize your content output and drive it to the right people. Many brands are loath to add their blog to the home page of their site as they don’t want too many distractions on their home page. As a digitally savvy PR firm, we can appreciate that concern. We employ several strategies to overcome this concern, but one is categorizing your content to appear in the right places. Your owned content is valuable. Ensure you’re using the right content for the right audiences in the right place.

Perhaps the most important media trend media trend emerging and ambitious brands need to know: premium content is premium because it’s thoughtful and useful to the reader. One rarely gets this kind of content straight out of ChatGPT or other AI-generated content programs. That’s not to say that these platforms aren’t helpful, but it is to say it should be used strategically. Make your content stand out by creating truly elevated content. The internet will appreciate it, and so will your brand.

2024 Media Trend #2:Today’s Sponsored Content

Open your mind to the world of sponsored content. Sponsored content has been around for a very long time, too, but today, it’s a broad term that covers everything from influencer content to a single piece of content and even a multitude of storyline features in a publication. For emerging industries and ambitious brands today’s sponsored content should absolutely be in the mix.

Some outlets have expansive brand partnerships where brands sponsor a section of coverage but leave editorial oversight to the publication. In these cases, brands sponsor content that their target audience would read rather than require articles about the brand. This premium tactic elevates the brand in the eyes of editors and customers. While this is a paid opportunity, and top publications offer no quid pro quo on these arrangements, editors are aware of who their top advertisers are, and exposure to the editorial team will always help your case when you have news, as you will already have some level of social proof. Again, it’s important to understand the nuances of an arrangement like this, and your digitally savvy PR agency can help you navigate those waters.

Another sponsored content option can include a “sponsored” article about your company or your CEO. Sponsored content is everywhere. Some sponsored content is limited to a single outlet, and some sponsored content may be produced and distributed to a multitude of outlets.

For example, many outlets, including tier 1 outlets, offer brands the opportunity to control a specific amount of space completely; the brand writes this content, and the best practice is to disclose this content as an ad or sponsored. When I owned a magazine, we called this content “advertorial” because the space was purchased, but it integrated with the style of the magazine. Again, here, your PR agency can create compelling editorial-style content that will drive eyeballs and allow emerging and ambitious brands to maximize social proof.

Another form of sponsored content that’s growing in popularity is content created with an editorial style and provided to many outlets. You often see this style of content in daily news shows that always need content and are under reduced staffing budgets. An example of this is gadget reviews on TV morning shows. Some (not all) of that is sponsored. A producer will create a segment and numerous TV shows will pick it up.

Press releases can be considered sponsored content. When you send a press release and it is distributed across the web, those are essentially paid placements.

 

2024 Media Trend #3: Affiliate Content is Changing

Affiliate marketing used to be a very low-brow way of marketing a product. It was very common for affiliate marketers to create incredibly spammy content and be aggressively sell products in their content. But today, affiliate marketing has changed. Premium tier-one outlets have improved this system and upgraded it with editorial-style content that also includes affiliate links. Google punishes websites that don’t disclose affiliate links, but many media outlets find readers don’t seem more bothered about affiliate links than they are about advertising in print magazines – so long as the content is good.

Affiliate content and PR are working hand in hand these days as publications turn to new ways to drive revenue. For CPG or consumer brands, having an affiliate program is essential to productive PR coverage today.

It’s also important to understand that product PR is very cyclical. So as you consider the timing on your product PR, be sure to understand media trends and how your product fits into the media cycle. The media cycle doesn’t bend to your needs, you fit into theirs – important to keep in mind during product launch planning and other marketing programs like influencer campaigns.

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5 PR Measurements for Fast-Growing Companies

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5 PR measurements for Fast-Growing Companies

Here’s a question we get asked a lot, in the quick, nimble world of hyper-growth companies how do we measure PR? One of the first questions a prospective PR should ask is “how will you measure success?” PR agencies ask this in a variety of ways. As a modern boutique PR firm, the A-Team at Avaans Media always ask about future goals.  This is critical to can tie results to meaningful business objectives. We also ask this question because results drive our PR pricing, which is built around your objectives, not ours. 

We know we measure PR a little differently than most of our competitors, but we think it’s incumbent on modern PR firms to stay ahead of the PR measurement. Every year since 2010, PR professionals meet in Barcelona and set the Barcelona Principles as a framework for measuring the effectiveness of PR and communication. We based our PR measurement philosophy on these modern PR measurement principles: Barcelona Principles 3.0. These 5 PR measurements for fast-growing companies provide insight into how we work and provide a roadmap for PR success, no matter what your objectives.

 

It takes up to seven months to develop trust, so it’s important to stay consistent but also nimble.

  1. DETERMINE THE “WHY” BEHIND PR

    The “why” driving purpose for PR is critically important to identify. There may be a 5-year goal in mind, or a sales goal for the next year. Goals for hyper-growth brands may be dynamic and far-reaching. Having long-term and short-term goals as a fast-growing company is perfectly acceptable.

    For example, if your “why” is capital infusion by venture capital, understanding how VC’s use PR coverage is a vital component of the strategy. Alternatively, a different strategy would be in place for a company preparing for an IPO. And if a company wants to improve revenue growth, the PR strategy for that would be different as well.

    Most importantly, you share those goals openly and regularly with your professional PR team. As goals change, so should the PR strategies and tactics. It’s important PR efforts reflect both positioning for today and tomorrow. The “Why” is where the communication strategy is built and it’s a critical piece to PR success. Once you determine your overall “why,” a top PR agency will then know what levers to pull for a quality PR campaign

 

  1. PR MEASUREMENT IS ABOUT QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY

    Huge massive PR dashboards with hundreds of KPIs might look impressive, but realistically, they aren’t helping anyone, especially fast-growing companies. Your PR KPIs should reflect 3-4 metrics that reflect the goals of the company. As a CMO, this is your chance to share your own goals with the PR agency so they can support your objectives in every way possible. If you need a huge win – tell us! Let us help you. If you’re unsure, why your PR firm is measuring a specific KPI, ask. You’d like to measure something different, say so. If you highlight a particular PR measurement in investor, board, or CEO presentations, we want to know that. A modern PR agency is going to build measurements around long-term goals, as they change, share them. PR measurement should include outputs, outcomes, and potential impacts for fast-growing companies.

  2. DATA and EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TELL THE PR MEASUREMENT STORY BEST

    Your PR measurement should include data points, but it should also include context and insight. Data without insight is practically meaningless for hyper-growth brands. PR data and the importance of that PR measurement will have different meanings against, social, cultural, and corporate contexts. Splashing numbers across a page is the simple part. Modern PR measurement requires emotional intelligence to surface real insights and actionable strategies. When there are radical changes, your PR firm should dive deeper to provide meaningful insight and assure correct changes were made proactively and the KPIs reflect the insight and analysis.

  3. PR MEASUREMENT IS HOLISTIC

    Why silo PR, one of the most important strategies for fast-growing companies? Modern PR includes SEO considerations, social media, paid media, and earned media, online and offline. Insist that your modern PR firm collaborate with other agencies and departments or at the very least that they keep one another informed of campaigns and their goals. As a CMO, it’s also critical that you share the OTHER KPIs you measure in advertising, social media, and owned media so the communication measurement incorporates the entire picture. The insights other agencies have can inform the emotional intelligence and insight to your PR measurement.

  4. TRANSPARENCY & INTEGRITY MAKE FOR SMARTER GOALS

    Everyone understands SMART objectives (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound), but modern PR agencies are adding ETHICAL and REVOLUTIONIZING to make objectives SMARTER. PR professionals have professional ethics set forth by organizations like PRSA. Journalists also have a set of professional ethics. But those ethics are only the beginning because modern PR agencies should consider digital ethics (security, disclosure) as well as social and cultural ethics, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. PR measurement should always be contextural and advance both the brand AND society. These modern-day ethics aren’t only for purpose-driven brands, they are for all stakeholders who care about the brand. It’s more critical than ever that modern PR firms incorporate SMARTER goals and outputs that enhance brand value over short-term bursts which may actually hurt a brand’s reputation. Never has emotional intelligence been more important to PR goals and measurement.

 

We know PR measurement will remain as dynamic as your fast-growing business, customers, and culture. These five goals for hyper-growth brands provide guidance and help you achieve real success with PR. At Avaans Media, we’re committed to being best-in-class for providing PR measurement with genuine insights that apply to your business. Contact us today for a meaningful discussion about PR measurements for today’s business goals.

 

 

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How Much Does a PR Agency Cost?

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Maybe you’ve never hired a PR firm before, or maybe it’s been a while and you’re just unsure of what a PR agency costs. Either way, you’re asking yourself, “how much will a PR firm cost me?” Since PR usually falls within the marketing budget, let’s start there.

To grow your position in the marketplace, a good marketing allocation is about 15% of revenue. In 2022, the average marketing budget for B2C brands was 13.7% of revenue, and for B2B brands, it was about 10% of revenue.

 

But what if you’re an ambitious company looking for PR to take you to the next level?

In 2023, PR hourly billing rates looked like this: 

PR Agency CEOs: $439/per hour (up from $417/hour in 2020) 
PR Agency EVPs billed an average of $381/per hour (up from $319 in 2020)
PR Agency Senior Account Execs billed an average of $333/hour (up from $319 in 2021)
PR Agency Account Managers: $257/hour (up from $256/hour in 2020) 

So if you’re an average company, and you’re looking to maintain your position, you’re probably spending in the range of 10% of revenue on marketing.If you’re looking to dominate, your budget should be higher. A typical breakdown might be that 1/3 of the budget is advertising, 1/3 of the budget is content, and 1/3 of the budget is PR.

Ambitious startups typically allocate between 12-17% of revenues to marketing.

Large international agency budgets can be $380,000 or more annually, while a mid-range agency budget typically clocks in at $156,000-$180,000 annually and a smaller agency budget would be $120,000 per year, a mid-range freelancer could be anywhere from $36,000-$100,000 a year.

If you’re a CPG or DTC brand with a marketing spend of under $100,000, then you might consider consumer product PR sprints, which feature micro contracts that align with key buying seasons. Hiring a PR agency is an investment, but considering PR converts ten to 50% better than advertising, PR is indeed a place where the ROI pays off.

It’s safe to say that if your PR team has executive PR experience, and your agency spends an average of 45 person-hours per month on your account, your monthly retainer will be around $14,400 per month. It could be less if your team is more junior. If you require more executive hours, your fees could go up. 

So, what goes into a PR agency’s fees?

 

According to Muck Rack’s 2021 State of PR report, the number one cost to a company for PR is the agency itself; the people on the account. This makes sense because, unlike programmatic ad spending (a typical minimum is programmatic spend is $25,000/month), PR agencies rarely have minimum spend or activation fee requirements outside their retainers.

 

Oftentimes, fees are different depending on your strategic objectives. For example, if you want to keep a firm on retainer for a few calls a month and no proactive media outreach, your annual fees may be considerably less. If you are trying to secure investment or you’re pre-IPO, you may find your fees are on the higher end of an agency’s fee structure.

It’s a balance to strike your budget with your goals, but when asked, I always give the same advice to CMO’s and startup founders. If your budget is $400,000 or more per year, hire an agency that does $20 million+ in revenue. If your budget is $180,000 per year, hire a boutique PR firm, with less than $10 million in revenue. If your budget is $60,000 annually, don’t hire an agency, hire a freelancer.

Odwyer PR’s annual report shows rates increased considerably in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023, so if your agency didn’t raise its rates during those year, you’re fortunate, but if you’re shopping, the current rates may come as a surprise; but PR Rates are expected to flatten out in 2024, so while there will be modest increases in 2024, they won’t be the big jumps we saw in the last four years.

Agencies are notoriously reluctant to share minimum retainers, but in 2013, several agency executives did just that with PR Observer, an industry publication.

“To properly scope a client program and assign the proper team support, we feel $15,000 – $17,500 per month is a reasonable starting point.”—Anne Green, President & CEO, CooperKatz & Company, Inc.

“Our retainers range from $7,500 – $50,000 or so. Crisis costs are different and generally charged by the hour with a $20,000 minimum.”—Ronn Torossian, Founder & President, 5WPR

“We have some clients that pay us $100,000 or so per year, some clients that pay us more than $100,000 per week, and many clients that pay us $100,000 or so per month.”— Mark Hass, President & CEO, Edelman United States

“Our clients generally pay between $15,000-$30,000 a month depending on the workload.”—Stu Loeser, Founder & President, Stu Loeser & Co.
So what’s typically included in a bespoke retainer rate? Well, again, that may depend on each agency’s specialty. For example, if your agency specializes in digital communications, you may find that social media content creation is included, but media relations are not. But the following services are a good rule of thumb to expect within our typical PR agency retainer:
  • Strategies about how to stand out from your competitors using PR
  • Internal and external communication strategies that match your growth goals.
  • Campaign development and creative activations for marketing opportunities.
  • Media relations, and securing regular media coverage, speaking engagements.
  • KPI and business impact reporting.
  • Copywriting such as press releases, speeches, white papers, and branded journalism.
  • PR crisis planning – but not necessarily crisis management.
  • Partnership strategy and potentially management such as cause, social impact, or purpose-driven PR initiatives.
  • Executive training, including media training, interview prep, and research or executive ghostwriting.
  • Content strategy for video, social media, and inbound leads.
  • Content creation oversight, including social media, photography sessions, and video development.
  • Poll or research development, implementing the poll may or may not be within the agency’s retainer.
  • Peer agency coordination, such as with branding or advertising agencies.
  • PR campaigns that “make the news,” are designed to create word-of-mouth or media opportunities.

For a complete list of what we would include in your PR retainer, reach out to us and tell us more about your business and your goals.

Hiring a PR agency is an investment, but considering PR converts ten to 50% better than advertising, PR is indeed a place where the ROI pays off.

 

(sources: Odweyer PR)

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PR for AI Startups – Is It Too Late?

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ChatGPT was a seismic event for AI PR. AI companies that focused on generating language models for prompts and voice commands were already years ahead. “AI prompts for ChatGPT” topics were all the rage, and for AI startups, that was actually quite frustrating because they knew there are so many deep, interesting topics to cover. And that’s why it’s not too late for public relations for AI startups.

As a PR agency specializing in emerging technologies, our clients definitely benefited from the burst of AI coverage after ChatGPT became a media darling. Still, our clients are already working on AI technologies that make businesses more efficient and embrace the human element to allow more informed decisions.

Journalists will cover artificial intelligence in the way they covered social media during its infancy: obsessively, as there are still a lot of stories to tell in commercial AI PR. AI-assisted technologies will continue to exist, so there will be endless types of articles to write, and they will not solely revolve around creating content or the disappearance of jobs.

The Case for PR Urgency

Executives and boardrooms are still unsure about what AI means for their companies. And tomorrow’s most relevant AI brands are taking the opportunity right now to create media coverage around topics that position them as thought leaders. An AI PR agency that understands the cyclical nature of PR for hyper-growth and emerging industries is an essential resource for AI startups.

85% of AI startups will be out of business in three years. From content to thought leadership to contributed content and niche audience trends, the PR strategies AI companies choose today will be the differentiator for AI startups from the earliest phases to pre-IPO. AI is dominating venture funding headlines and grabbing what venture funding dollars are available today, and that means tomorrow’s most exciting IPOs will be AI companies. And while those companies need PR for AI companies, even those who intend to stay private should embrace PR because the industry is at its most crucial stage.

Educating the Consumer About The Future of AI

Like with other hot emerging industries, AI technologies have the opportunity right now to develop positive relationships with stakeholders, customers, and consumers. As an industry, AI companies should take this very seriously because AI’s potential is scary to consumers, especially since consumers are still experiencing techlash from the unforeseen consequences of social media. Educating consumers about how the AI industry addresses their fears and concerns is a key opportunity for public relations for AI companies.

Even B2B AI companies should take the lead on educating the masses about AI’s potential. Why is this important? When the average person understands how AI will make their life better, AI will seem less scary and this is important to regulators.

AI companies can also take this opportunity to self regulate, instead of waiting for a government backlash from representatives who don’t understand what it is (see Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional hearing). Taking stakeholders along the journey enables them to see the future with you, as opposed to despite you. PR services are critical to this journey because today’s actions will have an outsized impact in the future.

From content creation to PR campaigns, AI companies should lean into tech where it makes sense, and lean into relationships where it’s most important.

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