By Sebastian van der Vegt, Untold Communications
Thanks to a booming economy, the start-up scene is thriving. Co-working places everywhere are full of entrepreneurs with innovative new ideas, taking advantage of a digital economy that is providing unparalleled opportunities, the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Yet, statistics remind us of a sobering number. Among start-ups that manage to attract outside funding, around 70% never make a profit. Over half of all companies don’t even make it past their 5th year.
So how do you beat these miserable odds?
The answer is that it’s not simple. You need thick skin, a strong mind, a lot of determination and not just a little bit of luck. But you can greatly increase your odds by creating an awesome communications strategy and narrative.
By strategy, I simply mean the purposeful use of communication to fulfill your mission – the right message/content, to the right target audience, at the right time using the correct medium/messenger. Done right, it will inform investment decisions, win over potential clients and investors, and position a company for long-term growth.
Sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s not. Most start-ups have a business plan, a financial plan and even a basic marketing plan to establish an online presence. Very few have a sound communications strategy mapped out. In fact, among the start-ups that I’ve come across, I’ve yet to find one that had thought about this.
Some start-ups do decide they need good ‘PR’, usually after about six months to a year into their existence, but they often do it for the wrong reasons, or with little or no strategy.
Just last week, a prospective client asked me if I knew any journalists. “Of course, I do” I answered, “I know plenty,” but explained to him that it’s really the wrong question – see point 5 below.
Initially, most small companies also rely on communications and marketing themselves. After all, they can write, sell and know their product better than anyone. Thanks to a wide variety of new digital tools, everyone also has access to inexpensive solutions that help you build a website, post blogs, send mass emails, or do basic marketing.
Being an entrepreneur naturally means they should take advantage of these new tools. But there is a reason that large, successful companies spend millions on communications and marketing, and smaller companies would do well to adopt some of these same lessons.
So here are 6 of my favorite lessons that I learned while working at a fortune 500 company, that could benefit any start-up:
- Starting with why is not enough
Most start-ups will have been advised to start with why (thanks to Simon Sinek). It’s a good start, and better than only talking about what you do, but it’s not enough.
The why is only part of the ‘context’ – which should include why you exist, what problem you are solving for your customers, what gives you the authority, and, implicitly, ‘who’ you are targeting.
Tell the story of how and why you were founded. If you can, try to make an emotional connection in the delivery, it will make for an audience that is a lot more engaged. Extra bonus point for telling the story of how you are helping your customers achieve success.
- Explain what you do in a few words
Any idea worth its time should be told in a natural way, in plain English, in less than 15 seconds. It’s more difficult than you think. For most, this will mean forgetting all the technical language they are accustomed to. It also means forgetting that 100 other companies make similar claims.
Too many start-ups try to differentiate themselves unnecessarily through complex wording or technical capabilities to prove that they are special. My advice: differentiate yourself through the way you fulfill a need and address a problem for a segment of the market, in a way that a prospective customer would easily understand.
- Include strategic communications in your business plan
A great business plan will benefit enormously from a great communications strategy.
That means that if you need to find software engineers to power your start-up, you need a strategy to boost your brand with the local university. Go give a lecture, a seminar, or sponsor a hack-a-thon.
It means that if you’re trying to get teachers to use your product in the classroom, you need the right language, the right content and the right medium to reach them. Partner with a teaching website or school district to give your company message.
It means that if you’re taking on a dominant competitor, be provocative – you don’t use ‘safe’ language that a multinational would use. Stand out by differentiation, and by not being afraid to ruffle some feathers.
I could go on, but you get the point.
- Fit the message to your audience.
While a company ‘boilerplate’ with standard messaging is a great tool to have, you’ll need to adjust your messaging depending on the audience. One size does not fit all.
Building on point 3, identify your top 5 stakeholder groups that are critical to your growth and write down the key message points and language you would use to communicate and win over each audience. Once you’ve done that, you can identify the channels/materials in which you can best reach these groups.
This again sounds like a no-brainer, but the discipline of this exercise will help everyone stay on message.
- Own your space.
Many start-ups will look for a silver PR bullet. A write-up in a newspaper, a listing on a top 100 of hot start-ups, a mention on TV. Great – this may work for you if your story is there and you have something new or interesting.
For most start-ups, their story is not (yet) of interest to receive what we call ‘earned’ media, and they are much better off building their brand in the ‘owned’ space. This means writing blogs in a medium that you own; it means building a kick-ass website and content across different social channels; it means writing a regular newsletter and industry content for trade magazines.
Often overlooked is physical space – most companies own assets. You can also consider ‘shared’ media; using your content in partner owned channels can be a win-win.
Point is, start-ups have many options other than selling their story to journalists or buying advertising.
- Be authentic & address your purpose
Audiences smell bull-sX#! from a mile away. In a world where we are bombarded with information and polished content, presenting the real, authentic you is a competitive advantage. Make sure you tell your story in a way that is compelling, with proof points that are real and relatable. Also, remember to include a vision that is purposeful and that has meaning.
The company vision is where communications strategy and company strategy really meet. Why does your company exist? What’s the ultimate goal?
The most obvious and easy answer is, of course, to sell more products & services, but try to dig one level deeper to think in terms of benefits to society. It will not only help focus your company, but it will help motivate your employees, attract investors and ultimately help improve your sales.
After spending years working with some of the biggest brands in the world, I love helping smaller companies achieve their goals and vision. It’s one of most rewarding aspects of my new role after leaving the corporate world behind.
That’s not to say they don’t have their own set of challenges; many don’t have revenue yet, lack good time management, have strong opinions, operate on limited budgets, and present solutions in search of a problem.
Yet, despite all of this they’re still my favorite clients (with apologies to my corporate clients). Quite simply, having a great communications strategy for start-ups can make the difference between failure or success – it’s that critical.
On my next blog, I’ll focus on the basic difference between good and great marketing. Until then, I look forward to your feedback.
Sebastian Van Der Vegt is the Managing Director of Untold Communications in Atlanta A native of the Netherlands, van der Vegt has lived in Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, and Turkey before settling down in the U.S. He has a degree in Psychology and has taught strategic communications at leading business schools. For more information, please contact him at Sebastian@untoldstrategies.com.
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