Because you are involved with these independent reporter parties, you get the added bonus of getting honest feedback about your product. If a reporter doesn’t “get” your product, odds are neither will the masses. Using public relations lets you see the “holes” in your product, the product weaknesses that often go unnoticed because developers like you are too close to see them. Best of all, with feedback from reporters, you get to know the features that will resonate most with potential users. It’s essentially giving you access to a free expert focus group!
The Bigger Picture
Looking at the bigger picture, public relations offers more than just immediate benefits. Used effectively, it helps with long-term goals of building a brand and managing your reputation.
Popularity is a strange creature. It’s natural to think that the more people hear about your product, the easier it becomes to “sell” your brand. The one thing that developers always forget is that as your fan base grows, so do your critics. The worst part is, your critics often drown out your biggest fans. It’s not because there are more of them, it’s because they are louder. People who love your product will use it religiously, but will frequently be hesitant to post positive feedback about. On the other hand, those who are unsatisfied will bash it—loudly, repeatedly, and harshly. Needless to say, your reputation can take a nosedive if you are not careful.
Using public relations puts you in control of your reputation. While you can’t eliminate the naysayers, you can certainly drown them out. This is important for any budding developer looking to go make a name for himself. Building a good reputation means building a better brand. Think about your favorite clothing store. In the same way you trust that they will have the perfect pair of jeans for you—the ones that fit around your hips just right—users will trust that you are making the perfect apps for them.
That visibility is not just limited to potential users of your product, either. The more media attention your product receives, the better the chance that certain “power players” will take notice. They can be investors, willing to give you millions of dollars because they think you’ve got something special. They can be a massive technology company that see your product as the perfect acquisition, and are willing to pay handsomely for your brand. Or it can even be a completely unrelated company that wants to partner with you to help your product be even better. The fact is, the more spotlight you shed on your product, the better the chance that these power players will take notice.
Playing your cards right, getting your apps in front of the influencers at the right time, and knowing exactly what to say to them can mean the difference between an app being a “flash in the pan” versus the “next killer brand.”
Chapter 2
Going pro or going solo
Pros and cons
Chapter 2 – Going pro or going solo
Once you decide that your app is destined for the top of the charts, the next step is deciding who is going to be the brains of the operation. You can either go it alone, hire a public relations firm, or an independent consultant for the duty. Read on for each of their pros and cons.
Going solo
Going solo is the most affordable option. Because you are putting your own manpower behind it, there’s no need to budget for any kind of public relations activities. Even better, you can make your own hours!
The trade off of course is the time commitment needed to make going solo worthwhile. The ramp up time for any public relations outreach can be especially labor intensive because of all of the research involved. It can take weeks, even months, to pull together messaging for your product, decide on key media targets to approach, write a pitch, write a press release, and speak to the press—and those are all things that need to be done before your product is even released.
Even if you can code an app in your sleep, creating these critical public relations documents can slow you down to a snail’s pace because writing prose is a lot harder than writing code. If you’re a developer, you need to ask yourself whether you have the bandwidth to take on these tasks and whether that time is better spent ironing out the features of your app.
Going solo can be beneficial for developing relationships with the reporters that can make your app famous. There’s nothing better than being able to pick up the phone, call a reporter, and have them interested in your product because you have that rapport with them. You also get the added bonus of a sense of accomplishment when you eventually see your product in the headlines.
The only catch is, with millions of developers and other manufacturers vying for the ears of reporters, it is near impossible to get their attention if you don’t have the right know-how. (Luckily you have this book, of course!)
Aside from the time investment required for relationship building, the fact that press people are less accustomed to dealing directly with product developers means your voice stands less of chance of being heard. Make no mistake about it—PR folk are LOUD! And that’s one of the reasons they get heard.
Hiring a public relations firm
Hiring a public relations firm means you get a team of professionals who are dedicated to getting your product in the spotlight. They are the ones with experience dealing with the media, spinning news, and managing the reputations of many brands. Best of all, they have access to a slew of fancy public relations tools to make them efficient while doing so. Of course, all of this isn’t going to come cheap.
Estimates for hiring a public relations firm can vary drastically depending on the length of contract, size of team, and promised results. Some won’t work for less than their minimum fee and some can even charge a premium for launching a product. For many agencies, a month long commitment for even a small public relations campaign can cost $10,000, $15,000, $25,000, or more. So what does that get you exactly?
For one, it gives you access to people who have made a living promoting products. They know the ins and outs of the business, including how to find reporters, how to talk to them, and influence them to make your product famous. They can make your product appeal to the broadest audience possible, or even zero in on a specific demographic and make sure they hear about it.
One of the downsides when hiring an agency is that they might not have direct experience in promoting for your industry, however.
As an example, let’s say you developed a cooking-themed app for sharing recipes on the go. There are many firms out there that specialize in promoting consumer technology such as this type of mobile app, but it is a rarity to find one that specializes in cooking products as well. As a result, when hiring a firm, there is significant ramp-up time that needs to be taken by them to learn the industry, to learn who the power players are, and to develop rapports with them. After this ramp-up time however, they are free to operate as a well-oiled publicity machine!
Another downside to hiring a PR firm could be a competitive conflict. Some firms will specialize in mobile apps, meaning they represent several developers. That’s a good sign that they are experienced, but it’s also a warning sign that your app might not get top placement when it comes time for them to pitch.
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Insider knowledge: If you’re looking for a PR agency or contractor, you might come across one that has something called a “Pay per placement” cost model. Essentially, what this means is that they work on contingency--you only pay when they deliver certain results. For example, your goal could be to be featured on certain technology blogs, so you only
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