How the role of PR has gone from being a distributor to a connector

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As a startup PR publicist at Onboardly, I’ve watched the landscape of the industry change at a rapid pace. On planet earth, we’re up against global warming. On the planet of public relations, I’m not quite sure what to call the force we’re up against, but believe me, when I say – it’s a force to be reckoned with.

Ask any public relations professional you know and they’ll likely sing the very same tune – times are changing and PR is an ever evolving industry. Throw innovation and delivering PR in the world of startups into the mix and BAM. It’s enough to make your head spin.

So what’s changed? A lot, obviously, but it didn’t truly hit me until I was recently asked on the spot how my role has changed over the years. To my surprise, the answer rolled of my tongue smoothly without any thought given: I’ve gone from being a distributor to a connector.

Brace yourself for the tidal wave

Let’s all hop in our DeLorean’s and go back about five years.

When I got started in startup PR, I dove in headfirst. It was new and exciting for everyone involved. Launching a startup? Everyone is going to want in on that. New feature? Congrats man! Every tech outlet wants to write about it. Funding? Wicked! Who cares what the dollar amount is – you got funding! We’ll write about it.

I remember doing a funding announcement and having over twenty — TWENTY — different top tier tech and business outlets pumped to cover the news. On launch day, the minute the embargo lifted, it was like fireworks. We couldn’t keep up with all the media pouring in.

And what did it take to secure such a tidal wave of attention? A press release, a basic media kit, and a phone interview with a founder. Mass distribute that stuff to every tech writer in the industry and boom – here comes the wave and you better be ready to ride it.

The extinction of the mass pitch

Here’s the thing about what was happening five, four, even three years ago. We weren’t pitching per se – we were distributing press materials with a fantastic subject line and reporters were lining up to cover the news. Even startups that didn’t have everything together were getting all the love from the press.

Why? Because times were different and even though a few years doesn’t seem like a long enough time to make that big of a difference, when you’re talking about the innovative world of startups, a few years may as well be a century.

Back then, our job as startup PR publicists was much easier than it is today. We wrote a press release, added some hi-res images, logos and a company one-pager to a shareable dropbox folder. We chose an embargo date and time, slapped that on the release and sent an email to every outlet.

All good things must come to an end

A lesson in patience

Changing ‘public’ relations to ‘personal’ relations