If you’ve run a startup, you’ve probably done it. You hire a PR firm because you want a splash: a big launch, a funding round, something to make people take notice. Sometimes you get that. A headline that lands well, a write-up in an outlet people actually read. It feels good.

Then the glow fades.

You’re still paying the retainer but you don’t have new news. Your publicist is stuck pitching a recycled customer story, a quote in someone’s newsletter, or worse, a pay-for-play “feature” that no one clicks. It fills up the monthly coverage report but does nothing for your sales, your investor pipeline, or your reputation.

So you fire them.

Why Startups Keep Firing Their PR Firm

You’re not alone. Over 80% of startup founders say they’ve churned through at least one PR agency in their first two years. And the reality is, most leaders admit they have no clear way to measure what they’re really getting for the spend. Industry surveys regularly find that more than half of PR professionals struggle to tie coverage directly to ROI. Meanwhile, the average startup can easily spend $10,000 to $20,000 per month on a traditional PR firm that delivers more “mentions” than real momentum.

It’s not because PR doesn’t work. It’s because the old way doesn’t work for startups that need every dollar to show results. You can get good coverage when you have real news. But you can’t churn out news every single month just to feed the beast. And no one tells you that when you’re writing the first check.

So you swing to the other extreme: hiring PR by the project. A quick launch push. A one-off announcement. It feels leaner, until you realize you’re paying for the same onboarding again and again. New people, new message workshop, new media list. Meanwhile, the contacts you warmed up for your last launch go cold. By the time you have something worth pitching again, you’re back at square one.

Good press doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Journalists don’t care about your generic announcement. They care when they know who you are, when they see you showing up consistently with a credible story. A single headline is easy to forget. A smart opinion piece, a thoughtful customer story, a timely comment – that’s what makes you stick.

How to Make PR Work the Way You Actually Work

This is exactly why we handle PR differently at Alchemy. It’s where we got our start. Our team has deep roots in PR, the relationships that matter, and the experience to keep them warm in the context of a bigger marketing play. We don’t separate PR from your story, we don’t pitch fluff just to pad out a report, and here’s the kicker: we don’t treat PR as an extra cost that drains your runway. It’s built in, unless you want it separate.

When PR is part of your content engine, you’re not paying extra just to stay visible. One plan, one voice, one team keeping your narrative alive all year, whether you have big news or not. So when you do have a real story, your contacts are ready to pick up the phone and your coverage lands where it counts. When you don’t, you’re not stuck paying for someone to dig up scraps on micro blogs no one reads.

You get credibility that lasts, without wasting money on pay-for-play “opportunities” that impress no one. You stay visible in the right ways. You don’t have to fire your firm every six months because the model actually works for how you grow.

Startups need PR, but they need it built for how they do business.

When you’re ready to get more out of every headline, reach out at deana@alchemymedia.co.