PR Company, Internet Marketing

Getting Value From Your PR Agency

When you hire a PR Agency you will understandably be excited about all the good things that are going to come out of your new working relationship. If your PR Agency is working on a retainer basis, then you will be expecting to get great coverage every month that either shields you from negative attention or getting people talking about you for the right reasons.

It’s great to look at all the cuttings of all the press coverage your PR Agency has got for you every month, but did you enter into a contract with your PR company just to rack up some column inches? The question you need to ask yourself regularly is: am I getting value for money?

What we have found time and time again is that a one size fits all approach to a PR campaign hardly constitutes a strategy. Less talented consultants will suggest all kinds of tactics with you before really asking themselves if they’re suitable. To give an example, the chance are that if you don’t have a website, talking about social media could be a waste of your time. Sharing information is the social side but if you don’t have an online presence then it is harder to share your opening times, location or new product range.

We have put together a few factors for clients to consider when putting together a strategy with a PR Agency:

- Expectations – is your PR company giving you realistic expectations of the results you can expect? With PR, it is unlikely that amazing things will happen immediately but you need to be certain of what you should be getting from it, whether it is column inches or your photo in the society pages in local publications.

- Believe in it or don’t bother – A PR professional’s job can be made near impossible if their client doesn’t believe that the work they do is worthwhile and for the greater good of their business. Don’t take on a PR Agency unless you are prepared to meet with them regularly and work with them to help come up with newsworthy stories about your business.

- ROI – At board-level, it’s the be all and end all. Will you judge your return on investment on the value of the coverage generated or the business it brings through the door?

- Goals – goals are vital in PR, before you up on any long term campaign you need to be certain of what you want to achieve as otherwise it is very easy to lose direction and forget what you are working towards.

- Research – have you got the best PR Agency for the job? If you’re a restaurateur looking to do some PR then approaching an agency that mostly has clients who specialise in electronics and technology may not have the right contacts to target your campaign at.

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