When looking for new ways to grow your business, there are many options including marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns. However, the media’s power of persuasion provides a third-party endorsement you truly can’t get elsewhere. As Bill Gates says, “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.” Whether looking to invest in a public relations firm for you, your product or service, it’s important to look for a firm that best fits your vision and goals and even more so understands your space.
Here are four points to keep in mind when choosing the right PR firm:
Experience with Similar Businesses
Ensuring that a firm understands your industry and how to craft a campaign that helps you meet objectives is extremely important. Be sure to check out the company’s website to see their past client list as well as ask them to supply you with relevant case studies. While many firms have success working with B2C clients, B2B businesses require a certain degree of knowledge and expertise that not all firms have focused on developing.
It’s also important to see that the firm has experience working with businesses that are at a similar point as your business is now. For example, if you’re a startup looking to be acquired by a larger company within a few years, ask if they’ve ever taken a client from startup through acquisition. If you’re a company with a new product to promote, ask how many and what types of product rollouts they’ve done in the past. The firm needs to understand your goals and how to create a successful campaign to meet these.
It’s Not Always a Whale of a Time
Many large firms have “whale” clients, or really large companies that take up the majority of the agency’s resources. Big firms usually are still in the introductory phase of a client relationship for a month, or longer, as they bring account teams up to speed, put together press kits and perform other mandatory tasks on their new client checklist before they can begin work.
These firms work similarly to a large corporation in that their processes must go through various additional steps, therefore being more conducive to a slow-moving campaign. Press releases go through many levels of internal approvals and then to the legal department and then back to editing, and so on. It can take days, weeks, or longer to move forward on an action item.
It’s important to find an agency that aligns with various facets of your company - in pace and transparency. Large PR firms may have less frequent contact with their client which amounts in a monthly status report and hefty invoice at the end of the month.
Smaller Can Be Better
Smaller firms can be a better fit for a fast-growing company like a startup. Startups need to act fast to get press around their business to attract consumers and to satisfy investors or gain additional rounds of funding. For these companies, slow and steady never wins the race. They need a like-minded PR firm that moves as nimbly as they do.
Small firms are also more inclined to be invested in your success and hands-on with your account. They understand and share your need for immediate results. Small firm teams are often in constant contact with their clients with daily emails, weekly calls and status reports in addition to monthly reports.
It is especially important for startups as they demand media placements at a rate of three to four interested media outlets a week, beginning in the first couple of weeks of their engagement with a firm. These results are a greater possibility for a smaller firm that can hit the ground running.
Who Will be Handling Your Account
Beware of the classic bait and switch. During a pitch for new business, large PR firms may bring in senior staff - the dynamic, experienced and knowledgeable personnel - to present their firm’s capabilities. Keep in mind these are the firm’s best spokespeople who most likely will not be involved in your account once the contract is signed. The team you will work with on a daily basis may or may not have the same level of experience and understanding of your business as the team that convinced you to sign with their firm. Often larger firms will assign a junior account executive or even an intern to oversee smaller accounts, whereas smaller PR firms generally utilize their senior staff in the daily direction of your account.
Smaller firms simply do not have the resources for a bait and switch. The people who worked on the case studies that were presented to you and who spoke with you during your initial meeting will be the same ones overseeing your account. Although the majority of the day-to-day work will be conducted by more junior staff the senior staff is overly involved, especially in the strategy of your campaign to yield the desired results.
Whether big or small, really understanding your business and the results you want first will ultimately help you determine which PR firm is right for you.