What makes your relationship with a PR firm work is different from what makes other relationships work. The firm needs to understand what you want to do; just because they have had successes in the past does not make them right for you.
There are so many PR agencies available for so many different kinds of marketing that it can be difficult to choose an agency. This list of the top 10 PR agencies can help you make a decision about which PR agency will be best for your needs.
Here are some things that you need to consider before hiring a PR agency:
What are you trying to achieve?
Have you changed the direction of your company and are looking to change the brand perception or are you launching a new business?
Knowing the problem that you need to solve is important before you start looking into PR agencies. Having a clear view of your goals makes hiring a firm to achieve them that much easier.
Moreover, you need to be more specific about your PR goals. Getting the word out is a broad goal that every brand wishes to achieve.
Do you want bloggers to write about your new cleaning solutions to tap into their readership? Before you starting looking for an agency, you should go into as much detail as possible about your goals.
Diversity
Leading brands that want to build relationships in emerging, diverse markets need to know that it begins with recruiting and retaining talent that reflects their client populations.
Mosaico, one of the renowned multicultural public relations agencies, helps clients convey culturally relevant messages in today’s more diverse, multilingual world.
Smart brands know that multicultural marketing is the new form of marketing and PR professionals from different cultures must have a seat at the table.
Ask how the firm measures success
This is a very important question because worthwhile PR needs to be measured. Does the agency talk about metrics? They need to discuss the things that will help your business to generate more revenue with you.
One of the biggest challenges faced by PR agencies is defining what success looks like for startups. Unlike with big companies, startup businesses lack month-to-month or yearly metrics to help in gauging an improvement or a decline.
However, a good PR firm such as Fineman PR should be able to suggest goals for your business to hit based on a number of factors: competition, uniqueness of your product, and funding.
What you spend depends on your needs
You need to identify the amount that you are willing to spend long-term. No magic formula will help you to figure out how much money to allocate to your PR budget. However, you should aim for retained and ongoing relationships so that you can work as a team that grows stronger with time.
Work to build trust
You need to be transparent, honest, and respectful when working with a PR agency if you want to keep working toward a common goal. As a client, you hire people who specialize in what you do not know; therefore, you should trust them to do their work.
A sign of a good PR firm is that they tell you the truth, not only what you want to hear. Whether your competition is doing it better or your news is boring, you need to hear the truth. The biggest benefit of hiring an outside vendor is that they can give you an objective perspective.
PR does not work alone
In order to get the most out of the money you are spending on PR, you need to add it to your greater marketing strategy. You should start integrating early to unite various marketing agencies and disciplines thus aligning all of them to a common goal.
When you ask the right questions from the start, your PR firm and you will be able to come up with the right solutions.
Author’s Bio
Jim Thompson
Title: Super-Connector at OutreachMama
Jim is a super-connector with OutreachMama and Youth Noise NJ who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. He is a professional writer who has been in the business for 5 years. He has hands on experience with cars, tech, and relationship advice, among other things. Because of how quickly he can turn articles around, he is able to take on multiple projects at once. His writing experience spans from SEO articles to technical guides and everything in between.
