Looking for a PR company? With hundreds of firms to choose from where do you start?
The first step is to establish what services you require. PR encompasses a broad range of services - media relations, promotions, events, social media, sponsorship and other. Which of these do you think will achieve your business objectives?
The next decision is the size of the firm, whilst a large firm will offer many benefits, a small or medium size also have their advantages.
Importantly, do they have experience in your industry?
If your aim is to secure media coverage ask the company to show you examples of coverage they've secured for clients over the past three months. They should be happy for you to contact their clients too.
When looking at the media articles ask what markets they were targeting to ensure they are not targeting any
publication. It may appear great to secure ten minutes on a morning tv
program, for example, but if none of the clients target audiences watch
it then it's a waste of time.
Also ask them about the process of your campaign - when will they start approaching media and how?
What is their method of securing media coverage?
You do not want a company who simply send out press releases as this is
not effective unless you have a major news story. Media receive
hundreds of press releases daily which are mostly get deleted.
Ask them how they will be updating you and how often. Find out how they will be measuring the campaign and how regularly.
It is crucial that you know the objectives of a campaign before you commence.
What do you really want to achieve from the secured media coverage? Don't just
appoint a PR and get media coverage for the sake of it or, otherwise,
you run the risk of not achieving the desired results.
Only by clearly defining your business objectives will you know what media to target - which also depends on what markets you want to target - and what to say in the article which is known as key messages.
There are usually multiple objectives and it is pivotal that these are properly defined.
If,
for example, you need new staff then the employment sections will be a
target and in the media interview you'll emphasise the strong employee
benefits and programs that your company offers.
Don't focus on what media contacts the PR company has as media change roles frequently. Media
relationships are not as important as their ability to proactively
develop a strong angle and successfully pitch it to relevant media.
Importantly find out who will be working on your account, the day to day work. Ask who will be contacting the media on your behalf?
Make sure that the people contacting the media are very experienced -
four years minimum. You do not want a junior pitching your company to
the media.
Should you appoint a large, small or medium consultancy?
It depends on your requirements, how many other clients they have, if
their team are predominantly seniors, whether they focus on one area ie;
media relations or do everything and more. This is where it's
important to find out who is your main point of contact and their level of experience.
And be realistic, don't expect articles at the very beginning - it takes time to secure media coverage and then further time for it to appear. Also, considerable work ie; strategy, development of key messages, issue identification, development of media material and much more, is required at the commencement of the campaign before any media is contacted.
How do they monitor media coverage during the campaign and will they send you original copies of the coverage or scans?
How will they be invoicing you and when do they require payment of their account? Will they be charging you per hour or by a monthly retainer and
will cost of phone calls, couriers etc be added on or included in the
fee?
If it is a monthly retainer then what happens once they surpass
the quoted number of hours, will you be charged in addition?
Ascertain how much notice you are required to provide them if you want to cancel the campaign. Some consultancies require one month, others two - so it's important to know this.
For more information on the process of media relations and securing media coverage go to: http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/47061.aspx
