Your Marketing Magnet

Last issue we gave you some pointers on how to solve the “should I be doing my own PR work” or “hire a PR Professional to do it for me” dilemma.  This issue we’re going one step further and providing you with more useful tips on how to go about selecting the right PR agency or freelancer for you and your business…

1. Opt for a PR agency or freelancer with some experience in your area. While any competent PR agency or freelancer can undoubtedly understand, find and spin your company’s story and may enjoy the challenge and versatility in representing different businesses, it is best to choose an agency or freelancer that has some expertise in your field.  Let’s say you’re a fashion designer or men’s clothier.  Who would you be more comfortable accepting PR counsel from and why?  I’m sure you would agree a PR agency or freelancer with fashion or retail experience! For this reason many PR agencies and freelances specialize in a particular area – only representing  clients from the world of entertainment, fashion, food, publishing, politics, retail, industrial, pharmaceutical and small business. Choosing a PR agency or freelancer who already has experience in your industry provides several advantages. The most obvious being they have established connections to trade journals, radio and TV broadcasts in your field and know who covers what beat.  The other is that hiring a specialized PR firm or individual saves you the hassle and expense of having to educate them or their staff from scratch.

It’s also important to make sure that the PR firm or freelancer you hire is not working with any of your competitors – for if they were, a conflict of interest would surely arise.  Another main factor worth noting is whether or not the PR agency or freelancer you’re searching for is actually good at getting PR for its clients. So remember to check their score rate.  But bear in mind – it’s better to have a great PR firm or freelancer who doesn’t have experience in your industry working for you than a mediocre one, with a weak track record, who does!

2. Do not hire an agency with more capabilities than you need. Think about your PR goals and expectations and decide what it is you really want and need from a PR agency or freelancer.  Is it necessary for them to have overseas branch offices, television production capabilities, large staff, and marketing research and advertising departments – which you the client, pay to support – or is it better to save money without sacrificing quality or service by selecting an agency or freelancer that only offers those services you truly need? Depending on your type of business and size, you will likely require PR writing, PR consulting, PR strategizing, and media relations.  You may also need a PR agency or freelancer who can provide you with additional PR resources and programs, such as assisting you with your professional image, packing and branding; attracting sponsors and investors, executing your special events, draws, contests and other promotions, as well as booking your speaking engagements.

3. Make sure that the agency is the right size for you. A $20,000 account represents only 0.01 per cent of a $200 million agency’s income and therefore only receives 0.1 per cent of its attention and creative effort. Make sure the agency or freelancer you hire is small enough to consider your account worth its time and effort, yet big enough to get the job done well.  Many gifted freelancers serve larger PR firms and ad agencies on contract, and have the necessary skills, capabilities and contacts it takes to implement winning PR programs. They can deliver as equally effective and high-quality work as a more expensive firm – at a fraction of the price.

4. Ask to see the agency’s or freelancer’s portfolio. Take the time to examine a prospective agency’s or freelancer’s portfolio of press clippings and client case studies.  Only then will know if you like what you see and if it is the sort of caliber of work you want done.  Avoid agencies and freelancers that “talk the talk” but don’t “walk the walk”. Lots of PR firms tell clients they can get them the kind of coverage they want and never deliver on this promise.  Or they proceed to pacify their clients by getting them tons of clippings, radio, Internet and TV interviews that merely fill-up theirs and their client’s portfolios with untargeted placements that fail to actually produce any results.  Like so many other things in life, exposure should be about the quality rather than quantity of the hits (placements and interviews generated by the firm or the freelancer).  Those that consistently execute targeted PR campaigns and demonstrate their efforts have helped their clients to build their brand name, gain credibility and awareness, deal with crises, increase traffic to their websites, close more sales and enhance their bottom lines, are the ones you should seriously consider working with.

5. Get the names of some of their current and past clients and talk to them. Do your homework. Find out who your prospective PR firm or freelancer has done work with.  Ask for current and past references then talk to those people.  Inquire as to what your perspective PR agency or freelancer did for them and whether or not the results were worth their fees and then some – in terms of the business their efforts produced. And while you’re at ask the prospective PR firm or freelance for two or three names of clients they either fired or who left them.  Yes, left them!  Find out why they were fired or why they left.  If it is because of lack of results, then you have your answer.  However if it’s because the PR firm’s or freelancer’s ideas and suggestions were too daring and the client was afraid to try them, you may wish to give them a chance.  If you discover that the PR firm or freelancer you’re interviewing has lost an account because they gave their opinion to a client who didn’t agree with it or went with their own, you’re simply looking for someone to parrot your own ideas. My advice to you would be not to waste your money on hiring an outside PR firm or PR consultant, since a large part of what you pay an outsider for is to provide you with a fresh perspective and different ideas from what you’ve already tried or come-up with on your own.

6. Make sure the agency or freelancer you’re considering is sympathetic to your needs. If for example, you’re a small business on a limited budget, explain to the prospective agency or freelancer that your goal is to create a PR campaign that increases sales – and not to win PR industry rewards. Tell them up front that you’re available funds are limited and that you’re not looking to get your picture in the paper to please your mother – you want a realistic PR campaign based on what you can afford – one that will create a lot of buzz, generate traffic and boost sales.

7. Check the personal chemistry – PR is a people business. For whatever reason, if you don’t like or get a good vibe from the PR agency or freelancer you chosen or sense they don’t like you, you’re not a good fit and you should take your business elsewhere.

8 Be clear about fees. Before hiring a PR agency or freelancer check their price.  Ask them what their average and minimum monthly retainer fee or hourly rate is.  Also ask how much they propose to charge you and what you’ll get in return.  Be clear – have them spell out exactly what they will do for you and the level or degree of activity you can expect for your investment.

Before selecting which one you’ll hire, meet with at least three different PR firms or freelancers and see what each have to offer.  Determine their perspectives and how they approach PR and your business problems.   You should also be prepared to disclose to them exactly what your problems are and what you’re looking to them for.  Tell them what you want them to do for you and request a proposal (RFP).

A good proposal should give you insight into how the agency or freelancer think, the strategies they use, their costs, and their time line for implementing your PR campaign. Carefully review each proposal submitted and ask the ones you like to come in and do a presentation.  That means a presentation of their capabilities and what they can do for you, not actual creative work on your account or a free consult! Once you’ve made your decision, you’ll need to give the PR firm or freelancer some time to devise an appropriate PR strategy or program that matches your needs, write your PR materials, put together a target media list and pitch you to their contacts.  Depending on the appeal of your topic and how much lead time they have to come through for you, you can accurately evaluate results within 3-6 months.