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How to find the right PR agency for you
Appointing the right PR agency for your company can be a tricky ask. There are many agencies with different specialties to consider from boutique specialists to big global players. Working with the right team for you can deliver invaluable results, but get it wrong and you’ve wasted time, money and potentially even exposed your brand reputational damage.
There are many things you need to take into account when looking for the right team to work with but here are three factors to consider when hiring a PR agency:
- Industry expertise
The resulting coverage and exposure from any PR activity has to come from a truly considered approach. It needs to support the business needs and the best way to ensure that is to utilise an agency that understands your business and your sector. Yes, new media relationships can be built and any decent agency can secure coverage in any media sector, but you can’t beat expert product and brand knowledge for tangible results that actually contribute to your business’s bottom line. We’re firm believers in quality over quantity. Lots of pieces of coverage across vaguely relevant media is easily trumped by just one piece in a key outlet that leads to business results.
- Track record
Does the agency walk the walk or just talk the talk? A simple way to find out is through testimonials and previous campaign results. What work have they delivered and how happy are their clients? Just to toot our own horn here, you can take a look at some of our campaign case studies here (wink, wink). This not only tells you how good they are at what they do, but also what they are like to work with, which brings us onto our final point…
- The people
You can’t underestimate the importance of chemistry. Any PR agency should be seen as an extension of the in-house team so a face-to-face meet with your potential team is really valuable before you make your decision. You and your team will be speaking to these folks regularly and working closely to achieve joint objectives, therefore a good rapport and strong working relationship is key. The closer the working relationship across all departments the better the results, PR should be plugged in with not just the marketing team but also social media and SEO (all specialisms we have expertise in) to maximise everyone’s efforts. Ultimately, think about whether you would you hire them to sit next to you every day? If not, carefully consider why before making the hiring decision.
So, if you might be on the lookout for a new PR agency and like the look of what you’ve seen from us at Siren Comms, get in touch with us here.