Ten Signs You’re Ready for a PR Firm

Recently, I came across this great article I think is rather relevant to the non-profit sector.  Although it addresses the private sector, the article is relevant as many NPO execs face the challenge of knowing when it's best to hire an outside source or not.  take a look at let me know your thoughts: 

Ten Signs You’re Ready for a PR Firm

BY DOROTHY CRENSHAW, ON NOVEMBER 16TH, 2010

By Dorothy Crenshaw

It’s been an interesting fall so far for the PR business. At an annual forum hosted by the Council of PR Firms, P&G Chief Marketing Officer Marc Pritchard headlined his keynote by calling PR “the most authentic form of marketing.” He followed up with splashy PR case histories featuring powerhouse P&G brands. A week later, B2B marketing blogger Chris Koch offered a journalist’s perspective. “The era of PR is dead. As in over. Don’t do it anymore,” urges Koch. And he makes some valid points about the shrinking pool of media targets and the inefficiency of the agency model.  

So, how should a marketer size up an investment in PR? When, and how, does a public relations ramp-up with an outside firm fit into the mix?

Here are a few signs that additional PR support may be worthy of consideration.

1.  You have news. You might think that actually having news means you don’t need to invest in PR or media relations, and that’s possible. But it’s more likely you’ll benefit from a professional approach to the opportunity. A new product launch, rebranding, executive change, acquisition or expansion — those are often situations where you have only one chance to shape earned media coverage and tell your story.

2.  There are misperceptions about your brand. What PR does, often with greater depth and credibility than other forms of marketing communications, is inform your customers, employees and others about a complex, sensitive, or emerging issue. It takes time, but earned media is frequently a key channel to help clear up misinformation, get your story out, and educate your constituencies.

3.  Your industry’s in transition. And you’re driving change, or handling it successfully. Sure, category creators like Starbucks and Amazon more easily reap PR benefits by being the disrupters, but a “discovery” brand has real appeal as a reflection of a business trend or category shift.

4.  You’re bucking a trend. Even better than leading a trend, sometimes, is defying it. It’s a good time to shape a compelling story if you can talk about why you successfully zig when others zag.

5.  You have a reputation problem. Maybe there’s news, but it’s not good. If a Google search links your brand or corporate name with words like “complaints,” “rip-off,” or “slumlord,” it’s clearly time to call in the PR cavalry, or to look at a blend of reputation PR and SEO.  

6.  A competitor is framing the conversation in your space. If a rival is shaping perception about your category, or worse, misrepresenting facts, you can probably benefit from a PR-driven education campaign. A common reason clients call on agencies is to help level the communications field when a competitor makes claims that simply aren’t sustainable.

7.  You’re already getting some PR, but it’s sporadic and unplanned. And you haven’t been able to take advantage or build on it. A professional PR team cannot exercise control over a publicity result, but they can influence it, provide consistency, and maximize visibility to key channels.

8.  You have a large advertising investment. P&G’s Pritchard calls PR a “megaphone that amplifies the brand message.” In my experience, a strategic PR investment can work wonders in extending a sports sponsorship or creative ad campaign, for a relatively small investment.

9.  You have no advertising budget. PR can’t do what advertising does, and ideally, the two work together as complementary programs. But where advertising is out of reach, a strategic PR and media relations campaign can help drive brand and product visibility, build allies, and enhance reputation.

10.  You could do it yourself but don’t have time. I’ve caught flack for saying it, but many clients are fully capable of handling their own PR, particularly those who serve a trade or niche audience. And I’ve always felt that companies should own key trade media and analyst relationships. But a CEO makes a poor PR practitioner, and the in-house staff tends to get sucked into internal issues. The beauty of an outside team isn’t just objectivity, but accountability.

Do you have others to add to the list? Please share in the comments – we’d love to hear from you.

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Photo is “I love PR” by DoktorSpinn.

Some do's & don'ts in hiring a PR Consultant

What strikes me today is an issue I come across from time to time as a consultant to non-profits. Namely, many association or charitable executives have in mind the idea that public relations can be of help to them but they are unclear really of the scope of help they need. More often, it's because of this unclear view of things that more often than not don't have a clear budget in mind either. For those of us poor saps trying to provide services to the sector, this uncertainty makes it difficult to propose effective solutions to meet the challenges of our clients.

So, as my thought for the day, here are a few do's before going out and asking for a quote:

1. Understand that putting a proposal together involves creativity, time, and an investment in intellectual capital. We respect that your time and limits on budget put strains on your day to day responsibilities. Please be respectful and understand that our time is valuable.

2. If you don't have an idea at all how much a campaign will cost, do some research first before calling for quotes or placing an RFP. Try calling a few consultants and be upfront from the beginning that you're only looking for information.

3. Go back to your strategic plan. How would a PR campaign back this up? If you get down to basics and understand first why you are doing this, my sense is you will get a good sense of the real scope of what you will be potentially asking a consultant to bid on.

4. Go back to step one and repeat the process!

What are your thoughts? What challenges do you encounter when figuring what will be required in budget for a campaign?

I Can't afford Public Relations, Can I?

I recently came across a study done by Tom Brabender, a PR consultant with Spread the News Public Relations. His findings from a survey of organizations on their impressions of the costs of PR were very interesting:

11% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $10,000+ per month
32% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $5,000-$10,000 per month
39% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $3,000-$5,000 per month
12% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $1,000-$3,000 per month
6% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost less than $1,000 per month

The truth is -- you can get a publicity/PR campaign in all of those price ranges. What you get for your money and how effective the campaign will be is the real question. It is true that the more you pay the more you get. But getting the most publicity/PR exposure doesn't mean you have to get the most expensive PR agency or specialist.

A good rule of thumb is to align yourself with a PR business that best reflects your business size. Most times their rates will be in line with your prospective PR budget. If you are a small business owner with two employees, you need not hire a high-dollar PR agency with dozens of employees. Find a PR business whose office size and capabilities closely resemble your business.

Signing up with the big firm doesn't mean you'll necessarily get an experienced associate working on your campaign. So are you getting what you are paying for? As someone who worked in a larger agency, I can tell you that the general breakdown of fees usually works like this:

Interns/Junior Executives - bill at $75 / hour (Very little, if any professional experience)
Account Executives - bill at $100 - $125 / hour (1-3 years of professional experience)
Senior Account Executives - bill at $125 - $200 / hour (Multiple years of professional experience. Agency decision makers.)

Compare those prices to many small PR shops or individual PR specialists (like Action Strategies). Many have started their own PR businesses after years of experience in the industry and typically charge $50 - $100 per hour to professionally launch and maintain your campaign. Many times, you can get a seasoned PR veteran who will work directly with you and your staff for cheaper than the "Intern/Junior" executive rate at a downtown firm.

However, one word of advice -- when choosing a smaller firm or individual to do your PR, make sure they have the same tools that the bigger agencies do: updated media lists/contacts; personalized media distribution capabilities; professional clipping/tracking services to get copies of each of your media placements (articles, tapes from TV/radio shows) as well as the intangibles of expert communication/media relations skills and professional pitching prowess. If they are cheaper, but don't have all the tools to help you in the best manner possible, you are probably better off spending a little extra money to make sure your campaign is launched and maintained correctly.

The major benefits of hiring a professional (individual PR specialist or PR firm) to launch your campaign are:

Proper Campaign Implementation - Improperly composed or poorly pitched campaigns are the major downfall of many PR efforts. Poorly written, over-commercialized media releases; uncalculated, misdirected mass e-mailing of the release pitch; no follow-up media relations/media request fulfillment; etc.. Your first impression to the media is a lasting one - make sure it's a good one.
Media Contacts - Most PR agencies have established multiple media contacts over several years that can lead to much better and more numerous media placements for your campaign. Let their foot in the door benefit you.
Efficiency and Effectiveness - PR specialists/agencies generate publicity full time, 8-12 hours per day and know the ins and outs, shortcuts and secrets to getting the job done better and quicker. Sure you could hang your own drywall or do your own plumbing, but do you have the tools, the time and the expertise to make it cost effective? I always tell my clients, "You do what you do well, I'll do what I do well and we'll collectively move this business further up the ladder."

There is one caveat when it comes to choosing a professional PR agency or individual to work with - signing up for a higher priced campaign doesn't necessarily mean you will get better results than a cheaper campaign. The inverse is true as well. Over the past year or so, many "low-cost PR/publicity services" have begun to pop up all over the Internet. Ones that promise to write and launch a press release for as low as $99. They are low in cost - because frankly many are low in quality. Bigger is not necessarily better, and cheap does not always mean a good bargain.

If you have the time, tools and talent to launch and maintain your own campaign, you should definitely do so. If not - there are a number of public relations/publicity firms, specialists and services out there. Research to find the one whose services and fees match your business plan. Once business owners, entrepreneurs, and inventors learn more about their options when it comes to launching a PR campaign -- many find that they can't afford NOT to have one.

(The above article was taken and amended from an original article by Todd Brabender.)
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Mark Buzan is Principal and Chief Magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service Marketing Communications, Public Relations and Public Affairs Consultancy. Make sure to contact him for advise on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. Drop him a line if you are looking for help in developing a public relations campaign. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.