Why Hire a Public Relations Firm
You’re ready to promote your company. You know the ins and outs of your business, but you don’t know the media. So what should your next move be? You can give it a try yourself (the least attractive option), hire an in-house PR person, hire a consultant, or hire a PR firm.
All can potentially work. But as to handling your own campaign, you want to run your business not your campaign; plus unless you’ve done your homework and learned the ins and outs of pitching the media, you can potentially hurt yourself more than you can benefit your company; An in-house person or a consultant can definitely work, but from my perspective, finding an outside firm who lives and breaths PR is your best bet.
An outside firm can give you a new perspective on your campaign’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses. They can see your business in a new light. Plus, PR is their job, they know how to pitch, they have the contacts, and they know how to place stories in the media. Also, because they are working with a range of clients, they have a large base of media contacts. Chances are the media looks to them for story ideas, so you have a built in trust factor. Generally, a PR company’s media contact list will be quite a bit broader than that of an in-house person, or a public relations consultant and the more media you’re pitched to, the greater your chances of success.
Working With Your Media Relations Firm - Realistic Expectations and Avoiding Misconceptions
You’ve hired a firm and are excited, but anxious. You’ve paid them the first month’s retainer fee in advance. You’ve signed a letter of agreement, and now you’re committed. What if they don’t do their job? What if they’re just smoke and mirrors? What if it doesn’t work? What the heck have you done?
Relax. You signed with the firm five minutes ago, and you’re already scrambling for the
lifeboats. I have had clients begin to panic within days of signing because we hadn’t yet placed them on the cover of Time magazine. You may not have a story placed for awhile. One of our most successful campaigns began with a three-month drought. We were unable to place a story anywhere for the first few months. Then it completely turned around. We placed the client on national talk shows, news shows, and radio programs, as well as in major national magazines and major newspapers.
Working With a Media Relations Firm - the Greatest Misconceptions II
II. I Can Only Work With A Public Relations Firm Who Specializes In My Field.
Whereas I would rather hire a PR firm that had some knowledge in my particular specialty, I would never discount a company purely because they had no previous experience in the field. I would rather hire a company that firmly understands media relations than one who understands my field or profession. The downside is that a firm with no previous experience in your field is probably not as well connected with the producers, writers, or editors that cover your business. But a good firm can always learn. Your primary concern is whether the firm you hire fully understands their own business. Although every campaign is different, in many ways all campaigns are remarkably similar. The tools and procedures remain pretty constant. Find a person or company that truly understands media relations, knows what is required to place a story, and knows how to develop story ideas, write releases, and make follow-up calls. Those are your primary concerns. If they understand the process and know how to implement a campaign, you’ll be okay. The rest they can learn.
Believing you can only work with PR firms who specialize in your field is perhaps the biggest misconception there is. Whereas there are upsides to working with a firm that specializes, there are also limitations. For example, if a company is too specialized chances are the media contacts they deal with are limited. They might be great a placing you in the most obvious of outlets, but do they have the contacts to widen the bull’s-eye and broaden your media coverage?