How to Hire a PR Firm
As a PR professional, I’ve never liked the way movies portray public relations people.
Usually, they’re characterized by Hollywood as slick-talking flim-flam artists who promise the universe and deliver next to nothing.
And there’s a reason why Hollywood zeroes in on that rendering of PR pros – because our profession does have its share of people who are just like that. I wish it weren’t true, because the vast majority of PR professionals have integrity and work hard to earn their clients’ trust. But the bad apples do exist, and every time I hear real life stories about those kinds of PR people, it infuriates me.
I received a call the other day from a potential client who described to me her campaign that was executed by a retainer-based PR firm (and they charged a bundle) that was so shoddy and mismanaged, it cast a dark shadow over the entire profession in her mind. And, just in the past month, I had similar conversations with two other companies who also had bad experiences with PR agencies.
The sad thing is these bad experiences could have been prevented or foreseen if only the client knew what questions to ask during the hiring process. As I care very much about my profession and the people we serve, let me share some insight about what questions you should ask your PR agency BEFORE you sign on the dotted line. If you get satisfactory answers to these questions, you’ll be well along the road to a successful campaign.
- Do you have experience in my industry? – All PR agencies are not alike, and agencies that tell you they can handle anything aren’t necessarily telling the whole truth. An agency doesn’t need to be a specialist in your particular industry, but it’s important to know something of your industry in order to understand your business. It’s essential for being able to understand the underlying news angles prevalent in your industry and in the news, and for being able to write strong pitches that represent you well to the media. You don’t want to pay for your agency’s learning curve, so make sure they have experience in your industry.
- What mediums do you specialize in? Print? Radio? TV? All of the above? – More than 95 percent of all PR firms tend to specialize in print media. But, if your company’s message also plays well on radio or television, make sure the agency can deliver that as well. And the issues go deeper than just the type of media, but also the size of the outlets. If you want to be interviewed on talk radio shows, does the agency have contacts with high powered stations in top 100 markets, or will all your bookings be at LP (low power) stations in sparsely populated areas with few listeners.
Ask what media they specialize in, and also ask for samples of past campaigns. If they can’t show them to you, chances are you won’t get the coverage you are paying for.
- Are you a pay for performance or retainer-based agency? – This is an important question, because retainer-based agencies work on a “best-efforts” basis, meaning you are paying for their time and skill. Your risk is that you pay their monthly fee with no guarantee you’ll get the coverage and results you were hoping for. With pay for performance agencies, you’re guaranteed the media you pay for and in some cases you’re billed as you receive coverage, mitigating your risk as the client. A pay for performance agency doesn’t make money unless you get coverage so it’s a win-win situation.
- Can you provide samples of current client campaigns? – This “look-see” will provide you the documentation to support the agency’s promise that they are actually capable of delivering against their promises. Compare your needs to their current clients, so you can assure yourselves there is a fit. Remember that good client case studies aren’t a guarantee you’ll get the same results. However, chances are that if the agency achieved success for other clients, the odds are decent that they’ll achieve comparable success for you.
- Are you a local, regional or national agency? – Local agencies may feature lower costs, but their media contacts are limited to their own city. This is fine if all you need is local coverage. But if your company does business nationwide, you want to hire an agency who is speaking to national media every day. An agency with national media contacts is far more preferable than an agency with a media database service that they use to “dial for dollars.” With that in mind, don’t choose an agency just because they’re located in your city and you get “face-to-face” time. What matters more is whether they meet your criteria for getting the job done.
- Who will be managing my campaign? – With many agencies, the role of senior management is to bring in new clients, not actually execute the work. So, before you choose an agency ask about the level of experience of the person or people who will be working on your campaign. In some agencies, Account Managers are rookies fresh from college or interns playing a key role in the execution of campaigns. As an insider, I highly recommend that you ask questions about the qualifications of the team who will be handling your account.
In addition to asking these questions, make sure to choose a firm that understands your topic, has enthusiasm for your message and can communicate about it intelligently. In the end, you want a firm that you feel comfortable and confident with so you can establish a long-term working relationship.
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More From Marsha Friedman
Marsha Friedman launched EMS Incorporated in 1990. Her firm represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports and entertainment. She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity. Outside of the office, she is also the founder of a non-profit organization called the Cherish the Children Foundation. In 1996 the White House recognized her charity which sets out to raise awareness of the plight of underprivileged and foster children.
Marsha:
Overall, I think you've addressed a lot of the questions that perspective clients should ask (or, really, that firms should proactively address when meeting with someone).
I will take issue a bit, however, with #5. Geography does not (and should not) in any way limit a firm's ability to have significant contacts and reach nationally or even globally. Our agency is independent and based in Atlanta, but we have always had clients on a national and even international scale - and solid media contacts based all over the country. What's more important than "who you know" is "what's the story" - any good PR person can get stories placed, with any media, if they know how to tell the story in a way that makes a reporter listen. That's sometimes difficult to convey to a prospective client when they come in thinking that lack of a national presence means lack of national reach - and results.
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LikeDear Marsha, having hired and fired more than a few PR agencies in my time, both small and big around the world, your quiver of questions to prospective agencies are spot on. There are also questions about conflicts of interest, for example, if there are competitors lurking amidst an agency's roster, which lends credibility to the agency's industry savvy but may prove to be a legal problem. But those can usually be handled up front.
I'm interested in your "pay for performance" model. What is the definition of performance? This is a totally loaded question, since I've had this debate many times, and seen it defined many ways, but I'd be interested in your thought.
I also think that it is incumbent upon an agency, no matter how hungry, to ask a few questions of the prospective client. Why do you think you need a PR agency? What do you expect from it? How will you know when the agency succeeds? How much time can you allocate to working with the agency? Do you or will you have any news to advance the business or is this a defensive/crisis situation? And finally, as a recitation of your earlier question: who's going to be our account manager and does he/she know anything about PR? Those are just a handful of questions that come to mind.
The phenomenon I have observed is that agencies are often hired for reasons other than public relations. In the minds of hiring authorities, they are there to pave over huge potholes in strategy, products and logic; or they are there to blow air into leaking corporate life rafts; or there to send the hounds and horses to the left when the last thing a company wants is to have a stampede to the right. That is not meant to diminish the majority of clients that hire agencies to promote themselves, their products, and deliver news as effectively as possible, but you get my point: agencies should be responsible for due diligence as well as should clients.
Anyway, good post.
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