Client Considerations

Every company comes to a point where its management team realizes it needs PR help. Maybe the business is about to take off or maybe the current agency is not performing. Where to begin? Here are some questions to answer first:

1. What are your specific PR needs? Do you want to build a channel program? Do you want to help lead generation programs? Communicate with employees? Launch a product? Expand into Europe? Raise money? Do you want to increase awareness of your company with customers, partners, investors, or all of the above?
2. What are your business goals? List them out for the next year and the next three years. PR has to map back to your business goals. Have a realistic expectation of the type of media attention, blog buzz or analyst coverage your company can get.
3. What is your budget for PR? Based on your goals and needs, how much can you invest in PR to meet your expectations? Be realistic. Find out what your competitors spend on agencies.

When it comes to selecting the right agency for your business, consider the following topics:

1. Specialization. Unless you are a global brand, you're better off finding an agency that specializes in your industry. Interview the top agencies in that industry. They're easy to spot. If you're a global brand, but you have specific business unit requirements for PR, the same rule applies.
2. Team stability. You want your account run and serviced with minimal interruption. Ask the agency about staff turnover. Insist that the people who pitch your business stick around to work on your account.
3. Reputation. Check out the agency's people by speaking with reporters and analysts in your industry. Do people you respect also respect them?
4. Culture fit. Trust your gut on this. Are you comfortable putting these people in front of your CEO? Or having them talk with your best customers? Do you like and trust them? Will they push you? Will they deliver the bad news as quickly as the good news?
5. Results. How has the agency done with other clients whose businesses resemble yours? Ask for the clips, the analyst reports, the speaking opportunities secured over the last year. Compare those results with what you want to accomplish and your budget for PR. Ask the agency how much the comparison company spent for its PR results.