On the face of it you would think that every public relations company is the same in terms of what they can offer your business, but there is much more than meets the eye. We started working with the fantastic Interdependence PR last year, after trying and failing with many PR firms. The reason why they didn’t work is because we quickly learned that they just weren’t the right fit for us, this is not to say that they weren’t good, it is just that they weren’t good for our particular business. This is why it is so important that you ensure that the PR firm of your choice is one which is not only brilliant, but one which also fits with what your business is trying to do, and here are some tips on finding them.
Values
You must ensure that you find a PR firm which has the same values as your company does, it should be dedicated to success, committed to achieving goals and ultimately they should work to what the best values of the company are. You will be able to tell right off the bat whether or not a company is aligned with your values so keep an eye out for this as it will make a difference.
Market Knowledge
Was I mentioned at the top, we have tried and failed with a couple of PR firms and the reason was that they didn’t understand our particular market. We work in the tech sector and it never really dawned on us that a PR company could have much of a specialization, or that there would be markets in which they couldn’t work effectively. Sadly that is exactly what we have found and it quickly became apparent with certain PR companies that they didn’t understand how to speak to our individual market. Bearing in mind the fact that a PR company is going to be the voice of your firm, you must ensure that they have experience in your market and that they understand how it operates.
Giving You The Details
It is a given that a PR firm understands what they are doing in terms of how they go about achieving results but that doesn’t mean that you should be kept in the dark over how they are operating and what they are doing with your money. This is something which you really need to look our for when you are trying to get the right PR company because many of them lack transparency.
Creativity
When you are discussing issues with the firm, or certain targets which you are looking to achieve, it is important that they are the ones leading the charge creatively. You may set out what you are looking to achieve but you should expect them to come forth with ideas and creativity as to how you an execute it. If you don’t find that they are being creative or spending time on thinking up ways of moving your business forward, they may not be for you.
To read more on topics like this, check out the business tips category.
