Sitting back to watch the PR agency work wonders with your profile will likely result in a very short term affair.
In my experience a project based approach can be a very healthy method of managing expectations on both sides. Setting clear objectives and expected outputs for a specific marketing activity will help focus attention and resources and also highlight areas of potential weakness if results fall short.
Responsibility for making the best of the relationship should sit with the client as they are paying the fee and thereby taking the risk on outsourcing this marketing function.
PR Agency management Do’s and Don’t’s
Do – plan your activity, consider specific projects
Do – invest time in educating the key agency contact on your business and main objectives
Do – have a realistic expectation of the outcomes from any project/ campaign
Do – offer constructive feedback if the copy of a release doesn’t hit the mark
Do – offer encouragement and thanks when you get a successful result
Do – seek feedback from the agency and review progress at regular intervals
Do – brief key company staff on what the agency are doing
Do – encourage staff to contribute ideas for PR opportunities
Don’t – leave the agency to come up with all the ideas
Don’t – delegate responsibility for making the relationship work
Don’t – ignore agency feedback when offered
Don’t – lose control of the relationship through delegation to poorly briefed colleagues or a variety of agency contacts rather than a dedicated professional
Don’t – take a short term view (less than 6 months) most generic profile building PR campaigns take time to build momentum
For more help on pr agency management contact
i2i business solutions – 01642 581731
or e-mail
david.laud@i2isolutions.co.uk .
