You are looking for a PR agency to sharpen your PR strategy or build your media relationships. A search produces hundreds of results. How do you choose the right partner: one that understands your audience, presents your message creatively and knows your market? Start with these three questions.
1. How well does the agency know my market?
Every industry has its own influential voices and speaks its own language. A good PR agency knows the journalists and bloggers working in your sector, understands what interests them and knows how to make them curious about your company and products.
Its consultants also understand the issues that matter to you. That knowledge helps them pitch interviews, customer stories and blogs effectively. They know which media fit your message and audience, and have the strategy and resources to help the message reach them.
To check whether an agency really understands your field, ask for references. Speak to a journalist about their experience with the agency, or read the customer stories on its website to see whether it works with companies in your sector. You can, of course, simply ask the agency directly.
2. How open-minded is the agency?
You want to introduce a product but are unsure which channels and formats will work best. A good agency helps you communicate with your audience in an engaging, lasting way through the appropriate channels, including less obvious ones.
It thinks beyond traditional PR, combining it with content marketing, social media and SEO. It advises on the visuals that support your story. It also measures campaign results and maps your competitors’ media presence and relevant market trends.
3. How does the agency manage its own PR?
Does its website explain its day-to-day work in understandable language? Is the content appealing? What do others in your industry say about it?
You should expect a PR agency to manage its own communications well and provide useful information through its channels, whether that is X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or its own blog.
If an agency on your shortlist demonstrates these qualities, you are closer to finding the right partner. Perhaps most important of all, though, are a good personal fit and a collaborative attitude. The best results come from working together with both the media and your agency.
Looking for a Benelux PR agency with expertise in IT and consumer electronics? We would be pleased to discuss your needs.
Lianne van Dijk
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