Choosing PR support can be daunting is you have not done it before. Getting the brief right is the first step towards securing a relationship that will give you 'win-win'.
If you want to include Public Relations (PR) in your marketing armoury then it can be useful to seek the advice and support of a PR consultant or agency. Choosing PR can be a daunting task, particularly if you haven’t done it before. To stand any chance of success you need to define a brief that will encourage them to be creative but also ensures they have a good understanding of exactly what you want to achieve. So, how do you do that?
Defining your requirements
It’s useful to get back to basics and start with the type of support that would be most appropriate for you. Do you need the support of a consultancy or would a freelance/independent consultant be a better option? You decision may well come down to costs. A freelance/independent consultant will, typically, be a single person, though it is not uncommon for them to have some support staff. They offer can offer flexible support at rates that are usually less than those charged by a consultancy. Another factor to take into account is the scale of the job you had in mind. If it is a large piece of work then the extra resources, and different types of expertise, available in a consultancy may well be more suitable.
Getting the brief right
It’s essential to have a brief regarding the work to be carried out. The brief should cover: background on the company - size, number of offices, detail on products and services; PR activity to date, what you are seeking to achieve with PR, budget indication. The PR company will want to know the answers to the following questions:
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what do you want to achieve and within what timescale?
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does your PR support need to be based in your office or can it be provided from their own?
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who will be the main day-to-day contact?
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what level of resource is available to support the PR?
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what type of PR support is needed – strategic, tactical or both?
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who have you worked with in the past regarding PR, what have you done etc?
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how do the PR plans fit, or need to fit, with your wider marketing and business strategies?
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who are your competitors and what are they doing?
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why have you been prompted to think about taking on professional PR support?
It’s important that the brief outlines exactly what the task is and asks the agency or consultant to present their ideas. The brief should also ask the consultant or agency to provide information about themselves and their approach, including:
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experience – years, sector, specialist areas, biographies etc
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membership of relevant professional bodies
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current clients and any conflicts of interest
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outline of how they work, structure of the team, any relevant processes
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their ideas in response to the brief
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an outline of the evaluation techniques they would recommend and
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any budget implications these would have
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how they record and report time spent
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how they charge - by the hour, by project? How are expenses charged - is there mark-up on third party expenses?
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where the company is located. If the agency or consultant charges by time then you don’t want to see most of your budget chewed up by their travel to monthly meetings.
A good working relationship with a PR expert is based on trust and realistic expectations. If you get the brief right and work with your PR consultant to help define your aims and the activity to support achieving them then that is a step in the right direction.
Article Source: http://www.theukarticledirectory.co.uk/.
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