Tips

Which PR Firm Is Best for You: Boutique or Broad-Based?

As a client, how do you know whether you should engage a specialty public relations firm or an agency of generalists? Airfoil Public Relations CEO and Co-founder Lisa Vallee-Smith suggests you ask these questions to help you make the decision:

1. Will you be outsourcing your entire PR effort or only specialized portions of it? You may choose to continue to manage the basic public relations program in-house but outsource specialized functions, such as a speakers bureau or training, or portions which a PR firm is better equipped to handle, such as national media relations or event planning. This factor impacts your budget, the human resources required, and the amount of time you will spend managing the program from the client side.

2. Look at the range of products and services that you, the client, offer to determine which and how many are targeted to specialized consumers, specialized media and specialized suppliers. Then evaluate the experience and contacts of the PR agencies you are considering in reaching these audiences. Ask for results these firms have produced in the specialized arenas in which you operate.

3. Specifically, evaluate the success each agency has had with the specialized media covering your industry or company. Since the trade media, along with the beat reporters and editors who are assigned to your industry in the daily press, determine much of what your customers read and hear about your company, the agency's experience and track record with these key media can be a good indicator of their chances for success with your media relations program.

4. Look at the agencies' fees and rates to determine their affordability. Will the budget you have available give you access to the most knowledgeable and appropriate people and services in the agency? Are the rates for specialists within the firm and the fees for specialized services in line with rates for other resources in the agency and in line with your available budget?

5. How much backup support will your program need, and how deep are the account teams offered by the agencies? If your program is going to be labor intensive, with a number of large events, for example, or many simultaneous activities carried out on short timelines, you want to be sure the agency has the human resources available to meet your needs.

6. How many members of your agency account team will understand the specialized nature and needs of your business, and how many will simply carry out generalized PR functions? If your primary account person goes on vacation or must tend to another account for an extended period, are other team members available who thoroughly understand your PR program, your company, your objectives and your activities?

7. What infrastructure (such as subscriptions to industry services, special computer applications, or special computer hardware) do the agencies you're considering have in place to meet your specialized needs? The nature of your public relations program will determine the special resources you require of your agency, ranging anywhere from database programs or access to industry analyst reports to graphic design and customer relationship management tools. Ask the agency how it passes the costs of these resources on to its clients. Often a specialty firm will have several clients requiring the same resources and will apportion the cost among them or may not charge at all if the tool is a basic resource for the agency. On the other hand, another firm may mark up the cost of specialized resources to its clients.

8. How important will the size, nature and reputation of your account be to the agencies you are considering? Ask how large a client you will be in your agency's roster and/or within the practice group to which your account will be assigned. This may give you an indication of how important your account will be to the firm and how much attention it will receive. Ask the agency why it wants your business. Is it trying to break into a new industry category in which it has little previous experience, or is it seeking to expand on past successes in your industry?

9. Determine if you use specialized language and terms as the primary form of communication with your principal audiences and how familiar the agency staff members are with your language. While this may not be a critical factor, it is important that your agency account team be comfortable communicating with you and that they demonstrate leadership in your meetings and day-to-day communications, rather than constantly be "catching up" with evolving terminology that could lead to misinterpretation in materials that the agency prepares if language is not clearly understood.

10. With which agency do your executives and in-house communications personnel have the best chemistry? You likely will communicate every day in some form with your account team. You should feel at ease with your team and should have confidence in your team members' abilities and in the way they represent your company.