Public relations can make a significant impact on your business. PR supports in good or bad times. Consistent, positive media attention through PR has the power to build credibility, increase sales, improve brand reputation, and take care of your marketing efforts, leaving you free to focus on other parts of the business. But not all PR agencies are equally hardworking, you have to check their effectiveness and other points when you need to fire your PR agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When PR isn\u2019t your area of expertise, how do you know if your PR manager or agency is performing well? How to check their efficiency? When is it time to stop collaborating with them? In this article, we’ll go through the reasons to fire a PR manager and ways to receive the same results with a smaller budget. Let’s start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a world where PR budgets have tightened considerably and more businesses are questioning public relations, only the results will prove the industry\u2019s worth. But not just any results. They need to be in line with the client’s business objectives and not the results comfortable for the PR agency (number of publications, reach). An agency might have a very different idea of what success looks like. That idea might include great messaging, a cool new brand, impressions, or a new fancy website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set up the goals that will improve your business and strengthen your image with countable targets and KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When there is no ROI, there is no reason to continue activities. In a world where trackable marketing investments come in free and live reports, it might seem normal for a brand to ask about the true performance of an article published in a famous press outlet. Even such general goals as strengthening reputation can be measured. It\u00b4s mandatory to calculate ROI for the PR efforts. Find out how we, here at PRNews.io, are measuring PR success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your agency should be creating a consistent flow of fresh new ideas. They consistently should come up with new angles of information presentation in key outlets. They will cleverly input you into trending conversations within media and influencers. They should make your brand a fixture in relevant business conversations with minimal lift on your part. The best PR teams will find how and build new relationships with influencers, analysts, and publishers \u2013 on your behalf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good technology PR team will respond shortly to any emails or calls. They should be passionate and well-prepared for a regular check-in phone call at least once a week. These are communications professionals. They should initiate communication. You shouldn\u2019t wait and feel like one of many in a long roster of clients. If your PR agency is ghosting you, it\u2019s time to make them disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s okay if you don’t appear in every headline out there. Sometimes, one of your competitors will steal the primetime. But if you don\u2019t seem to be getting any substantial media coverage for a long time and your competitors are, then it’s probably time to fire your PR agency. The opportunities to tell your story are always out there; you just have to find the right solution that will seize those opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re paying thousands of dollars each month to a PR agency, you don\u2019t expect excuses, you need results. You didn\u2019t hire a PR agency just to get one reason after another about why you didn\u2019t get that headline or why your company is constantly getting outranked by influencers. So if your PR manager can\u2019t show you actual results based on solid PR measurement, it\u2019s probably time to fire him or the PR firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the biggest disappointments we see businesses that work with outside marketing PR companies struggle with is that the content being created doesn\u2019t sound like a brand. We see a lot of businesses experience this when hiring PR freelancers too. It\u2019s tough to get an agency or outside party to capture who you are as a business if they don\u2019t focus solely on you \u2014 and with other clients to juggle, they will never be able to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a major indication the marketing strategy is falling flat and doesn\u2019t have the command it needs to create real change. An efficient marketing agency will not only have an exciting strategy for your business but will be the results generator to motivate your team as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ineffective PR agencies lack enthusiasm for their work, and they often lack a sense of humor as well. Working in any department should inspire, but some PR experts don’t take advantage of it. This usually leads to no results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bad writing is not OK. A PR agency must have a good writer under its roof and call to consistently communicate on your company’s behalf in a brand-appropriate voice. The art of writing is crucial in communication and conveying a message to the target audience. Without it, posts will not have the desired effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case something unfortunate happens internally or externally to the company, a professional PR agency has to be able to represent and react appropriately, and handle the situation honestly and correctly. Suppose the agency deals poorly with the press or sends out releases that make untrue statements, trying to deny blame or going against the values of a company. In that case, they are putting the company in a worse position and don’t help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good PR agency will not have a strategy that finishes when your article gets published and you are mentioned a few times in the press. A worthwhile agency will have comprehensive reporting tools and strategy in place to measure the impact of the press in terms of traffic to your website, inbound sales leads, thought leadership, audience engagement, etc. If you’re not getting any of these metrics, it\u2019s time to look for a different agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staying on the theme of trust, if you don\u2019t trust your marketing agency to point out your bad ideas and all you are working with is a \u201cyes\u201d man, stop working with a such PR agency. While you know your product or service, you might not know some of the tricks in marketing. Unlike you, PR agencies have done this a time or two and have seen what works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be honest about ideas — and most importantly, be open to new or old ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What makes collaboration with a PR agency work is no different from what makes any great partnership work: The mutual understanding has to be there, they have to really \u201cget\u201d what you want, and just because they\u2019re able to prove past success doesn\u2019t mean they will necessarily help you, and of course, it\u2019d fit your budget. If you see their work and the obtained results exceed the ROI, then you have chosen the right agency. But more often than not, PR agencies have hidden costs for which you do not need to overpay:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An agency has sold itself to a client (through the name of its owner, or a tender), and the project was handed over to a journalism student with little PR experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The representative of the PR agency doesn\u2019t share with you the exact price of the service and tries to find out the size of your budget. It is much easier to add additional value to the price of publications, writing press releases, and so on under the total cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n