Choosing a PR agency

Traditionally, economically challenging times sees a decline in marketing spend. But does this make sense? Of course, I can see that its easier to sack consultants rather than staff… but it does seem counter-intuitive stop telling your audience what you have to offer. Especially during a recession.

Indeed, here at Tigerfish Towers, I’m delighted to say, we have recently had more requests to quote for new business than ever .

Which led me to think about how tough it must be to recruit a PR agency. It’s all very well knowing you need PR, but taking on an agency is a different matter. It’s not that we make it intentionally difficult, it’s just that, well, we’re all going to say that we can do the job.

And frankly, it IS fair to say that most PR agencies can do PR, because if not, they’d rapidly fold. But the big question is… are they the right ones for your business?

Do they have the right contacts? The right ethos? The right knowledge?

I’m a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), who run a great PR ‘matchmaker‘ service, to help you to find a suitable consultant or consultancy from their membership database.  This link also flags up some great questions to pose to any prospective agency.

But over the 25 years I’ve been in PR, and with the last decade of running my own consultancy, here’s my very top tip for choosing a PR agency…

Choose an agency where you get on with the person who will be working on your account.

Not the person who does the pitch (who you might never see again), but the actual person you will be having day to day dealings with.

Because PR is all about communication. So if you can’t communicate with your PR consultant, how on earth can they communicate well with your publics?