Tag Archive for: hiring a PR firm

What Does a PR Agency Do?

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Public relations is the art of influencing what others say about you without benefit to themselves to increase trust and reputation among stakeholders, such as customers, clients, investors, potential employees, or anyone else affecting a company’s success. Like marketing and advertising, public relations use a variety of media channels, including magazines, websites, and social media. They may include earned media, owned media, and occasionally paid content to communicate critical messages.  Ambitious companies employ PR tactics on an ongoing basis, but especially during pre-IPO and hyper-growth phases.

 

What Is the Main Role of Public Relations?

PR manages how the information and news about a company or business are advertised to maintain a brand image, especially in the case of a bad event or crisis.

PR occurs through press releases, journalist interviews, news conferences, posts on social media, and other events. It shapes the perception of your business in front of the general public, brings credibility and visibility, and tells your story through trustworthy media outlets in front of your targeted audience.

Importance of Public Relations

Public relations manage how customers, partners, and associates see a company or brand. It focuses on maintaining a positive reputation and corporate image a company while handling customer inquiries, shareholder requirements, and media requests.

Public relations is also essential to settle and clear any negative news regarding a company or brand and reduce the effect of public outcry to preserve a company’s image and reputation.

The ultimate goal of PR is to present a company or brand in the best light. It is different from marketing or advertisement in that it promotes a company’s image in an organic way that attracts public support.

PR has become a fast-growing industry in the United States. According to the (BLS) Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook of public relations specialists is looking better than ever, with employment projected to grow approximately 8% from 2021 to 2031.

What Is the Meaning of a Public Relations Agency?

A PR agency can help businesses grow their brand awareness. A public relations agency uses owned and earned media relations to garner visibility and publicity for a business.

PR services include media relations, crisis and social media management, and public affairs. PR agencies help clients build positive relationships with their customers, the public, and stakeholders to achieve their business and sales goals.

Every company needs the right public relations agency to carry out these tasks. If the public relations department is creative, strategic, and persuasive enough, it can impact every aspect of a business.

With some research, you, too, can select a public relations firm to shape your company’s reputation and public perception.

What Are the Types of PR Agencies?

Different departments and agencies handling distinct company or business aspects compose a PR.

Media Relations in PR

Media relations are essential in PR as they focus on building a company’s credibility, brand awareness, and authenticity by forming solid relationships with media organizations. The media relations team works with press members and delivers company news and good content sources. This PR agency is also accessible to the media for public comments and news stories.

Investor Relations or IR

IR is a PR sub-discipline that oversees a company’s relationship with its shareholders, government authorities, and investors. This type of PR agency deals with investor events and financial report releases and handles the complaints received by investors. The core difference between PR and IR is that investor relations deal with the internal links of the company, whereas PR deals with the company’s communication with the public.

Production Relations

This division of public relations deals with the direct operations and marketing plans of a company. This type of agency is related to specific endeavors like launching a new product or a particular campaign or managing a significant change in a product.

Internal Public Relations

Internal PR is associated with the promotional communication of an organization to ensure that all employees are satisfied and engaged. This PR branch ensures that the employees are happy with their working conditions. It counsels employees and solves their issues and conflicts internally, so there is no chance of public disclosure of employee dissatisfaction.

Community Relations

Community Relations is also a subdivision of public relations. It concerns any work a company or business does to collect friendly and cooperative feelings from the community. This branch of PR focuses on building a brand image and reputation and tries to align itself with community members. It targets a physical community such as sporting clubs, work, and colleagues or a non-physical community like linguistic, religious, or mutual interest-based communities.

Customer or Consumer Public Relations

Customer PR services cover all interactions between an organization and its employees. It is a powerful domain of public relations as it’s dedicated solely to increasing the brand’s awareness and building its reputation as a reliable and trustworthy company. Consumer relations connect the company to its employees and handle critical aspects to enhance their relationship, such as conducting market research, understanding the concerns and priorities of its customers, and addressing their positive and negative feedback.

Government Relations and Public Affairs

Government relations is a branch of PR that helps a company or brand communicate effectively with governing bodies. Public affairs, on the other hand, tackles an organization’s interactions with the government, interest groups, legislators, and media. This type of PR agency targets building a solid relationship with politicians and key decision-makers to ensure their consumers receive fair treatment.

What Is the Difference Between a PR Agency and Other Departments of a Company?

The role of PR may overlap and sometimes intertwine with other company departments. Still, in the end, a PR firm helps enhance its strategies and align its goals accordingly to improve its client’s business or organization.

Marketing

Public relations and marketing work similarly, but their end goals are different.

The marketing department of a company is more focused on driving sales, ensuring that the company is heading toward financial success, and promoting its products and services. PR focuses on managing and building the brand image and reputation.

PR never makes a direct impact on sales. It is not concerned with driving sales but indirectly promotes the company through press release distribution and representing it at industry events. On the other hand, marketing campaigns solely focus on driving sales and generating maximum profits from them.

Marketing will persuade people to buy a product, but a PR agency will convince them to trust and invest in the brand. Marketing and PR sometimes go hand in hand as PR will attract people and help them connect with a brand, and then marketing will convert these people into customers and drive sales.

Paid media is an essential tool that can assist businesses in generating more visibility and engagement for their brand through paid placements like PPC ads, social media posts, pop-ups, etc. The marketing department can interact with customers to understand a company’s sales trends, what products are in demand, and how to generate more revenue and profits. PR will interact with customers to know if they are happy with the products and services of a brand and ensure that any dissatisfaction is promptly addressed and managed.

Why Do Companies Need PR Agencies?

Companies and businesses are constantly juggling between setting up their email workflow, writing blogs, and handling other sales aspects of their businesses. Between these tasks, a PR agency can help a company schedule, organize, optimize, and successfully run events, marketing initiatives, and press releases.

A public relations agency can keep the press informed about a brand and its products and services and generate other opportunities for a company that increases its authority and visibility and enhances its relationship with its targeted audience.

PR can take a business to the next level by using earned media and publicity to shape the public’s perception of a company.

What Are the Main Duties of a PR Agency?

A PR agency will fulfill the following duties to enhance a brand’s reputation and garner goodwill for its business.

Do a Lot of Research on the Target Market

PR agencies know the value of customer interactions and feedback and how important it is to evaluate a company’s brand image. They also know that a good PR plan includes identifying reliable media outlets that will help them reach their target audience.

A public relations firm will ask its clients about their business goals and then research the journalists, media outlets, and podcast hosts that have helped similar companies reach their audiences in the past. They will look for particular journalists that will pitch your company’s ideas and help a company make a suitable investment in targeted campaigns.

Create a Plan That Aligns With the Company’s Goals

A PR agency will create a plan for strategic and creative practices to present a brand and its story to media outlets. These plans include pitch angles, internal PR goals like product launches, and external PR goals like special events. A PR agency might also discuss with the client how they plan on executing these strategic goals and what benefits they will bring to the company.

Put the Plans Into Motion

Once the client is satisfied with the PR plans, the agency will start working on them according to the business goals and scope. This step includes assembling press kits that include brochures, press releases, photographs, details and coverage of past press releases, fact lists, and other critical information regarding a company.

Create a PR Pitch

A PR pitch outlines the story and values behind a company or business and explains, in an engaging manner, why it should be published. A public relations firm will create a short and unique pitch that will catch the attention of media outlets so that a brand can reach its target market. The PR services intend to make the pitch as intriguing as possible so that journalists or podcasters are interested in publishing and featuring the story.

PR Outreach

PR outreach is a process in which the PR agency will pitch information about the products and services of a company to journalists, influences, and bloggers to get exposure and press coverage for a business.

Engage Influencers to Influence People

Public relations agency will advise their clients about their message to their consumers and how they should communicate it. They will also engage suitable influences to generate more visibility for the brand, negotiate contracts with them, and manage other aspects of their PR services.

What Are the Services of a Public Relations Firm?

The PR industry has dramatically changed over the past ten years. It is now a full-service business, thanks to the evolutions in technology and how cheaper, faster, and easier it has become to spread the news.

Even though technology has made sharing content more accessible and manageable, the competition among brands is more challenging than ever. That is where they bring a good PR agency into play.

Following are some PR services that you can expect from any good agency;

1. Enhancing Brand Image

A public relations agency will strive to protect and enhance a client’s image in the public’s eye. They constantly monitor the media outlets for negative news or stories regarding their client’s business and control any damage during a crisis.

PR agencies work actively to promote a client’s image among the general public so that its reputation is not damaged. A PR agency will message blog content, respond on social media, reply to people having positive or negative reviews about a brand, and engage with its followers. A bad reputation will damage a brand’s equity in the long run.

All these tactics ensure that a brand comes across as relatable and reliable.

2. PR Crisis Management

Sometimes, special interest groups can significantly damage the reputation of a company or brand by doing inaccurate reporting to media outlets or happen when negative reviews and events threaten a brand’s reputation. It is known as the PR crisis.

A public relations firm is knowledgeable in dealing with such negative publicity. The PR specialists know how to minimize the damage caused by a PR crisis and successfully restore their client’s brand image.

A good PR agency will try to avoid any crisis from happening in the first place. But if such a crisis does occur, it knows how to use all its strategies and resources to protect the company’s image and develop communication plans to clear any negative news and events.

3. Media Relations and PR

A good PR agency knows how important it is to maintain a strong presence on social media. Social media presence is an essential digital marketing strategy as it provides insights into the conversations regarding a brand or company among its customers and their positive and negative responses.

A public relations agency can increase the reach and visibility of a brand by responding to general feedback and queries and building long-term relationships with customers. A PR firm will also handle social media relations by writing short and engaging pitches to influences and journalists to help get more client coverage. They will pitch their client’s company to a suitable blog targeting the right audience for the brand.

 

5. Content Planning and Development

PR agencies are involved with generating media coverage that will garner a positive response from the public for their clients. Press releases are one to achieve this purpose. These written statements are distributed to media outlets to generate news about events, product launches, or other developments within the company.

For example, if a skincare brand wants to start a social media movement to embrace #beautyofmyownskin, a public relations agency will help them write a press release announcing a campaign to care for an individual’s skin and hopefully garner a positive response from the media coverage.

There are other ways PR contributes content.

Writing an Internal Copy

PR agencies help their clients communicate with employees through internal copywriting. The employees of a company are important stakeholders, and a public relations agency can help a company manage its relationship with this group of people.

A company must set a healthy communication channel with its employees to build their morale, celebrate its success and profit generation, and discuss effective strategies and changes.

Craft Compelling Copy for a Business

Copywriters are experts in telling a brand’s values and story most intriguingly and compellingly. PR agencies have great copywriters that know different strategies to write in a way that resonates with the target audience’s ideas and beliefs.

Good writers in a PR agency’s team can capture the core message of a client’s brand and then present it under a compelling headline and persuasive body that will communicate it efficiently to the public. Copywriters can also develop great ideas for other media channels and marketing strategies, such as social media posts and whitepapers.

 

Developing Internal Communications

PR agencies will help their clients develop better internal communications by writing tactful speeches on behalf of a company. Speed writing is handy during press conferences or events where company employees speak publicly.

Anyone giving a speech to represent a brand or company must take help from a PR agency as they will handle the strategic messaging to develop a vocabulary about the brand messaging and new products or services launch.

6. PR Agencies Can Also Be Event Planners

PR agencies know the value of events of a company and how important they are for marketing its products and services. A public relations firm will ensure that an event hosted by their clients in which media members participate runs smoothly and positively. To achieve this purpose, PR agencies will take it up to them to handle all aspects of the event plan, from communicating with stakeholders, attaining media coverage, arranging travel and lodgings of attendees, and creating valuable content and announcements for the event.

PR agencies will also develop word-of-mouth or viral campaigns which can generate press and awareness.

 

How Can a PR Agency Help My Company?

A public relations agency can impact your company in more than one way. Not only will it lift the burden of a company to deal with media management and brand awareness, but it will also help drive more sales and enhance the company’s reputation. Here are five ways a PR agency can help you and your company;

  1. PR agencies try to build authentic relationships between a company and its customers. They do so by understanding their client’s business plans and core principles and presenting them in such a way that it resonates with their target audience.
  2. A PR agency knows how to develop effective press releases and media news and how to present them to the world.
  3. PR agencies help businesses who need to learn how to communicate their message to the world build strategic plans to increase brand awareness and visibility through different media channels.
  4. PR agencies organize successful events and conferences that efficiently showcase new product releases and thus help companies generate more sales.
  5. They personalize their tactics and plans according to the needs of individual businesses. PR agencies have PR specialists on their teams that understand their client’s business goals and create new opportunities for them to increase their website traffic, social media presence, and media coverage.

Conclusion

A PR agency helps a company grow even when other marketing strategies fail to bring more visibility to the brand. Public relations agencies understand the needs of their clients and have multiple approaches to enhance the reputation and visibility of newly established businesses to a large group of companies.

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Unleashing the Potential of PR Service Bundles for Consumer Products

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In the fast-paced world of consumer products, standing out from the competition and capturing the attention of target audiences is paramount. Public relations (PR) plays a crucial role in creating brand awareness, establishing credibility, increasing revenue, and generating consumer excitement. When looking to hire a PR firm, you may be taking one of two strategies. The first would be to maximize the impact of PR strategies; consumer product companies often rely on the expertise of PR firms that offer tailored packages designed specifically for their needs. The second strategy, for consumer product startups could be to dip their feet into the PR agency relationship with a PR service bundle that is specific in scope. Hence, the fees are lower, and the brand can learn more about a particular PR firm.  This blog post will explore the differences between PR service bundles for consumer products and how they can help businesses thrive in an ever-evolving marketplace.

  1. Crafting a Compelling Brand Story

Consumer products are not just items on a shelf; they are part of people’s lives, offering solutions, experiences, and emotions. If you’re a consumer product startup, your PR firm offering may need to include branding initiatives and research to craft a compelling brand story that resonates with target audiences.

By understanding the product’s unique value proposition, PR professionals can develop narratives that captivate consumers, evoke emotions, and create a lasting connection. These packages often include

  • message development,
  • storytelling techniques
  • content creation
  • brand image: ensure a consistent and compelling brand image across various channels

  1. Influencer Partnerships and Product Placements

Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for consumer product promotion. PR  packages for influencers or journalists leverage influencer partnerships to amplify brand reach and credibility. By identifying and collaborating with influential individuals in relevant niches, PR professionals can generate authentic product endorsements, unboxing videos, and positive reviews. Additionally, these PR service bundles often include earned media opportunities, product placement opportunities, and securing features in TV shows, movies, or popular media outlets, allowing for increased visibility and exposure.

  1. Media Relations and Product Launches

A successful product launch can significantly impact consumer perception and sales. PR firm packages for consumer products include strategic media relations to generate buzz and coverage surrounding new product releases. With these PR packages – Avaans calls these PR Sprints-, PR professionals work closely with media outlets, journalists, and bloggers to secure product reviews, and feature articles; sometimes with an eye on digital PR for premium SEO links. Through these efforts, businesses can build anticipation, create excitement, and gain valuable media exposure, ultimately driving consumer interest and sales.

  1. Social Media Engagement and Influencer Events

Social media has transformed the way consumers engage with brands. Social media targeted PR firm packages recognize the importance of a strong social media presence for consumer products. These packages include social media management, content creation, and community engagement strategies. PR professionals leverage social media platforms to share product updates, engage with consumers, and foster brand loyalty. They may also organize influencer events or collaborations, providing opportunities for influencers to experience the product firsthand and share their authentic experiences with their followers.

    1. Crisis Management and Reputation Protection

In the consumer product industry, maintaining a positive reputation is crucial. PR firm packages are designed to handle potential crises and protect brand reputation in the face of challenges. These packages include proactive crisis management strategies, such as preparing crisis communication plans and monitoring online conversations. In times of crisis, PR professionals act swiftly, ensuring transparent and timely communication to address concerns and mitigate any potential damage to the brand’s reputation.

    1. Content Packages in Digital PR World

As media continues to evolve, building content is vital to building awareness and consumer affinity. From contributed content to blog posts to videos content is still king. Moreover, content offers many ways to repurpose and reuse, from social media to email marketing to investor presentations.

Ensuring your content aligns with your overall goals and brand messaging is squarely in the capabilities of a full-service PR firm. But even if you choose not to use your PR firm to build the content, part of a full-service PR option should include collaboration with your content producers to ensure message consistency.

 

Conclusion

For consumer product companies, PR firm packages offer a powerful toolkit to elevate brand visibility, establish credibility, and drive consumer excitement. You may be able to reduce PR costs by sticking with a specific PR package with a limited scope, like some of the PR service bundles recommended above, or you may wish to have a more tailored PR strategy with a bespoke PR plan.

These packages are tailored to the unique needs of consumer product businesses, providing strategic guidance, media relations, social media engagement, crisis management, and more. By harnessing the expertise of executive level PR professionals, consumer product companies can create compelling brand stories, leverage influencer partnerships, execute successful product launches, and protect their brand reputation. Embracing the services provided by PR firm packages is a strategic investment that can fuel consumer interest, foster brand loyalty, and propel consumer product businesses to new heights of success.

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What Is Purpose-Driven PR?

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Purpose-driven public relations means the brand proactively builds incorporates values that impact social, cultural, and environmental issues. A true purpose-driven company makes corporate choices within its purpose framework, even when it means purpose over profits.

Truthfully, public relations aren’t purpose-driven, a brand is purpose-driven. Public relations is simply a lever a purpose-driven brand can use to improve the world around them. Building a purpose-driven brand is an inside-out job. They aren’t PR campaigns or PR ideas; they are a cultural way of thinking that’s internalized by everyone in the company.

[3 minute read]

The Importance of Internalizing Purpose

There are lots of ways a brand can support its customers, community, and the globe meaningfully. Cause partnerships, and donation campaigns, are all relevant PR campaigns, but they aren’t purpose-driven. Purpose-driven companies take the long view on purpose and impact.

Internalization distinguishes purpose-driven brands. When everyone from the Board, to the CEO to the janitor walks the talk of purpose, then a brand has authentically implemented a purpose-driven brand. This also means when employees face choices, they incorporate the purpose into their decision-making. This can include employee hiring, employee programs, purchasing, and product decisions. It also means employees feel safe in making a purpose-informed choice because they know they’re acting within the company’s ethos; their choice is supported and even celebrated.

 

Should Purpose-Driven Initiatives Even Have a PR Component?

The deciding factor on this issue is the “why,” behind the initiative. Every day, businesses from Fortune 500 all the way to emerging industries are making decisions that have a social impact, and most of the time, these decisions don’t get the credit they deserve. But it’s not one decision, or one campaign, or one person who makes purpose – it’s people moving in unison making decisions that impact millions.

For example, let’s take eggs. When you go to the grocery, you face a lot of buying choices. Cage-free eggs, organic eggs, local eggs, inexpensive eggs. Many of these egg producers are balancing product, purpose, and price. Even though the organic or cage-free eggs are more expensive, it’s likely the margins on those eggs are considerably less than the mass-produced eggs. It’s also very likely that the producers of the cage-free or organic eggs are making other choices that cost more – maybe they buy the more expensive food, maybe they supplement their electricity with solar power. These are all purpose-driven decisions that are really important, but they won’t make news. What may make the news is the impact or the multiple steps they take for their purpose might make news. The people behind these choices may have interesting stories to tell. There will be PR opportunities, but they require real storytelling. Therefore, it’s important to have experienced purpose-driven PR agencies who can tell ethos and purpose stories.

Brands should have PR at the table when incorporating purpose-driven ethos, but PR should be part of the purpose, not the purpose of the purpose.

 

Are Purpose-Driven Brands Born or Made?

Both and neither. Some brands are founded in purpose, we can all name a few. Other brands grow into purpose. Both are as legitimate as their ability to stick to their ethos. It’s important for both types of purpose-driven brands to be authentic. Just because a brand is founded in purpose doesn’t mean it won’t lose its way. And just because a brand develops purpose doesn’t entirely absolve them from past actions. All brands should be very careful with their initiatives because consumers are getting fantastic at sniffing out disingenuous missions. These disingenuous missions create consumer distrust and may even run afoul of today’s cancel culture. A brand is better off doing nothing than taking on duplicitous or insincere purpose-driven initiatives.

 

If your company is considering a purpose-driven plan, please download our guide and call us. We can help you and your team navigate the exciting opportunities – and avoid the pitfalls – for purpose-driven brands.

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6 Questions to Ask and What To Look For Before Hiring A PR Firm

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What Should You Really Be Look For In A PR Firm?

Whenever I talk to someone hiring a PR firm, I really have empathy. We know, hiring a PR firm can be daunting. With increasing frequency, we’re hearing stories from clients who have experienced “bad PR.” We hate to hear that, because we know it’s important for our entire professional to provide exceptional services. More importantly, we know it’s important to you when making a PR investment. What should you ask before hiring a modern PR firm?

We truly believe many of these stories are because of client and agency being a mismatch rather than a “bad PR firm.” Taking a deeper look at PR before hiring a PR firm can save you money, and time. We can attribute much of this to the vast distinctions between how PR agencies operate and handle their clients. The intention of this piece is to provide you with questions we would be asking OUR PR firm before we hired them, and why those questions are important. Also, consider these “6 great questions you can ask us before hiring Avvans PR”

6 Questions to Ask Before Hiring Your Next PR Firm

Do You Understand Our Product?

Ask yourself how important a baseline understanding of your product or industry is to your communications. We’ve heard story after story of people unhappy with their PR firm because their PR firm doesn’t understand an emerging industry’s regulations or technology. Understanding the industry isn’t just important from a regulatory and technical perspective, it’s also the ability to monitor relevant news, understand what’s relevant (and what isn’t) and move quickly. Now, that’s not to say that a beauty PR can’t handle B2B PR for the industry, but expect to educate your firm.

What tradeshows and conferences has your team attended?
Does your PR firm understand what makes your product distinct within your industry?
What publications are writing about your vertical?

Before Hiring a PR Firm, Establish Clearly Defined Ways of Measuring Success for PR

Most companies today want consistent placement, strategic oversight, and outstanding communication. But what else? In a mature, less regulated industry, a PR firm typically works with multiple other firms from branding to experiential to an ad agency.

PR is THE leading brand trust and awareness tool.

In addition to earned media, companies should be looking at additional metrics for PR, such as SEO value. Website traffic, brand mentions, brand name reach, and even share of voice are all KPIs that are relevant, depending on the overall strategy. Your PR firm should be ready and able to provide those kinds of metrics to you every month. Changes in public perception or decreased sales cycle are also metrics with which PR can support. If you’re measuring your PR firm against KPIs like this, work with your PR firm to set a baseline and a reasonable timeframe.

To really maximize your PR, look to incorporate your content, whether it’s through your PR agency’s content services, or your own, be sure to align the key messages and the topics.

Is the Fee Structure Fair & Does It Make Sense?

Most PR firms work on a retainer, so make sure you have an understanding of what’s included in your retainer?

Does the firm charge for wire releases?
Is branded content included, and if so, does that extend to graphic design?
Is there a markup on expenses incurred by the PR agency and if so, what is it?
Are off-site activations included?
How are hours tracked?

There’s no single way to manage a retainer, so asking questions like this upfront will give you a deeper understanding. Be fearless about asking these questions, after all, you’re the client. You should expect a rationale that isn’t arbitrary. While you may view this as a negotiation opportunity, be wary of cutting the budget to the point where your brand isn’t on the radar daily. You want your PR firm engaged with your brand on a daily basis – make sure you’re getting that because the alternative often provides unsatisfactory results. A great PR firm will be transparent about their billing methods.  Financial terms form the foundation of your relationship with your PR firm. Get that right and find a balance that works for you and your PR firm.

Look for Good Personal Chemistry in Your PR Firm

While this one is tough to put on a spreadsheet, asking some tough questions will often reveal the quality of the chemistry. As an engaged client, you should be working with your cannabis PR experts regularly and you REALLY want that process to be enjoyable. Make sure your company culture meshes well with your cannabis PR firm’s value system.  Teams who like one another, work better together. If you’re not gelling with someone in the first call, chances are, that’s not going to change.

Compatability breeds productivity and results.

Before Hiring Your Next PR Firm, Consider: Location, Location, Location

Before you start narrowing down your PR firms, decide how important location is to you. We think having account presence in major journalism markets, like Los Angeles and New York is a priority, but if you’re the person who needs to meet face-to-face once a week, acknowledge that and find a firm close to your base of operations and hire a PR firm that’s near by.

Flexibility AND Systems

Pay close attention to the systems your PR firm uses and also take notice of their flexibility.

For starters, there should also be a clearly defined exit clause in the contract.

Who owns content?
How will the PR firm handle future press inquires when/if the engagement ends?
What is the cancelation agreement?

Your PR should have systems and processes in place, but those systems and processes should also be nimble enough to manage the PR world. For example, getting a press release right is exceptionally important, but it shouldn’t take your PR firm a week to write it. You should be able to review the first draft within hours on an emergency or breaking news circumstance. On the other hand, there should be a consistent drum beat and strategy behind media relations.  Which bring us to:

A Strategic Approach That Makes Sense

Before hiring, your  PR firm should be able to articulate an approach and strategy that makes sense to you. While credible PR firms won’t reveal details about clients, they should be able to articulate some case studies of  PR strategies and why they worked. For example, provide an experience that required a decision to respond to industry news. When, where, and how you respond to breaking industry news is determined by your brand strategy, BUT your PR should be able to articulate a strategy and when/why it worked. Your PR firm should have some strategic storylines and outlines in mind for your brand, which proves they’ve done a little research. Even if they aren’t perfectly on-brand, at least you’re starting with a strategy that is better than starting from zero. Avaans takes a slightly different approach by providing strategic research and competitive analysis before you even work with us.

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4 Trends for Marketing and PR During a Recession

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Marketing and PR during a recession? Who does that? Well, the answer may surprise you: brands that grow the fastest. Why? Studies who brands that market during recessions gain additional advantages because it’s less noisy and easier to be seen and heard. Make your marketing and PR budget go further by tapping into these consumer trends.

Consumer Brands: Remember the Lipstick Effect

Coined by Leonard Lauder in 2001, the term “lipstick effect” when he observed that lipstick sales are inversely correlated to economic health. Why? Because consumers still want to treat themselves and small indulgences fit the bill, even during economic downturns. Luxury lifestyle brands do this with their perfume and makeup offerings. Yes, $69 for Hermes lipstick is a lot for lipstick, but for the Hermes customer or aspirational customer, $69 is an easy purchase compared to a $6,000 purse. Consumer PR and marketing during a recession can help you gain market share and grow when you offer your customers a way to sport your brand without making a gigantic purchase.

What’s your brand’s “lipstick”? What is the product that makes customers feel like they’re treating themselves without large expenditure? 

Find the Fun with Your Customers

What did the post-pandemic consumer teach us? They want fun and frivolity in the pandemic’s wake – and they STILL want that, perhaps even more, with all the gloomy news about a recession. While you, as a CEO, or CMO, might feel doubly beat up, it’s really up to you to bring the fun. From marketing to PR, if you give consumers something fun to talk about or a sense of escapism, consumers will find a way to your party, because they really want to have fun. So while you may be cutting your marketing or PR budget, make sure the things you keep are fun-filled. Not only will this improve your bottom line, it will attach fun to your consumer’s experience of your brand, which means they’ll associate you with fun after the recession too.

What’s your customer’s ideal way to escape? Find them and play with them there. 

Make Lasting Memories with Nostalgia

When uncertainty strikes, consumers love to “remember when.” Whether it’s nostalgia-based packaging or scents to connections to movies and songs, yesterday always brings comfort to consumers. If you’re a legacy brand with long-time customers, then you should absolutely take this opportunity to remind your customers of the good ole days you had together. If you’re a new brand and you don’t have that depth, you can trigger fond memories through partnerships and advertising.

What era makes your customers nostalgic?

Avoid Deep Discounts that Train Customers

If you train your customers to wait until the next sale, they will never buy if there isn’t one, whether or not there is a recession. Resist the urge to devalue your own brand right now. Not only do price discounts squeeze your margins during a time when you can least afford them, constant discounting feels desperate. Desperation is never a great look, especially for luxury brands. To maintain brand and positioning, the beloved cupcake brand Sprinkles resisted the urge to discount during the pandemic:

“Customers had been taught by other bakeries to expect that the product at the end of the day was worth less than at the beginning. But with our just-in-time baking system, these cupcakes were as fresh as their morning relatives. Even then, as tempting as it was to sell off those last few cupcakes at a discount right before closing, I knew we had to stand firmly behind the price. I preferred to donate those cupcakes than to eat into the value of our brand.” -Candace Nelson, founder.

The better option is to carve out a single day (or two) that your brand will offer value pricing, and when you do, look for ways to add value to your current price rather than discounting the product itself. You could offer a gift with purchase or a VIP experience.

Budget planning for marketing and PR during a recession feels less fun than when budgets are flush, but the reality is, you can make major headway during a recession AND you can enjoy the process and the output just as much if not more.

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How Much Does It Cost to Hire a PR Firm?

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The cost to hire a PR firm should align with the impact you expect your PR firm to have on your business goals. If you’re hiring a PR firm to grow sales, then the expense of your PR firm should reflect the importance of that on your brand. Don’t expect to grow your sales 100% by investing an additional 5% in PR. Indeed, there are ways to track revenue from PR.  For example, if you’re in maintenance mode and need a responsive rather than a proactive PR agency, that cost should be less than a proactive media relations and media placement campaign, which can reach billions of people.

There is a huge range of pricing for PR firms. In general, solopreneur firms, or less experienced PR firms might charge around $3,000 per month, depending on the client and the market. Larger firms, premium agencies, and boutique firms can charge upwards of $18,000 to $25,000 per month for their services. Businesses in fast-growing or emerging industries can also affect PR pricing. How do you know what’s fair and what rate to pay? Consider some of these factors when considering whether a PR firm is right for your business.

If you are contemplating the cost of hiring a PR firm, chances are you already know the importance of establishing your business’s image. Positive PR can help increase brand recognition, loyalty, and community goodwill. However, you might be wondering, how many does it cost to hire a PR firm?

There are also ways to save on agency fees, so work with your agency to discuss how you can jointly achieve more efficiency.

Why Experience Matters in PR

Understand that while experience is important, it can also be costly. Established PR firms with track records of success tend to charge more for their services. Hiring experienced PR professionals can be costly. Most often, a firm’s reputation is established through its employees’ skill and experience level.

Like in any industry, with PR, experience matters. Many top PR firms will employ former journalists and experienced PR professionals and for a good reason. Former journalists have a wealth of contacts in the media industry. These people also have contacts at non-profit organizations and with community leaders, among others.

These contacts are precious for pitching stories for their clients. Former journalists also understand what media companies are looking for when it comes to story ideas. They can craft attention-getting press releases that stand a better chance of being seen and picked up instead of being tossed in the trash heap of yesterday’s news. Former journalists also tend to know the best people to follow up with after issuing a press release or event notice.

The same skills and connections can be true for experienced PR professionals. Those with experience in the industry understand the intricacies of the business. They are masters of communication who know how to get a message across and which avenues offer their clients the best chance at positive exposure in the media. Understanding the nuances of marketing and portraying a positive image are honed skills needed for your business’s PR firm.

 

Why Pay-to-Play PR is So Dangerous

Careers in PR and journalism have a natural connection. It’s why so many former journalists tend to expand their careers into the PR realm. However, businesses need to be on the lookout for a potentially dangerous practice called pay-to-play. Pay-to-play is a phrase that refers to professionals making undisclosed or under-the-table payments to journalists or media companies in exchange for publishing a client’s story.

This behavior is generally considered unethical. Local media outlets should be viewed as a public service. A newsroom assesses the merit of stories and gauges how interested their audience will be in the information that they provide. Paying for coverage is both unethical and potentially deprives an audience of newsworthy content.

It is also dangerous because media outlets have a duty to report to their audience when a spot or story includes paid content. Paid content includes commercials and ads. A potential consumer knows that the information provided has been paid for by an advertiser when they view a commercial. Pay-for-play is essentially duping an audience into thinking that the content is unbiased. However, if a PR firm purchases airtime under the table, it misrepresents the impartiality of the content.

Setting Goals and Expectations with Your PR Firm

Do your homework ahead of time before committing to a PR agency. Sit down with your team and outline your goals and expectations. What are you hoping to gain out of your relationship with a PR firm? How much of your budget are you willing to dedicate monthly to a PR firm? You need to be honest when answering these questions and establishing your objectives. When you have your goals firmly set, schedule meetings with a variety of PR agencies.

When consulting with a PR firm, consider asking these questions to assess whether the firm will be a good fit:

  • Do they have experience in your particular industry?
  • What is their communication style?
  • How do they measure success?
  • How will they go about generating leads and coverage?
  • Do they know how to manage crisis situations?
  • How will they help you reach your goals?

Don’t be afraid to also ask questions about their fee structure. Budget is a big factor in deciding whether to hire an agency or keep your PR work in-house. A PR firm should be transparent when discussing what they charge and how their fee structure works. You may also want to ask how long it takes their team to craft a press release or set up for an event. Understanding how many hours a typical project can take may help you evaluate whether a PR agency is cost-effective for your business.

To help foster a successful relationship with a PR firm, you need to communicate your goals upfront and set your expectations early. Doing so means that you and the firm start on the same page and can track results throughout the relationship. Meeting with a company before you hire them allows you to gauge how comfortable you are with the firm and how they will manage the reputation of your business.

At the end of the day, hiring a PR firm is an investment, but only if you find an agency whose goals align with yours. When deciding if a firm’s prices coincide with your company’s budget and needs, consider your goals, specific industry challenges, and the expertise of a firm’s staff. Do not be afraid to ask tough questions because the reputation of your business may depend on how your PR agency responds. The right PR agency can be an excellent investment in your business.

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