Spring Cleaning? Here Are Three Signs You Need A New PR Agency
As your brand matures and grows, you may find that goals, needs and the overall marketing missions evolve too. Here are some telltale signs that you’ve outgrown your current PR agency.
1. Your agency doesn’t understand the brand’s target audience and its needs.
This becomes apparent when truly newsworthy developments and “new news” aren’t getting placed. In our experience, it can take a couple of months to strike gold, but a good story should never go unheard. If you agency truly understands the brand’s target audience it can answer the following questions:
How is the product / service positioned in ongoing outreach?
What news hooks are receiving the most and least amount of pick up in the current news cycle?
What feedback have editors have given about the products or services?
What barriers does the agency see to getting covered?
How is the agency positioning the product/service as a solution?
2. You feel like your agency isn’t prioritizing your brand.
Perhaps your agency is a one-man-band, or a bustling team with hundreds of public relations pros across the globe. Either way, getting on their calendar shouldn’t be a turbulent task. Your PR agency should be excited to share developments with you and both organizations should be working together to pinpoint challenges and deliver results.
If you’re having trouble connecting, especially with a growing brand on your hands, it could be time to seek out new support. Your brand is your baby and you need an agency that understands that!
3. Your agency doesn’t offer robust reporting OR talks to you about affiliate marketing.
Does your current agency only send you one-off clips of coverage? Do they send excel reports of coverage placed? Have they mentioned the words “affiliate marketing?” If not, don’t walk – run away.
While PR is still challenging to report on, it’s not impossible. Realistic and innovative metrics allow teams to benchmark & measure return on investment.
In a time when brands require more accountability from their communications teams, PR pros can and should be leaning on reputable tools to report on: how many pieces of coverage were garnered, how many people have visited the publisher sites you gained coverage on, the share of voice and SEO or natural search visibility. i.e. there is an SEO benefit from the authentic backlinks from coverage– you can and should be reporting back on your contribution.
Impressions are great and all, but if your PR team isn’t translating metrics to ROI - it’s time to move on.
