If you want to empower your business and create sustainable growth, you need to work with a PR agency. A PR agency can facilitate growth and strengthen your position in the market by applying effective PR strategies. How exactly does this process occur? First of all, a public relations agency helps your business decide on a specific brand image according to your company's objectives.
For example, what kind of an image would you prefer to have if your business is in the make-up and skincare industry? You might want to be associated with natural ingredients and clean, cruelty-free products, or you might prefer to have a glamorous, heavily made-up brand image. Depending on your specific industry, brand, and the qualities of your products, your brand message changes. What a PR firm does in this process is to clearly detect your brand image, and then find ways to communicate this message to your target market.
Let's follow up on the make-up brand example. Let's say you have created a make-up brand that is heavily focused on natural beauty, self-care, acceptance, and mental health. Your target market is women who create an emphasis on natural looks and who care about mental health. A PR agency then creates a PR strategy in accordance with your brand message and your target market.
For such a brand and target market; you might create a PR campaign by donating to a mental health organization with a specific focus on body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Your PR campaign might include celebrities and influencers who are speaking up about matters of self-acceptance and presenting a natural image.
A worldwide famous brand applies this exact formula and has become one of the most preferred make-up brands; Rare Beauty. The example case of Rare Beauty shows how strong and effective well-applied PR strategies can be. Selena Gomez, the founder of Rare Beauty, already had a certain image and an audience that created an emphasis on natural beauty, kindness, and acceptance. Selena Gomez built upon that preexisting image and transferred it into the brand image and message of Rare Beauty. We might argue that the strongest part of Rare Beauty's worldwide success depends on its successful PR.
Well-applied PR strategies communicate one unified brand image consistently. That brand image should be communicated with the exact target market, and all the products, posts, partnerships, and even the designs and the names of the brand, and products should be aligned.are experts at creating and communicating this coherent brand image directly with your target market. In that sense, PR agencies can carry your business from 10 to 10000, and create the best possible results for your existing brand, products, and services. If you want to empower your business and have a unique competitive advantage in the market, you need to consider working with a PR agency.
What is a PR Firm?
To understand what a PR firm is, we need to discuss what PR is exactly. PR means Public Relations and it includes all the steps your company needs to take in order to create and maintain a positive brand image. Public relations strategies are designed in order to create and communicate a certain associative brand image for your company. Respectively, a PR agency is an association that works on the creation and implication of these strategies.
What do PR Firms Do?
PR firms include all the services necessary to build a positive, favorable reputation for your company or for you. These services include marketing strategies, campaign projects, event and strategic planning, and crisis communications. We can compartmentalize and list what PR agencies do in practice areas in order to create and sustain your reputation as such;
Media Relations
PR firms mediate the relationships between their clients and media channels. These relationships include journalists, content creators, and mass media channels. They create, organize, and regulate the stories and news that notable clients say will be served to the media, and arrange interviews.
Strategic Communication
Strategic communications refers to the specific decisions and changes made by the PR agency depending on the client, their target audience, and their objectives. A new organization, a person, and a large company, all require different channels to communicate their brand image. For example, a large company may use billboards and TV ads while a new expertise might choose influencer marketing. These specific differences are regulated by PR agencies.
Crisis Communication
In a crisis situation, the help of a PR agency becomes necessary. PR agencies help your company calm the storm by first creating proactive strategies to avoid crises. When an unexpected crisis occurs PR agencies help you mediate the situation and protect your reputation.
Reputation Management
PR agencies follow discourse on your company through magazines and social media channels. They aim to have consumer companies create and maintain a positive reputation by serving relevant stories that increase the positive association of your company with your specific desired brand image.
Social Media Management
Social media marketing and management is a huge part of communication, media, connection, and thus, public and government relations now. Social media management strategies are now a necessary part of Public Relations services. Those strategies include interacting with customers online through social media channels, adopting new platforms and formats, and creating suitable content for platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Content Creation
Content creation might be considered linked to social media management, but extends social media content. Content creation managed by PR firms includes all the material given to the press, both new and traditional media channels. Quality pr content that effectively translates your brand message is the main tool to continue communication with your target audience and the general public.
Thought Leadership
A different side of PR services includes thought leadership. Thought leadership refers to creating and improving academic discourse on the topic with publications and panels of experts in the field.
Event Planning
Events such as: press releases, conferences, charity events, product launches, and promotional campaigns are part of PR services. Such events create a discussion and are covered in media channels.
Influencer Partnership
Influencers have the unique advantage of having more intimate communication with their followers. That is why well-designed PR campaigns usually include influencer partnerships.
Internal Communication
Internal communication and internal marketing is a huge part of a company's reputation. The notion of your employees feeling aligned and proud with your company's position and message is a key part of public relations strategies.
Measurement and Analysis
There are some metrics like media coverage and audience engagement to analyze the impact of the PR campaign. The services of public relations agencies also include informing you about those measurements and analyses.
Branding and Positioning
Arguably the most important part and the main mission of Public Relations is branding and positioning. Branding and positioning include choosing a harmonious brand message and image. Positioning refers to finding, strengthening, and highlighting your competitive advantage in the market, and creating a unique position for your company. What PR does is build upon and communicate this branding and positioning to the general public.
Media Training
Media training refers to training your company's spokesperson about interviews and communicating with a main message.
Why Should You Work with a PR(Public Relations) Firm?
There are several reasons why you should work with a Public Relations Firm. Working with a Public Relations firm can bring out benefits for large companies, entry-level organizations, and individuals.
Expertise and Experience
Public relations firms have expertise and experience in communicating a significant brand message, thus PR firms can create better and more efficient strategies for your business.
Objectivity
Even though you might try to keep a neutral lens on your business, the team is inevitably affected by proximity. Working with a PR firm creates a neutral analysis of an outsider, and they can be better at detecting and developing PR strategies for your company.
Media Relationships
Since PR agencies are experienced in creating PR strategies for multiple businesses, they have a larger network of media channels. This global network includes journalists and influencers, it would be easier for you to access these people and organizations when you are working with a PR agency.
Time-Efficiency
Working with a PR agency also helps your team achieve desired results with time efficiency. Building and applying PR strategies, and monitoring the results later on, is a long process that requires time even for experienced and specialized PR agencies. Both for small businesses and large enterprises, working with a PR firm will result in the most effective and efficient results.
Crisis Management
There is a rise in cancel culture due to interactive mass communication in social media. On the good side, social media allows the masses to agree and discuss issues, and it also forces correct behavior by power holders with the fear of being “canceled”. But on the other side, the cancel culture might accelerate the spreading of false information and accusations. This is a very delicate topic both for organizations and people who have media identities. PR agencies can help you get through any potential crises successfully. They can foresee and analyze possible crises and take proactive actions. They can also lead you to the most effective action in the face of an unexpected crisis.
Reputation Management
Public relations agencies can successfully manage your reputation. This might consist of building your brand image and communicating it with a larger population. It can also consist of changing your existing public image and improving your reputation. Depending on your wants and needs, the PR firm you choose to work with can create the best reputation management strategies for you.
Social Media Management
Social media presence is a huge part of PR strategies, as well as marketing and sales strategies. Working with a PR firm can provide you with the most effective social media management strategies. You can apply those strategies and obtain positive results regarding both PR and marketing.
Branding and Positioning
If you want to create a solid branding and positioning strategy, working with a PR firm is a must. One of the main and maybe the most important reasons why you should work with Public relations agencies is that they help with your business' branding and positioning. Branding and positioning is essential if you want to build your small business and if you want to maintain a steady place in the market.
Media and Communications Training
Working with a PR firm also includes media and corporate communications and training if you request. This is also necessary if you are someone with high media coverage, or the spokesperson for your company.
Measurement and Analysis
PR firms can provide you with the necessary measurements and analysis regarding your strategies. Having access to measurements and analyses made by professional analysts allows you to decide about your future strategies. That is why working with a PR firm and getting measurements and analysis is necessary.
What Benefits does PR Work Provide for a Brand?
There are multiple benefits you can obtain from working with a PR agency as a brand. Those benefits include giving your company professional guidance on branding and positioning, reputation management, and media management. Public relations agencies also create proactive crisis management strategies and provide you with the necessary analytics and measurements. All those contributions are some fundamental benefits you will gain from working with a PR firm as a brand.
Branding and Positioning
Working with a PR firm as a brand first creates a basis for your branding and positioning strategies. This is the main benefit you will obtain from PR agencies, as it is an absolute necessity to have strong branding and positioning strategies as a brand.
Reputation Management
Do you want to just have a reputation that is known by all? Or do you want to be associated with a positive and maybe selective reputation? What kinds of reputation management strategies are the best for your existing brand, products, or services? A PR firm can help you answer those questions, and create the best reputation management approaches.
Social Media Coverage
It is important to decide your social media coverage strategies as a brand. Which social media channels do you want to use mainly; Instagram, TikTok, X, or Linkedin? What are the ideal content types and how frequently should you use your brand's social media channels? Public relations agencies can help you with your social media management strategies.
Media Relationships and Coverage
It is crucial to have a strong network of media relationships to pursue the most effective strategies. Public relations agencies can benefit your brand with their large resource of media relationships, and increase your brand's media coverage.
Crisis Management
Managing any unexpected crisis, and taking proactive action to prevent any more crises from occurring is necessary to maintain your brand's reputation. Remember, reputation is very hard to build, but it can collapse so easily. That is why working with a PR agency to get through any potential risks to your reputation is a great benefit.
Professional and Objective Approach
Public relations agencies can give you an objective lens regarding your branding, positioning, and reputation as a brand. It is necessary to get an expert and outsider approach while developing your PR strategies, and PR firms can benefit you in that aspect.
Measurement and Analysis
Following your PR strategies with the measurements and analysis to know which PR projects and campaigns create the most effective and desired results is a step that shouldn't be neglected. For example, having measurements of media interactions informs you about which campaigns reached the largest population and gathered the most attention. Having these measurements and analysis guides your future steps, and increases the effectiveness of your PR strategies
PR and Media Communications Training
It is important for your brand to have people who are representing the brand. And it is necessary for those representatives to have PR and media communications training. Public relations agencies can benefit you in that aspect, and give you access to media and communication training.
The Most Important Points to Consider When Working with a PR Agency
There are multiple factors you need to take into consideration when working with a PR agency. Considering those factors and choosing a public relations agency accordingly will help you reach your strategic pr goals. Let's examine some of the main points you need to consider in more detail:
Clearly Defined Objectives
We said it is important to have some points to consider because it helps you achieve your strategic pr goals. There is a hidden assumption here which claims that you have some clear goals. Yes, if you don't have clear goals, vision, and certain objectives, you can not have the main metric of decision. There is a famous saying “No wind helps the sailor who does not know his destination”. That is why clearly defining your objectives is always the first step.
Open Communication Channels
It is crucial to have open communication channels between your company and the PR agency you are partnering with. Having open communication channels allows you to communicate your expectations and needs effectively to the PR agency. If you are successful at delivering your objectives and expectations, it is more likely you will get the desired results. So, it is better to consider the communication channels of the potential public relations agencies.
Target Audience Insights
When choosing a PR agency, you are having an interaction between your company and the PR firms. But, there is an invisible third party that you constantly need to consider while having this interaction. That is your target audience. You can collect information about your target audience's insight through previous data and analysis, surveys, and questionnaires. While PR campaigns can be aimed at the general public, your target market, as identified by your market research, is still the primary audience. For example, if your target market is young women aged 18-25, your PR campaign should be designed by PR firms that have successful campaigns for this demographic.
Measurable Metrics and Reporting
You need to consider the other award winning PR agency or firm's measurable metrics and reporting, before choosing which PR agency to work with. It is preferable if a PR agency has reliable and measurable metrics and reporting for their previous partnership's success. That means you can also have measurable reports on the success of your PR campaigns.
Ethical and Transparent Practices
When it comes to creative work, ethical and open practices are a must. You need to consider the PR agencies' originality with their creative PR strategies and make sure there are no cases of plagiarism from less-known creatives. For example, having open practices about the development of their PR strategies, getting formal permission from outer creatives, and giving credit to everyone involved in the projects are green flags to consider while looking for a PR agency.
Creative and Innovative Approaches
Another factor you need to consider about public relations agencies is how creative and innovative they are with their approaches and previous projects. For a PR campaign to gain the desired impact, they need to be creative enough to get attention from the masses. There are two sides to creativity and innovation. First is checking if the PR agency is creative with its campaigns and if its strategies are eye-catching and bring a new perspective. The second factor is to consider their innovation with their approaches while developing PR campaigns. For example, innovative approaches might include using Artificial Intelligence PR materials, or Virtual Reality advertisements.
References and Portfolio Review
One of the most critical things you must consider before choosing a PR agency is their references and portfolio reviews. It is preferable if the public relations agency you are considering collaborating with has positive reviews from their previous partnerships. It is also important to scan through their previous projects to understand the creativity and impact of the PR campaigns.
Can PR be handled internally?
Of course, it is possible to handle PR internally. Many organizations follow a hybrid approach in which they handle their PR internally with external PR agencies' partnership in necessary situations. It is very important to have internal involvement with PR campaigns to gain the most impact. There are several advantages and considerations to handling PR internally.
Advantages of Internally Handled PR:
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In-depth Knowledge: Internal PR teams have a better understanding of the organization, its culture, and its objectives. This familiarity and understanding from the internal PR teams result in more authentic PR projects that truly reflect the organization's culture.
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Immediate Access: Internal PR teams have immediate access to the people and information networks within the organization. This immediate access allows internal PR teams to respond quickly and more effectively in the face of a crisis.
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Cost Control: Handling PR internally is also a cost-effective way of dealing with PR compared to working with an external PR agency's fees.
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Control Over Messaging: Internal PR teams also have access to and control over communication channels within the organization. This allows internal PR teams to reflect the company's vision and message more effectively.
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Cultural Fit: Internal PR teams have more familiarity with your company's success, and therefore the PR projects can have more cultural fit.
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Constant Monitoring: Internal PR teams have access to the news, events, and general information regarding your company. With constant monitoring, internal PR teams can create more culturally fit PR campaigns. Internal PR teams can also give faster and more appropriate responses with their constant monitoring.
Considerations for Internal PR:
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Expertise: The expertise of the internal PR team is one of the biggest considerations. It is necessary to have a capable PR team for PR campaigns and movements to have an impact on the public. You need to choose your internal PR team from experienced people from the field, and you can also create internal training programs for newcomers.
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Resource Allocations: It is beneficial to remember that internal PR teams require resources like personnel, time, and necessary tools and programs for PR campaigns and monitoring.
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Workload: If your internal PR team has other responsibilities besides PR, it might create an issue of prioritization. It is better to double-check there is no overload of responsibilities in the PR team.
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Objectivity: Having objectivity can be a hard task for internal PR teams. As much as the PR team tries to capture an objective perspective, it is not possible to extract yourself from the context. You might need to consider the factor of objectivity, especially when it comes to the overall analysis of PR campaigns.
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Limited Networks: PR firms naturally have a larger network of publicists and media channels. This is a result of continuously established networks for PR firms. Unfortunately, internal PR teams usually have comparatively less network.
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Scope of Work: Internal PR teams might have a relatively small scope of work. You can see it with their limited network of media channels and limited experience to get through a crisis situation.
To conclude, we can see that it is possible to handle PR with internal PR teams. There are some benefits and considerations for working with an internal PR team. Benefits include the familiarity of the PR team with your company's culture and considerations include the limited network and scope of internal teams. A hybrid approach of using internal and external PR teams together can create the best results for you. For example, you can run your general PR projects with internal teams and collaborate with larger PR firms for bigger campaigns. A hybrid approach allows you to take full advantage of internal PR teams and eliminate some of the considerations.
How to do effective PR work?
You need to follow some basic steps to do the most effective PR work. Those steps include defining your goals and target market, choosing the public relations agency and media channels, and deciding on details regarding the PR campaign process.
1) What do you expect from PR work? Set your goals
The first step of effective PR work is clearly defining your goals and expectations. Defining your goals also creates a measurement for the success of your PR campaign.
2) Define your target audience
The next step is defining your target audience. This step is also very important for your marketing and sales strategies. When you clearly identify your target audience, you can create surveys to understand their preferences and expectations. Defining your target market is as core as defining your goals to create effective PR works.
3) Choose the right PR agency
Once you clearly identify your goals and target market, you can go on and search for the right PR agency for your company. The metrics you will use to determine the right public relations agencies are your primary goals and your target audience.
4) Choose the right platform
The next step is choosing the right platform to launch your Public relations projects and campaigns. You might choose to focus on just one platform, like social media platforms, or you might choose to launch your PR campaign from different media channels.
5) Create your press release
After you decide on your main objectives, your target audience, the PR agency, and the platforms; you need to choose your press release date. Bonus points if you choose a date that has a resemblance to your PR campaign's theme. For example, if you have a body positivity-focused PR campaign for your clothing line, you can launch your campaign on March 8th.
6) Distribute your story to the press
Last but not least, you need to distribute your story to the press. You will more likely reach your target audience if you distribute your campaign more effectively to several press organs.
Who Makes Up a PR Team?
A PR team consists of people from different fields of PR. The combined work of professionals creates the most effective and efficient results for PR campaigns.
PR Manager
PR Manager, or Chief Communications Officer (CCO) for larger organizations, is responsible for identifying strategic pr goals, managing the budget, and dividing the workload. PR managers can lead to the most efficient and effective results when they have enough experience and expertise in PR.
Social Media Specialists
Social media presence is a key part of PR work. Social media specialists focus on increasing social media visibility. They do this by creating strategies for interaction with your audience and creating a content calendar.
Content Writer
Content writers create engaging and appropriate content for PR events, campaigns, websites, and advertisements. Content is important to create understandable communication channels, and to deliver your PR campaign's message more effectively.
Event Coordinator
Event coordinators coordinate events like press conferences, launches, and promotional events.
Analytics and Measurement Specialist
Analytics and measurement specialists are an indispensable part of PR teams. With analytics and measurements, PR teams can measure the effectiveness of the strategies and campaigns. Measurements and analytics also can allow you to analyze the expectations of the target audience.
Media Relations Specialist
Media relations specialists focus on building networks with various media channels ranging from magazines, to traditional TV channels, and to social media apps. Building strong relationships with the media is a key aspect of PR.
Crises Communication Specialist
Every PR team has a crisis communication specialist to organize and regulate the responses and actions taken in the face of a crisis. Crisis communication specialists focus on building proactive strategies to prevent any potential crisis and give responses that are aligned with company morals. This is a key function of PR work and has direct effects on the company's reputation.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Digital Marketing is a growing and critical department for marketing activities in every field. In a highly digitalized day and future, sustainable and effective marketing also requires digitalization. Digital Marketing specialists adapt to the changes and the pace of the internet and create strategies accordingly. Digital Marketing includes SEO marketing and regulating the design of SEO-compatible websites.
Creative and Graphic Designers
Visual components of PR campaigns carry great importance regarding the campaign's effect and impact. Therefore, working with creative designers and graphic designers is a necessary part of PR teams. Having unique and eye-catching designs for your PR campaigns alone will elevate the success of the whole campaign.
Influencer Relations Specialist
Influencers play a critical role in PR campaigns because influencers, unlike traditional media channels, have more organic and authentic relationships with their audience. These authentic relationships between influencers and audiences allow the PR campaign to effectively access subgroups of your target audience. Hence, almost every PR team works with an influencer relations specialist.
Legal Specialist
Every team, regardless of department, needs a legal specialist to ensure there are no misconceptions that would jeopardize all the hard work put out. Legal specialists are also responsible for arranging agreements with media channels, employees, and influencers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Needs A Full Service PR Agency?
Almost every organization can be in need of a full service PR agency. Public relations agencies can help your company create a brand reputation that is in line with your vision and desired brand image. That is why all companies, small businesses, and large enterprises in almost every field can benefit from working with a full service pr agency.
Is It Paid to Get Offers From PR Agencies in Edvido?
No, getting offers from the biggest PR agencies in Edvido is completely free for our users. In order to choose the PR agency that suits your brand's goals and budget among the leading PR agencies in the sector. You can get free offers from the best public affairs and relations agencies by filling out the form on our website.
Can I Find the Most Appropriate PR Agencies For My Brand On Edvido?
Yes, you can easily find the most suitable public relations agencies for your brand thanks to Edvido, and get offers from the best PR agencies by filling out the free form on our website.
How Can I Get Offers From PR Agencies On Edvido?
By filling out the form on our website, you can get free offers from the best full service pr agency that perfectly suit your visions, priorities, and budget. All you need to do is contact Edvido directly through the form on our website.
