The Best PR Agency for You: Identify Your PR Engine

How do you choose the best PR agency?

Are you look­ing to pick the best PR agency? If so, I’ve got an insider tip for you.

The trick is to identi­fy a “PR Engine.”

Here we go:

How To Choose the Best PR Agency

I would closely exam­ine the agency team — and look for one type of per­son. However big or small your sug­ges­ted account team is, one per­son will always be the agency’s driv­ing force on your account forward.

When in “sales mode,” it’s not uncom­mon for PR agen­cies to front some of their best and most seni­or people. While these resources might be great to access, they prob­ably won’t be doing the every­day grudge work for you. Nor would you want them to; their hourly rates are far too steep.

The agency will most likely intro­duce you to a seni­or account man­ager who will be your primary con­tact point. This is the second most import­ant role in any team setup, but it often isn’t the most important. 

Usually, a slightly young­er man or woman will be on your account. Not a juni­or, but not by far a seni­or, either. They might have 2 – 5 years of PR exper­i­ence and should be ambitious.

Find Your PR Engine

The mid-level con­sult­ant on your account team will prob­ably be the per­son who writes the first drafts of everything that later ends up on your desk. They make the first or second drafts of all agen­das, reports, and present­a­tions. They prob­ably also con­tact most journ­al­ists and influ­en­cers on your behalf.

Put it like this: Someone on the PR agency account team often has the most to gain. And some mid-level con­sult­ants are PR super­stars who can’t wait to get their hands on a pres­ti­gi­ous account — even if it means more work. 

This should make plenty of sense. The juni­or con­sult­ants on your team are still learn­ing the ropes, and the more seni­or con­sult­ants have already proven themselves.

While your seni­or account man­ager might be respons­ible for sev­er­al accounts, the mid-level con­sult­ant on your team might just be fight­ing to estab­lish their reputation. 

Getting a mid-level PR Engine look­ing to “make their mark” by using your brand as a career spring­board is a sure­fire way of get­ting the most bang for your buck.

So, in any new PR agency pitch, look for a mid-level super­star with some­thing to prove.

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• Public Relations Objectives
• How To Measure Public Relations
• Methods of Measuring Public Relations
• The Golden Rule of Measuring PR
• Public Relations Agency: How To Collaborate
• The Best PR Agency for You: Identify Your PR Engine
• Why ROI and PR Mix Like Oil and Water
• Your CSR is Boring — You Are Picking the Wrong Fights
• Cosmetic Sustainability and Public Relations
• Your PR Campaign is Too Short
• PR is a Stressful Job: Avoid Mental Health Problems

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