Choosing to bring a PR (Public Relations) and communications agency on board is, for some, a no brainer; for others, it’s a leap into the unknown.
On the back of nearly two decades of running an agency, here’s my top 10 reasons why organisations, large and small, seek to look outside their teams for PR and communications support.
1. Professional PR & comms experience
We’ve honed our skills, knowledge and developed relationships to offer a specialist service that’s difficult to replicate in-house
PR is a professional discipline that can be underestimated or viewed through a partial lens that fails to recognise the breadth and the value of good PR.
Good PR draws on an evidence base and proof-points or RTBs (Reasons to Believe). These support authenticity and convey the honest case for the organisation’s direction of travel, paired with strong strategic foundations.
Understanding your audience
PR taps into a brand’s mission ,vision and values and involves crafting a strategy, campaign ideas and messaging that attracts understanding and endorsement. That requires a deep understanding of an industry landscape and exactly who the different audiences are. You need to understand the demographic, values, outlook, lifestyle and also have an appreciation of where they source their information; what influences them and what their motivations are. It might sound like a lot of background work and analysis, but it will be the backbone of a successful PR outcome.
PR teams bring expertise at this level, but also across the whole ‘PESO’ (see later) spectrum of opportunities from media relations, copywriting, social media and extensive knowledge of digital platforms. These skills need to be paired with strong planning, time management and an ability to juggle and switch quickly between workstreams. For the specialist agency, add a dose of industry insight, and the wealth of comms expertise becomes apparent, as does the difficulty of sourcing it without using agency expertise.
Source: www.pinstone.co.uk
