Boutique/Small Public Relations Firm vs. Big Agency

2010-05-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

During a brief (yet way too long) tenure with a consumer-related financial services firm, I had the pleasure of working with a global, top-tier public relations agency. My division’s budget was $100,000 for the year. The company chose to engage a well-known public relations firm because of name recognition and its ability to keep services for all of its divisions located across the country under one roof.

With this monopolistic relationship with our company, what did we really receive for our budget of $100,000? A high turnover rate of lower-level employees (often inexperienced interns), varying levels of management working on our account (waste), the impossibility of receiving good copy because of the lack of time spent on our account to fully understand the products and write cohesively about them (just as someone started getting the hang of it, they would get a better-paying job and leave or move to another department) – in essence, not as much as I’ve seen other companies receive from smaller agencies. Additionally, the management levels tended to be held by often young and inexperienced account managers. Large agencies have more to lose than a global conglomerate with multiple levels of non-invested employees. As a result, customer service is often sacrificed.

Setting aside the obvious bias I may have, boutique agencies on the other hand are operated by partners with vested interests. They do not have the high-turnover rate the larger firms do if they are run well. Every client is critical to its survival, thus, customer service tends to be superior and the cost of services tends to be very competitive.

They say variety is the spice of life. At the larger agencies, often low-level associates are stuck doing only grunge work on one client because that is where most of the time is spent and the cost per hour is lowest. At agencies, lower-level employees work directly with principals enabling them to quickly expand their knowledge base. They work on multiple accounts, often remaining appropriately stimulated mentally. Retention rates tend to be higher within smaller agencies.

One may argue the need to engage an agency with offices stretched out across the country, or in cities with a high percentage of media outlets. More often than not, editors are working remotely today, not in physical offices at the headquarters of their firm. In today’s electronic age, the face of public relations is changing as well (or should be) to a more virtualized work environment, lending flexibility to small firms that can have the knowledge and skills to take advantage of the technologies. In the long run, this will lead to employee satisfaction, efficiencies, and happy clients.

Ten PR Tips for Technology Marketers

2010-05-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Having worked on the side of high-technology public relations (PR) and editorial, I have unique perspective and insight that can help companies get the attention of top-tier analysts and editors. Having been on the receiving end of PR communications, I know what high-technology editors see day-in and day-out. Even the top-tier public relations firms are not immune to poor communication skills.

Here are the top ten tips to help you work with the technology editorial community.

Eliminate or limit the use of the verb “deliver” in any communication and materials developed for the editorial community. As technology marketing experts you tend to use the current marketing jargon in your materials. When everyone else is using them too, it tends to tune out recipients.
Be clear in your subject line for press releases. An editor’s primary form of communication is email, but they have an increased risk from malware. If your subject line isn’t clear, it may just make it into the spam/trash folder.
If you are emailing individually to many editors, remember to change the name of the editor after copying and pasting your email pitch. Editors know they are not the only recipients, but they would like to know they matter enough to be addressed properly.
When sending news releases try to eliminate the use of embellishment and hype. It is natural for marketers to do so, but remember, editors are reporting news, not ads.
When sending an unsolicited press release, be sure to copy the content into the body of the email rather than sending only as a link to the release or as an attachment. Again, it’s that fear of becoming infected from an unknown source.
Be sure to have a comprehensive news room; nothing is more annoying to an editor than not being able to find a logo/product shot or the title of an executive when on deadline.
Send press materials in an editable format, not PDF. The key is to get editors to use the material, which often means they will edit the material itself, or copy and paste some of it for inclusion in their coverage.
Before including editors on your customer email marketing lists, be sure to ask.
Although it may be tempting, try to refrain from sending press releases announcing awards from competitive publications; editors generally do not want to “advertise” their competitors’ products.
And, lastly, when communicating with editors, be concise and not verbose – get to the point quickly; editors get hundreds of emails a day and often only have time to scan to determine its applicability.

Scratching Post

Boutique/Small Public Relations Firm vs. Big Agency

Ten PR Tips for Technology Marketers