Thinking of engaging a PR firm for your business? Before you get too quick into the decision making, ensure these 5 checklist boxes have been ticked.

• Before you Engage a PR Agency: Decide on your PR Goals Before You Do Anything Else

As with all PR and marketing programs, defining goals before getting too far into making decision about retaining an agency, is the first duty call. In corporate communications, strategy is the first step to success that leads to tactical execution.

And good strategy always start with goals.

As you look to engage a PR agency, decide on what your organization is trying to achieve with the engagement. A few great insights are: brand awareness, thought leadership, attention for a specific service or program, etc.

• Before you Engage a PR Agency: Decide on What Size PR Agency is Right for You

PR agencies come in all different shapes and sizes, and the agency that is right for you, might not be the one you’d predict. There are many reasons to go with large PR agencies (global reach, massive relationship networks) and just as many reasons to choose a boutique PR agency (smaller, more closely knit teams, local expertise, niche industries, etc.).

One thing to keep in mind is how much your budget will mean to the agency you decide to engage. Say for example, you are looking to engage a PR agency in Lagos Nigeria; a N700,000/month retainer could be one of the largest accounts if you hire a boutique PR agency, but a very small account if you are to engage a large PR agency.

Bear in mind, the bigger clients usually get the A-team. If your budget is modest, you might want to consider a boutique PR agency for your engagement.

• Before you Engage a PR Agency: Ensure They Have Obvious Expertise and Trending Knowledge in Corporate Relations

The rules of the marketing and PR game change so quickly, especially in the digital age. You know you’ve got to keep up or be out of the race, but does your PR agency know this?

A great client-agency relationship is built on expertise about current trends, customized to suit your specific business needs. Ask questions that reveal how familiar your prospective PR agency is, with corporate communications strategy, ask if your prospective PR agency can advise on social media engagement.

Don’t feel awkward about requesting proof. You can never go wrong asking relevant questions before engaging your PR agency.

• Before you Engage a PR Agency: Decide on Whether You’d Have an RFP Process

You could always just engage a PR agency that you already know or have heard good things about. However, if you have never hired the services of a PR agency, it is strongly encouraged that you go through the formal request for proposal (RFP) process.

And more importantly, whether you are settling to engage a boutique or large PR agency, ensure to hire a PR pro with specific RFP experience to help lead the process if it’s your first time.

In the end, the idea is to be able to carefully weigh the prospective PR agency’s capabilities against your company’s goal and expectations.

• When you Eventually Hire a PR Agency: Be Sure to Understand Your Contract

So you have checked all 4 boxes and decided on the PR agency that is best for your company’s engagement? Great. Now, this is the part where you commit to signing contract and/or statement of work (SOW).

Make sure to review the contract carefully, with a lawyer if possible, and understand all key terms (cost/budget, duration, team, hours/days you will receive based on budget, how they will report progress results, etc.).

If anything seems off in the contract, red-line it and negotiate. Great PR agencies will agreeably appreciate that your asks are reasonable.

While the process of engaging a PR agency may seem daunting, these 5 checklist boxes will make the process of hiring one, less stressful, enable you to take calculated risks, and help you make informed and wise PR decisions.

Rethink your engagement: Hire a PR pro as fast as yesterday!

Talk to Phyllion: corporate relations is at the very core of our business.