Why work with a PR agency?
For any startup or scaleup, choosing the right service providers can have a strong bearing on the success or failure of their venture. Whether it’s tech, HR, finance or PR, selecting an external company to play a key role in your day-to-day business operations is a decision that takes time and consideration.
For instance, did you know that more than two fifths (42%) of UK business outsource some or all of their marketing? Of those, 36% listed PR as the element of their marketing and communications activities that they entrust to a third party.
This raises some important questions.
Why work with a PR agency over doing it yourself?
Choosing to work with a PR agency makes sense in many instances. For one, early-stage companies often lack the resources and skills internally to fully commit to a successful, long-term PR strategy.
Do they have great copywriters, or people who know how to craft a press release that will get read? Do they have any existing contacts with the media, or know how to find them? Do they understand how to tailor content depending on whether it’s going to press, on their blog or onto social media? And if the answer to all those things is yes, there is still the issue of whether there is enough time for those people within your team to commit to doing them regularly.
More often than not, the answer to many of those key questions is “no”. Hence, many businesses turn to outside support.
By going with an agency, they gain access to vital skills, experience, contacts and tools – such as media monitoring software, journalist databases, reporting platforms, and more. They will gain a team that – assuming they choose wisely (more on that here) – will be aligned with their own goals and ways of working, and will help build their brand proactively and in the right way.
PR is an exercise in building and maintaining a positive image of your business. It requires a clear vision on how you want your brand to be seen – what are the values you stand for, what is your tone of voice, and what do you want to be seen championing across the media?
Finding the right partners who can shape and then achieve this vision will be crucial to the long-term commercial success of a business. After all, PR is the all-important opening to the sales funnel; it is typically how startups and scaleups can get their names in front of the most people, and it is how they build up the reputation of trust in their brand over time.
Dominic Pollard
Communications Director
About the author
With a history degree, journalism Master’s, and several years’ experience writing about business and technology for both the national and trade press, Dominic moved into the world of content marketing and comms in 2014. He joined City Road Comms in 2016, becoming the agency’s director of comms two years later. Dominic now oversees clients’ strategies and the overall operations of the agency.
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