Your company is taking off and you need extra support to bring your brand to the next level and maximise your growth, but where do you start? If your team is ready to invest in public relations but you aren’t quite sure how to fill that gap, then let’s look at the options. Do you hire an agency, a freelancer or keep things in-house?
I breakdown all the different options with pros and cons so you can make an informed decision.
Freelance support
Freelance PR professionals offer flexible support as and when you need it. Working independently, they will subcontract to provide a specific service.
Pros
Available as and when you need support so you can easily dial up or down activity making it a cost effective and flexible way to start adding PR to your marketing mix.
Highly skilled in their field, depending on their background they will have years of experience in the industry working at a high level so will offer management level advice at a fraction of the cost of hiring.
Often have the benefit of providing opportunities to collaborate with other marketing and PR professionals when needed.
Cons
Only one person so if you are looking for large projects to be delivered in a very tight timescale, they may not have the resources to deliver.
In-house hire
Hiring someone means that you will have an individual within your organisation directly responsible for looking after your PR activity that is based and employed directly by the company.
Pros
You have an individual who is based within the team and can grow and develop their skills to adapt to the business
Cons
It is a long-term commitment and means that it is not easy to dial up and down activity as and when needed with the cost being incurred each month whether there is work or not.
When hiring an additional member of staff it will result in additional running costs such as recruitment fees, National Insurance, training, holiday pay, maternity or sick pay outside of the cost of their salary.
PR Agency
PR agencies offer a fully rounded service with a team of experts to deliver your PR support. With different levels of support, you will have a highly skilled team at your fingertips that often have the added advantage of access to agency tools and PR programs.
Pros
Having a team means that you have access to the expertise of more than one individual.
Cons
With overheads and running costs associated with delivering agency support they can be a costly option.
Agencies will often focus on delivering higher value campaigns so could be too costly for businesses looking for smaller to medium levels of support.
Having a team delivering the campaign you will not work directly with the same person all the time so it can be harder to build consistency and ongoing relationships depending on the agency and whether they have a high turnover of staff.
With so many options knowing which one to opt for can be daunting for businesses trying to branch out into the world of PR. How do you know which option is right for you?
Getting the right mix is all about knowing your priorities and aligning that with your budget to find the perfect mix.
Questions to ask yourself
Start by looking at your goals and how the different options might be able to enhance your current offer. Do you have the skills inhouse and if not, if you hire someone in do you have the ability to effectively manage someone to get the most out of any activity or are you looking for someone to hit the ground running and take over the role? Asking yourself these questions will help you to determine what level of support you might need.
- Are you building a foundation of exposure, or seeking to build on top of a foundation?
- Are you competing in a crowded market, or helping to define a new industry?
- Are your audiences local, regional, national or global? Not just now, but in 2-3 years?
- Are you or members of your team ready and available to speak to media, contribute byline articles, draft whitepapers, review and approve marketing design and copy, etc.? Or are you simply hoping to dabble in one or two areas?
- Are you looking for temporary help with one priority initiative? Or are you interested in a long-term effort that will keep up with changes in the industry?
- Are you seeking true strategic guidance – which sometimes means being told your ideas are not the right ones? Or are you seeking someone to execute plans you’ve already created?
- And of course, what kind of budget can you reasonably commit to PR/marketing?
Knowing what you are looking for and how you would like PR to be delivered is the first step to understanding what level of support you need.
Freelance support
Is often the best option if you are looking to add PR skills to an existing marketing team that don’t have the ability to deliver PR support or need extra resources for larger projects. Individuals will be highly skilled in their field and able to start offering strategic support straight away. It is ideal if you are looking for one off projects or part-time additional support on a regular basis. It means you get all the benefits of an expert in their field at a flexible and affordable rate. It is also a good option if you are just starting to add PR to your marketing mix or reinstating it and wanting to see the benefits. You can always increase activity as you build a solid foundation.
In House Hire
Hiring inhouse is a long-term commitment to your PR strategy and requires ongoing training and support for staff to get them working effectively. You should be prepared that they will not necessarily hit the ground running as they will likely be less qualified and more junior level. It does mean that you will have a consistent member of the team committed to the role full time though.
PR Agency
Agency support is often used by large companies when carrying out larger campaigns. The higher cost of agency fees makes them often unattainable for smaller projects and microbusinesses. Agencies provide a multitude of resources which can help to guide and provide strategic, overarching support to drive crisis management and marketing focus.
If you are looking for help and not sure what option is right for you why not get in touch? Creative Word PR has over 20 years of experience in the industry and I would be happy to help you determine what is the next step in your PR strategy.
Creative Word PR 