This is such a big topic. But it comes down to this: that old road map in your desk with the pat instructions on how to source a new PR agency needs to be thrown away. You know the one I mean. It says, call the six known names (among the ones you haven’t already hired and fired in successive rounds of frustration and disappointment) have them in, cull to three, present to management, and select on the basis of chemistry and risk aversion. Go safe. You’re job could be on the line. Then Pray. Then Pay. Then hit Re-Play. Suicide Six is a ski run in the Northeast some say is treacherous. Suicide Six in the office can kill you, too.

It is precisely because you’re job may be on the line, especially in this era, that you need to alter this standard, establishment routine. While still an important component of a company’s visibility and quality lead generation efforts, old-world, standard-issue PR isn’t the only, or even necessarily the best, component in the overall marketing communications mix. On line communications, on line properties — blogs, webinars, wikis, forums, Skypecasts and the like are cheaper, faster, stickier and more direct options for reaching your target audience. None of the establishment firms on your list of six can do any of this. Don’t believe me? Ask them. See if they can show you a blog they’ve produced for a client for over a year. See if they’ve created a blog property that’s drawn 150,000 visitors from hundred countries in a year and a half. They can’t. We can. If you really want to watch them squirm, ask them about their capabilities in pay-per-click advertising, podcast sponsorship and development, search engine optimization…

Meanwhile, around here the going rate for so-called first-rate brand name PR firms is $9,000 to $15,000 a month. That’s a ridiculous number for what has become a largely automated, commodity service: anyone can make phone calls and wire news releases. Worse, is that $15,000 out of your budget puts a serious crimp in your funds for all the rest of the more important stuff. With the right agency that will tell you the truth — that the hard work of PR isn’t what it used to be — you can get the standard issue media relations AND the on line community building all for a price that’s equal to or less than they’ll quote you.

Lastly, by the way, they can’t quote you on the on line services because blogging, for example, takes a genuine understanding of a technology company’s product or service. Blogging demands authenticity. Authenticity in turn pivots on a deep understanding of the product’s inner workings; the market’s real dynamics; knowledge of the movers and shakers in any space. That’s not what establishment PR firms do and that’s not how their profitability model works. Their pricing is based on their ‘artform.’ Our model is based on a smart form. Theirs isn’t quantifiable. It’s a feel good metric. Ours is measured by hard, cold analytics every minute of every day, 24×7: people come, people read the messages; people respond; people stay or go… or not. Establishment PR is subjective to the max. On line communications are objective and the list of six hates that.

Using the list of six instructionals may keep your career alive for a year or so, it’s true! You can get away with blaming the brand name PR firm about 2.5 times. Going with an Agency Next solution could get you fired in six weeks if your management team doesn’t have anything to say or is afraid to say it. But the upside is, exposure to the new world, and your visibility in it, will catapult you to a company that is at, or is going to, the top of its game and on top is where you want to be.

—–

Share This