Top 5 Reasons to Hire a PR Agency

March 12, 2016 by

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Hiring a PR Agency in 2024

Why Public Relations Is Important For Your Business

In this article, we will cover the answers to the following questions:

  • Why should I hire a PR firm?
  • What should I look for when hiring a PR firm?
  • What can a PR company do for me?

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a PR Agency 

No matter how small or large your company is, public relations is an important tool for your business. An effective public relations campaign can help to get your name, and your company, in the media. A well-focused public relations campaign can establish you as an expert or thought-leader in your field by making you a go-to resource for journalists and broadcasters. It can also put your products in front of the consumers you are trying to reach.

There are many aspects to running a business, so it’s important to leave the public relations responsibilities to the experts. If you are a doctor, you should focus on being the best doctor in your field. If you are an entrepreneur, you should be the best CEO in your industry. Let a public relations expert handle your publicity. Here’s why:

Why do companies hire PR firms?

Why you should hire a public relations expert instead of going the DIY PR route:

PR is time-consuming: Your time should be focused on being a doctor, CEO, or entrepreneur and let the public relations expert focus on getting publicity for your business. PR requires a lot of work and back and forth with journalists. Your time should be spent doing what you do best, not pitching yourself to reporters and learning the ropes of media relations.

PR firms have media contacts: Do you know who the local newspaper editor is? Or how to reach local bloggers who will write about your business? Probably not, and even if you tried to learn them, do you really want to spend time negotiating influencer marketing contracts? Public relations experts know who to contact and how to best contact them. Additionally, publicists will know the best angles to pitch them will have developed ongoing relationships with them.

PR firms know how to package stories: According to this article, the average American attention span in 2013 was 8 seconds. Public relations experts know how to develop content that will reach your audience quickly and keep them engaged, whether it’s for six seconds (the length of a Vine video), 8 seconds, or 30 minutes.

Publicists are experts at crisis control: All it takes is one disgruntled employee who tweets something negative about your business or uploads a detrimental video to YouTube (and it goes viral) before your business is on the receiving end of a major public relations crisis. Before you even have time to react, your public relations firm will decide on a course of action and respond appropriately, making sure that you come out looking much better in the end.

Public relations campaigns are cost-effective: Bill Gates once said, “If I only had a dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” There are public relations campaigns for every budget, whether you are a startup business or you have been around for decades. The first step to creating a PR campaign is to identify your goals and then develop a plan for reaching those objectives. A public relations specialist can do this for you. Earned media coverage is always worth exponentially more than the ad equivalency of paid media.

Why to hire a PR firm?

Here are some common problems business owners face in needing publicity services:

Lack of time or expertise. Publicity and media relations take time and skill to do effectively. Business owners may not have the time or experience to dedicate to their own PR, so they seek professional help. Busy entrepreneurs lack the time and internal resources to secure consistent press. Hiring a PR firm is only part of the investment needed. You also need to support the agency and put in the time to answer media interviews, too.

Inbox overwhelm. A PR agency can streamline the process for your business and make it more efficient. It can be hard to know what to say yes or no to, and what is a valuable use of your time. Without the assistance of a PR firm, many business owners say yes to the wrong things and blow off the right opportunities. A second pair of eyes will help navigate the confusing process of editorial vs. advertorial for you.

Inability to attract media attention. It can be difficult to get media outlets interested in your business or story. PR professionals have the relationships and experience to pitch stories and place media coverage, which business owners often struggle with securing on their own.

Poor messaging. A business’s messaging and key themes around their products, services, mission, and differentiators may not be clearly defined. Working with a PR expert to hone your messaging and communications strategy helps business owners communicate more powerfully and consistently.

Inability to reach key stakeholders and target audiences. Business owners may not be reaching their key audiences through their current B2B marketing and internal PR outreach. PR and earned media coverage are a way to gain exposure to these target audiences, and PR pros can help place this coverage in the right media channels to impact the intended audiences. A PR agency can manage critical relationships with stakeholders for you on behalf of your organization. They act as a representative and ensure you are represented in the best light.

Challenges staying relevant. It’s critical for businesses to remain continuously relevant and top of mind with their audiences. Ongoing PR and media outreach are a way to achieve this and avoid “out of sight, out of mind” challenges. Public Relations consultants can help keep a consistent flow of media coverage so that your business is always top of mind and relevant. The truth is, staying relevant is hard. Unless you are focused on this 24/7, it often gets put on the back burner. A PR firm will prioritize making sure your business stays relevant and remains in the limelight. It is not just about getting found online, the key is to continue to stay on the top of SERPS.

Business owners have a litany of issues when it comes to securing business publicity. Media relations services can help address these issues by helping a business owner stay relevant, reach their target audience, have focused messaging and earn powerful media attention.

15 More Reasons Why Your Company Needs to Hire a PR Firm in 2024

  1. Land Local Broadcast Coverage. News is more noteworthy at home. There is a reason people still watch the local affiliate network of News 12 or Fox News.
  2. Increase Your Impact. The greater the number of people that are exposed to your message, the greater the number of people you can help with your business or medical practice.  Increased media coverage equates to increased impact.
  3. Gain National Prominence. Fame is not only for stars in Hollywood and celebrities on TV. Local notoriety adds a certain pizazz that can not only help you get more referrals but it can also help you charge higher rates, too.
  4. Stay Relevant (instead of stale!). Staying relevant means that editors (and potential clients and patients!) are always hearing about your brand. There is nothing like the satisfaction that comes with hearing, “I see you everywhere!”
  5. Gain immediate access to top-tier journalists. Many companies, particularly startups, believe that they can whip up a PR pitch and send it out or pick up the phone and talk to an editor and that should do the trick. PR firms have relationships with media outlets that you don’t have (and you don’t have the time to develop). The road to yes is quicker when you are working with a seasoned publicist vs. trying to hack it on your own. Pitching the media is not as easy as you think. It requires skills, finesse, relationships, talent, and a trained eye.
  6. Land higher pitch conversion rates. As publicists, we know how to write copy that converts. Editors will hit the delete button at the first misuse of a word, a misspelling, or when they get to a mangled sentence. You are way too busy to be a middle man with journalists all day. Media relations professionals know what language to use to get reporters hooked on a pitch since journalists are usually looking for a reason to clear their inbox.
  7. Access a fire fighting squad on speed dial. Did someone call 911 for your brand? As publicists, we are pros at handling damage control. A good PR agency knows how to tackle the most challenging of situations. We put out fires for a living. Publicists will provide an action plan to implement in case of crisis so that the least amount of damage will be done to your brand. A PR firm will execute a proactive and strategic CSR program before the fire, not after.  
  8. Protect your brand before it’s too late. Asset protection plans are not only for your finances. Your content and brand are another form of an asset (a digital one!). A crisis communications PR firm can help you prepare a plan for your digital assets and content creation (your most valuable form of IP!). In the cancel culture era we now live in, this is an absolute must for every Fortune 500 brand.  
  9. Earn Consumer Trust and Loyalty (without buying it!). Advertising is paid for; PR is earned. Ideally, you will have a combination of both in your integrated marketing communications strategy. There are some things money can’t buy and trust is one of them. PR is the fastest route to buy trust with your target audience.
  10. Gain exclusive access to premium media databases. Having a media database and SEO tools that may be cost-prohibitive for a business to purchase. When you hire a PR firm like Ruby Media Group, that access is included to you at no cost. This saves you thousands of dollars a year with exclusive access to top journalist queries in real-time.
  11. Active Brand Monitoring. Do you know what is being said about your company online? Online reputation management (ORM) matters and PR firms like Ruby Media Group are skilled in finding the pockets of the web where people are talking about your brand. We know how to turn these conversations around before the thread gets out of control with social listening tools that would cost a company thousands of dollars to get on their own. When you are a client of Ruby Media Group, gain access to all of these tools included in your monthly retainer with our firm.
  12. Publicity Planning. PR drives the strategic planning process and aids your B2B marketing goals by refining your vision and mission. We develop marketing programs to help you better connect with the people who matter to you. A seasoned public relations agency will develop a strategic media relations and publicity program that drives tangible business results.
  13. Land new investors. Media placements can help entrepreneurs and startup founders attract people that want to invest in your business. As everyone in Silicon Valley knows, no pitch deck is complete without the “As seen on” page in a pitch deck. We can help make your dream press page a reality by getting your business in the news in front of people who are looking for the next unicorn. Our PR firm helps start-ups gain publicity, fast.
  14. Leverage an outside perspective for objectivity. Having an agency that can provide objective criticism and an outside perspective can not only enhance your media relations campaign, it can also help to optimize your product offering. A few tweaks to your product offering from a PR campaign can result in increased sales, traffic, and clicks. A PR consultant will provide a neutral evaluation that is a major value add to any organization, big or small.
  15. PR consultants have a stream of new ideas.  Fresh ideas brainstormed by an outside creative agency team bring a new perspective that an internal communications team can’t see and won’t see because they are inside the problem, instead of looking at it from the outside.

If you aren’t willing to invest in a sustainable PR solution, everything else will be a short-term fix. PR is not a one-off project, it is an ongoing commitment to communication and relations with the public. A PR agency will also help with any emerging issues as they come up including brand cancellations, negative reviews, online reputation management, and crisis PR.

BONUS PODCAST Is hiring a PR firm worth it?

Hiring a PR Agency? Listen to our latest podcast episode to help you make the best choice!

New York ROI-Driven PR Firm | Ruby Media Group 

PR & Marketing Agency | #1 Best PR Firm – Ruby Media Group | Westchester County

Ready to stop losing to your competitors? The digital economy of today is more consumer-driven than ever before. If you aren’t including digital public relations in your marketing communications strategy, you are losing critical market share to competitors that are taking it seriously and investing in rich media optimization and public relations.

There is a reason people who know your competitors are but they have never heard of you. Your competitors invested in public relations services and you didn’t. It’s not too late to change that. Contact us today to make up for lost time and gain back critical market share. Winning feels much better than losing. We can’t guarantee press placements, but we can guarantee that.

Hire a new PR Firm Today

Is your business looking for new PR representation?

Our award-winning PR firm has worked with clients all over the nation. Our clients are located in the following areas: 

  • Manhattan, New York 
  • Westchester County, New York
  • Greenwich, CT
  • Sarasota, Florida 
  • San Francisco, California 

If you are eager to grow your brand and maximize your media exposure with the guidance of a top PR firm, then contact us today. 

Looking to hire a NY PR firm with fast results? Ruby Media Group is an Award-Winning PR Firm. Contact us today to start winning online.

 

Date last updated: December 2023