6 Things to Know When Hiring a PR Company

Media relations is an area most business owners have little to no experience. But media exposure is something all business owners would like. At some point, most business owners are ready to explore the benefits of hiring a public relations firm. Here are a few things you need to know before hiring a PR firm to help expand your business and office space in Arlington or the surrounding Metro DC area.

1. Why is PR valuable to start-up companies?
Initially, hiring a public relations firm will greatly boost your company’s status locally and, given the chance, nationally (or beyond). A PR firm can provide you with media training and actionable feedback to how you handle the media. A good PR firm can help you refine 10 of your biggest selling points into three that are the most significant and will make for good media sound bites and be helpful when dealing with prospective clients and investors as well.

2. What are its benefits?
First of all, you don’t have time to do PR on your own. You need to manage your business. You have admin work to process and more. You’ll need a consistent strategy to put your company’s name on the market, which is the job of a PR team.

Every product or service launch is important to the success of your company. And PR is not just about writing a press release. Having someone do PR work for you will help you maximize your business launches. That’s the advantage of having a good PR firm: they can make the most of your media relations, events, award opportunities, social media, and other relevant activities and platforms.

3. What should I look for in a PR firm?
References are an important part of evaluating a PR firm. Keep in mind that hiring a PR firm is like hiring an extension of your team. You need someone who understands your company and its market strategy. It’s important for them to have their own take on how to effectively present your business launches or write-ups. Look for PR firms with fresh and exciting ideas.

4. How do I verify a PR firm?
Meet with prospective PR teams in your Arlington office space. Create rapport and observe how they react to your questions. Sometimes fostering a comfortable environment will help you bring out the best (or worst) in people.

Do your homework. Understand the PR agency’s culture, their experience, work, contacts, and more. Research online and offline what the PR agency’s clients say about their service.

5. What kind of questions should I ask to evaluate a PR agency?
You can start with the basics, such as their industry experience. Ask for samples of their work. Know the kind of commitment they need from your company and get an estimate of how much will be spent for a particular project. Then later on, you can ask about how much involvement they will need from you, how often they will keep in touch, what the detailed timeline of their PR plan is, and, of course, how they will measure results.

A PR firm can be a vital partner and an important part of your company’s success. Meet with potential PR firms in one of our comfortable and accessible office spaces here at Metro Offices. We provide a variety of workspace options—from private and executive to shared, open, and virtual office setups. Just give us a call today at (703) 871-5208, and we will be happy to assist you in whatever way possible.

tags: Blog | Q&A