Picking and choosing a PR agency is a huge decision. Doing an agency search, shortlisting
the top ones and then, going ahead with the talk to select the best one can be
all the more difficult if you are not well-prepared already. That said, here
are some of the questions that you need to ask for choosing the best digital PR agency.
1.
What Kind of PR Marketing Agency are You?
The first rule
of the thumb is to understand which kind of agency you want to hire. For
instance, you may want to opt for a big agency, a local agency, traditional or
global agency. It strictly depends on your business objectives and your budget.
This takes us to the next pointer.
2.
What is Your Budget?
The next step is
to determine a budget quite early on. This will help you set an expectation and
you can search agencies that can work with the budget without overstepping it. It
will also help you set realistic expectations for the agencies who are going to
pitch to you. This is how you can land an agency that can deliver within your
budget.
3.
What Are Your Strengths?
A PR agency working
in the digital sphere needs to have certain USPs, which will determine whether
or not they are fit for your projects or not. This is why, you need to ask them
about their strengths, their value propositions and how they can work towards increasing
your brand’s awareness and image online. For instance, some agencies will have
their core strength in design while others will be more efficient when it comes
to SEO or SEM and so on and so forth. Overall, you need to opt for a firm that
offers you on-stop solution for all your digital needs.
4.
Who is Going to Handle Everything?
When you hire a PR marketing agency, it is also necessary
to know who all will be working on the team or handle everything for your firm.
For instance, they may assign one team to handle paid media while the other can
be used to handle mixed media. In both the cases, you need to be aware of who
all are going to be on the campaign.
5.
Do You Know About Our Products/Services/Technologies?
An agency that
has done its homework is definitely the best agency that is going to work for
you. It is a good sign when they already know about your products/services or
other offerings as that will help them create more effective digital PR strategies
in the long run.
These are some of the basic questions that
you need to ask the digital PR agency
before hiring them. For more write-ups on similar topics, keep a tab on this
space.