Thinking about hiring a PAGE RANK firm? Before you set out on your quest, take these tips into account.
Decide on your goals prior to doing something else
As with all PR and marketing programs, we actually always advise identifying goals before getting too far into making selections about retaining an organization. We should recognize that strategy is the first step to success and leads to tactical execution. We am a strong who trust that a good public relations strategy depends on goals. Since you look to employ a consultancy, decide what you are seeking to achieve. A new few great good examples are: brand consciousness, thought leadership, attention for a specific product or program, etc .
Forefront Communications Group is a boutique marketing and PR firm that moves fintech and capital markets firms to the forefront.
Forefront Communications is a New York-based communications, marketing, and public relations firm founded by Mark Dowd and Eric Soderberg.
Forefront focuses on institutional fintech and capital markets firms of all sizes
Forefront provides clients with a range of PR, digital marketing, and content writing services, including messaging and positioning strategy, media and presentation training, client and employee communications, thought leadership content, website design, influencer engagement, social media, and SEO.
Forefront Communications was founded in 2016 and has a staff of 15, with nearly 30 clients in the United States and abroad. Clients include DASH Financial Technologies, the SIP Operating Committee, the Security Traders Administration (STA), Luminex, Itiviti, MayStreet, and Tourmaline Partners.
You can always just hire a business that you already know or have observed good things about. However, if you have never appointed a PR organization I strongly advise experiencing the official request for proposal (RFP) process. And, more importantly, we suggest that you employ a PR professional with specific RFP experience to help lead the process if it’s a time. If you have never been through an RFP to hire a PR agency, the process will seem difficult. Generally speaking, the first steps are to define actually trying to achieve, aims, what you actually want the company to do, and then come up with a listing of 10-ish prospective firms. This list can be difficult, because you want to carefully think about PR firm capabilities to your goal expectations. From there you contact each public relations business to gauge their interest and issue a request for qualifications (RFQ), a document that will help you to reduce the prospective client list. Those that choose to participate will send qualifications to be reviewed from the others and you will select a few (we recommend 3) agencies that will formally pitch/compete for your business. Each and every provides a team to pitch you, and you select one from the 3. While this might not exactly seem to be so bad, it is time consuming and if you don’t have experience or a community of potential firms, the process will feel overwhelming.
Determine your PR Agency budget
Seems like a simple tip, right? Inside some ways it is, but it is important to produce a firm decision on your top-line budget. Agencies are expensive and you’ll need to be sure to evidently articulate your top-line budget, including base retainer, overages, expenses and incidentals. Believe me, it can add upwards. Make sure you have an obvious path that requires written approval for any month expense that exceeds your budget.
Decide what size PR firm is right for you
PR companies come in all different shapes and measurements, and one honestly, that is right for you may not be the one you’d predict. Right now there are many reasons to choose large PR businesses (global reach, massive partnership networks, fantastic experience) and just as much reasons to choose a boutique public relations agency (smaller, more closely knit teams, local experience, niche industries, and so forth. ). A very important factor to keep in brain is how much your budget money will mean to one you seek the services of. For instance, often a $15, 000/month retainer-like could be one of the most significant accounts if you hire a little PR firm, but a very small accounts if you are hiring large PAGE RANK organisation. Keep in mind; the greater clients usually obtain the A-team. If your budget is modest, you might like to consider a smaller boutique company.
Help to make specific requests regarding their pitch presentation
Once you hire a firm, especially when you implement a elegant RFP process, there will be a official presentation when your potential firms pitch you in effort to earn your business. Just before that meeting I actually recommend making 3 very specific requires:
1 – Inquire that they only send people that will be on you account from day one to the meeting. This way you will not get caught in a situation where youre pitched by the A-team, but given to the D-team. Bait and change situations can hurt and should be avoided at any cost.
2 – Ask that everyone that will be on your team is involved in the presentation, not just the team business lead. In the finish, you will work with everyone, you’ll want to know how every one thinks.
3 – Ask agencies keep their “about us” description and back-patting slides to a minimum. After all, if you were not interested in the PAGE RANK firm they would not get in the room, you’ve already done your home work!
Don’t overlook the value of chemistry
Help to make sure you like they you are hiring. Of course it is important that they may be certified and will perform a great job, but it’s equally important that you like them and want to work with them. It’s really no different than hiring people to yours internal team, you want to be excited to work with them daily!
Tip: really leads myself to tip #8. I firmly believe you should think of your PAGE RANK firm in your team, not as an unofficial. While your PR firm team works with more than just your, you should never feel like these are working with anyone however you. My advice is to tell possible PR firms, from the first time you meet, that you work together with firms differently than most clients; you want to hire an extension to your team, you’re not looking for the average client/agency relationship.
In the pitch meetings, if the PR organization have done their homework and prepared properly, they will present a few different PR strategy ideas based on your RFP requirements. we actually generally take these ideas with a grain of salt, after all these PR organizations are certainly not fully on-boarded and possess limited knowledge of your brand. That will said, at least one of the ideas should be out-of-the-box and cool enough to get you fired up!
