What Do PR Agencies Actually Do and Do I Need One?

7 Feb

It doesn’t matter what type of business you run. Without marketing and promotion, it’s very difficult to get your message out to your audience. That’s where a PR agency comes in. Although, rather than focusing on more traditional forms of marketing, a PR agency’s goal is to help build your brand and promote your business through earned media, with the aim of improving your relationship with your target audience. Of course, they will help with traditional marketing too, but exposure is the name of the game.

Here's what you need to know about PR agencies and everything they can do for you and your business.

What is a PR agency?

In short, PR agencies are third parties that help to promote your business. They can help you get media coverage, build relationships with journalists and influencers, and manage your online reputation. Plus, they can also help to create compelling content to share with the world on your behalf.

Some PR agencies will have a team of people working on different aspects of the job. But ultimately, there are plenty of boutique PR agencies who are more than capable of handling all aspects of your promotion. At the end of the day, it’s about finding the right fit for you and teaming up with people who are skilled and experienced in the art of business promotion.

Why should you care about PR?

Hiring a PR agency has a huge range of benefits. And while we’re going to list some of them here, every agency is different. More importantly, every client is different, so your agency should be able to take a unique approach to bring exposure to your brand.

Here are just some of the benefits of working closely with an experienced public relations professional.

PR is a powerful tool for sharing your key messages
PR is a crucial part of marketing and advertising
You’ll work with a person or team dedicated to helping your business grow
PR will build your brand and reputation
PR can help you get media coverage through the right channels
Your brand will become more credible
PR will help generate leads for your company
Trust will increase among your audience

As we mentioned, these are just some of the benefits. Ideally, a good PR agency consults thoroughly to understand your business and your goals. From there, they formulate a personalised, targeted approach to get your message out to the people who need to hear it most.

What does a good public relations agency do?

A good PR agency will help you build your brand, get your message out there, improve your reputation, increase your followers, build relationships with journalists and your audience and find new customers. They also find new opportunities for brand exposure. Some of the tasks they may undertake on your behalf include:

Writing press releases and pitches

Whether you’re launching a new business, a new product, or you just have a special event that needs to be publicised, press releases are a great way to do it. Of course, writing the press release is only a small part of the job. The important part is putting the press release in front of the right people. Ideally, this will be news outlets, journalists who cover business news and other sections of the media that can help drive interest in your product or business.

Creating press kits

The agency might also create a free press kit that includes information about the company, its products and services, photos and more. The idea is to make it easy for reporters to find out more about you and write about your business. Once the articles come out in the newspaper or magazine, people will read them and learn about your company for the first time. Press kits are particularly useful if trying to get media attention because a journalist is often more likely to publish something if they don’t have to go digging too far for additional information.

Media relations

Building relationships with sections of the media is extremely beneficial for your business. While some forms of marketing take place through blogs, social media or other online channels, people tend to trust mass media more. There’s an air of authenticity if you see something on the local news compared to just reading about it on Facebook.

Your PR agency can build and foster relationships with the media so that whenever there’s some important news coming from your business, the right media outlets are more likely to take notice, in turn promoting you to a larger audience. Pitching to the media can be difficult if you don’t know the process, and this is where a PR agency can really help.

Creating compelling content

Content is a huge part of marketing in general. From website content and blogs to your social media content, it all plays a part in building your brand. Often, it will be beneficial for you to write content, sharing your expert opinion on matters relating to your industry. Having content published in newspapers, magazines or online helps to establish you as an authority, which in turn builds trust in your expertise and business. Your PR agency is capable of creating the content on your behalf and getting it published through the right channels.

Reputation management

In today’s heavily digital world, you could argue that it’s easier than ever to get your brand and message out there. However, it’s just as easy to have your reputation ruined by bad reviews or other negative online content. A quality PR agency works with you to not just maintain your good reputation, but in some cases even repair a poor one.

Are you looking for a quality PR agency?

PR is a hugely important part of any business, but it's not something that you can just jump into. A good agency will be worth the money and they will help you develop your brand and reputation.

You need to be able to trust them, so make sure that you choose an agency with a good track record and references from other businesses that have used them before.

Roam Generation specialises in travel, adventure and lifestyle PR. So, if you need to raise awareness and create some buzz about your business or products, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us today to find out how Roam Generation can share your inspiring story with the world.