A successful PR campaign depends on many things but one that’s often overlooked is the relationship between a client and the agency it has chosen to work with.
Get the client agency relationship right and you’ll reap the rewards and benefits. Struggle with this and it may make communications and planning difficult, which can ultimately have an impact on campaigns.
For PR agencies, the relationship isn’t simply about getting on with your client. Instead it’s about having clear goals on both sides to maximise the potential.
Brands hoping to create a positive client agency relationship should consider the below:
PRs need to understand your business
It is important for PR professionals to immerse themselves in the clients business, which is why a good agency will always arrange a kick off meeting to get to know everything about the brand. This is the chance for the brand to share everything they can with the agency in order to help them understand business goals, PR goals and set KPIs.
Clear goals and objectives
Make sure you’re clear of the objectives of the PR campaign and have clear goals in place to measure success. It is also a good idea to come into the relationship with set ideas of what good and bad PR look like for your brand, any previous campaigns that have worked or not worked. Whether the focus needs to be on digital, social media or trade PR - the priorities need to be clear early on. Both client and agency need to agree on what success looks like before work gets under way.
Honest reporting
This goes without saying but a good agency will always be honest in their reporting and feedback to clients. If something doesn’t feel right, it will need to be discussed. Better for the agency to identify and resolve any niggle before it becomes a real issue.
Investing time
For a really successful campaign, the client will need to put aside the time to support the PR efforts. This could simply be signing off content, it could be supplying data needed for a campaign and committing to regular calls or meetings so everyone is in the loop and clear on where the campaign is at.
Trust
Trust your agency - I know that’s very easy for me to say but a good PR agency will always have your best interests at heart and will make sure you get a good return on your investment. They are also there to lean on and offer an alternative opinion - if you’re not sure about something or want to run an idea past them, do it. Two heads are always better than one.
To find out more about what we can do for your brand, please get in touch.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
