In order to derive the best results from your PR agency, it’s important to fully understand the purpose of public relations and the type of support needed to foster a productive and beneficial relationship. A good PR program should strategically communicate a company’s key messages and tell a compelling story.
As PR professionals, it is our job to manage the line of communication between an organization and its publics. To do this successfully, it’s crucial for an organization to thoughtfully integrate its PR agency and treat them as an extension of the team. Here are some suggestions on how to achieve this:
Be collaborative – Share materials with us that will help build our knowledge of your strategic planning and goals so that we may fully support you and properly align our activities.
Listen – We are communication oriented professionals and might approach things differently than you would. We of course want to ensure we’re meeting your needs in a way that you are comfortable with, but take our advice in order to fully leverage our expertise.
Be transparent – Don’t keep us in the dark. We’ve signed confidentiality agreements for a reason, so there should be a level of trust that we will not divulge sensitive information. Be clear on messages that are strictly for internal use only so there is no confusion.
Give us feedback – We want to ensure our programs are supporting you and that we’re reaching your desired audiences. Let us know if you think a component of our PR program is not working for you and we will shift gears to make sure that it is.
We are here to help you effectively communicate with your publics, but to do this properly, we need to be kept in the loop of ongoing developments, planning, initiatives and goals. Before we can properly communicate your message to others, it’s essential you are properly communicating your message to us.
-Alexandra Demetriades