Seven questions you need to ask when choosing an online pr agency
A senior PR agent at a large agency once said to me, rather cynically, that if a client asks ‘can you do this?’ the answer is always yes, then you go and figure out how to do it.
No doubt there’s a bit of this when it comes to online pr and social media, levels of purported expertise vary hugely, so here are seven questions I’d recommend asking a prospective online pr agency/agent, to establish if they really ‘eat their own dog food’.
1) Do they write a blog? If they aren’t blogging at all, put the phone down or call a taxi. If they’re blogging less than once a week, you have to question their content led online pr strategy – do they really believe in it?
2) How many connections do they have on LinkedIn? – Anything less than 100 connections and they’re playing at it.
3) Are they a mayor of anywhere on Foursquare? OK, this is quite new but if they say yes, you’re talking to a proper social media geek that’s interested in what’s next, not just what’s popular now.
4) What’s the best platform for blogging? If they know, they know.
5) What’s your organic SEO approach? Search engine optimisation is an important constituent of online pr and an agency needs to understand how to co-ordinate with an SEO agency in terms of keyword and link building strategies.
6) Can you name three ways to measure online pr performance? There are several meaningful ways of coming at this, your agency shouldn’t be struggling to name three.
7) Can you describe the last Twitter led pr work you did? Twitter is almost mainstream now in terms of online pr strategy so your agency should be able to demonstrate how they have used it to create meaningful dialogue with prospective customers.
One other thing to bear in mind, some agencies will have a digital Tsar, a specialist who parachutes in to answer just these types of questions. You also need to meet the staff who’ll be running the account day to day and feel comfortable that the team is cohesive and skilful enough to deliver the plan.
The last paragraph makes a great point. I have been stung by the specialist who turns up and talks a good game but then is never seen again until the contract is killed.
Got to disagree on some of the others: i) 4SQ is a game and just because someone doesn’t play doesn’t make then any less efficient at social media…just because Techcrunch says 4SQ is massive doesn’t make it thus, ii) the best platform for blogging is purely subjective on what you have learned on and most people can’t name more than 3 platforms before they start confusing blogging with blown CMS, iii) before you can use twitter for PR you need readership and ROI can be tenuous for a lot of businesses.
Hi Colin,
Yes there’s a lot of ‘front loaded’ PR being sold out there even now I fear.
You’re right 4SQ is a game, and it’s not an essential, but their reaction to that sort of question will still tell you a lot, as will how they handle 2) and 3). I’m not saying there’s necessarily one right answer.
Ross
It seems like any PR agency I come in to contact with at the moment specialises in digital/social media. In house marketeers need to make sure they have a basic understanding of the online landscape so they can separate the genuine agencies from the cowboys. RE: 4SQ – any social media expert should have this on their radar by now so I think it is a good way to gauge just how up to speed the “expert” is.