How to Determine What Type of PR is Best For Your Brand
There’s no question that Public Relations is a staple for any brand to make headway toward accelerated growth. It raises brand awareness, allows you to cultivate key relationships and manage your image and reputation amongst your desired clients. But the big question and decision you must make is whether to hire in-house or contract with an agency. A boutique PR agency has many of its advantages and the same goes for hiring in-house, so don’t sweat it, we know the struggle! Push the Envelope PR is here to break down in depth the differences between both, and how you can make the best decision for your brand.
IN-HOUSE ADVANTAGES
Dedicated Focus
This is the biggest advantage of an in-house team. Their focus, dedication and commitment are to your brand, messaging, and strategy – and yours alone. In-house teams get an opportunity to live and breathe the brand’s values and overall mission, getting a longer-term investment of people and talent dedicated to the success of the brand.
Time
When you hire in-house PR, time is on your side. Response time, ability to react and take action is much more immediate when the team is at your fingertips and within your payroll. Cross-functional teams can have more direct communication and access to meetings where conversations take place and decisions are made in real time.
IN-HOUSE CHALLENGES
Limited Reach
Though the advantages of someone in-house will create more focus, expansion is likely the trade-off. Thinking outside the box, fresh perspectives, and the space to create and consider innovative and fresh ideas could be at risk. This also applies to your contacts, connections, and networks. You’re only so limited to what your team has access and resources to, limiting your brand from growing at the pace you’d like.
Limited Bandwidth
Even with a dedicated in-house employee, you’d want to be cautious of the push and pull within their scope of responsibilities. They’ll likely play a jack-of-all-trades within all scopes of PR and likely other areas of marketing so be mindful of burnout and limited productivity.
Cost
One of the biggest factors to consider in determining the best route for your PR is budget. An internal team, even consisting of just one member, can be quite an investment considering salaries, payroll taxes and benefits.
PR AGENCY ADVANTAGES
Extensive Experience
Working with an experienced PR agency will get you extensive access. From industry contacts, fostered relationships, to influencers, you easily plug and play your brand and message and they have the expertise to get it to the right people who will immediately talk about you. This can span outside of your industry and expands to other contacts and players you might not have thought about. This can help create unexpected opportunities that you otherwise didn’t have in the first place.
Outside the Box Thinking
The breadth of expertise a PR agency can provide can open the doors to new and innovative ways of thinking. You can learn from many examples of a PR agency’s playbook of what works, what doesn’t, and have a thought partner to spin and brainstorm ideas off one another to get the creative juices flowing. Getting inspiration from best-in-class examples outside of your industry will keep ideas fresh and innovative.
Access & Manpower
Hiring a PR agency gets you access to a team of talented professionals and their tools, programs and software to help you track and analyze your return on investment. Think about it, if you had in-house and only had a budget for 1-2 headcount – they are limited on their bandwidth and what they’re able to do. Hiring a boutique PR agency can save you time and allows you to tap into a well of professionals that have the experience to take your brand to the next level.
Cost Efficiency
A boutique PR agency, such as Push The Envelope PR will surprisingly cost less than having an internal PR employee.
PR AGENCY CHALLENGES
Divided Attention
Although there are plenty of resources available utilizing a PR agency, the time and attention are split amongst other clients. Time can be a factor and you may not get immediate attention to the answers you seek and the team that works on your brand may not have intimate expertise and knowledge as an internal hire would.
WHEN TO CONSIDER A PR AGENCY
Understanding the advantages and drawbacks to both in-house and a PR agency should give you more clarity and understanding of which direction to choose. For Push the Envelope, a boutique PR agency with over 16 years of experience, you can have ease and peace of mind that we consider all the challenges and hesitation you may have. With our award-winning team and track record, our clients can tell you the success they’ve seen in their return on investment and the services we provide. Each client gets white glove service, time and attention that they deserve because your success is our success. We pride ourselves as experts in the industry and invest our energy to ensure we treat your brand like our own. Shoot us a message to schedule a consultation to learn more and see if Push the Envelope is the right fit to scale your brand.