A Sad Tale: Firing Our PR Firm

Not too long ago a company entered Beta and realized they needed help in “spreading the word”. The goal was to help generate publicity and placements during the Beta period.  The company, LogMyCalls, hired a PR firm to help with both strategy and execution of an aggressive public relations campaign.

The most pressing need was to ramp up coverage during the Beta period in preparation for their hard launch in May 2012. The company researched a variety of PR firms and eventually settled on one that said they track PR with advertising-style metrics. This is appealing for any business managing their budget and seeking a positive return on investment.  

The PR agency came highly recommended and seemed like a sure thing. They assured the company that their strategy was centered around hard metrics, data and results. According to McKay Allen from ContactPoint, the parent company, “We were excited about working with them and so we signed the contract.”

5 months later we fired them.

The public relations firm wasn’t doing anything!  In 5 months they generated zero placements and a few analyst reviews. They were terrible. To save their reputation I won't reveal their name but will reinforce the message.  Just because you hire a vendor, don’t assume they will exceed or even meet your expectations.

Why Did We Fire Them?

We were getting progressively more fed up as weeks without results turned into months without results. Nothing was happening.

Then one day a member of our marketing team decided to take matters into his own hands and support our PR effort. He just started calling editors of major marketing publications and blogs. He asked them if we could produce guest content about marketing topics for them, if he could write articles about LogMyCallsand if they would be interesting in reviewing LogMyCalls.

He called 4 that first day. They all said yes.

Our PR firm either hadn't contacted these people or their pitch sucked.

This was the straw that broke the camel's back (killed the camel actually). We realized that it was silly to continue to pay a PR firm when we could--evidently--do the job significantly better. So we fired them.

Honestly, that was the best thing we ever did.

Since we fired them we've had an average of 4 hard placements a week. That's almost one a day. We write guest blogs. We send out press releases. We do everything and anything we can to generate publicity and buzz.  Now we are generating 4 placements a week that mention LogMyCalls. (We're not counting press release republications and article sharing sites, of course). And so far, it is working. We've had investors contact us, clients reach out, leads generate and deals close, all because of our new and internal PR strategy.

Why Didn’t We Fire Them Sooner?

We were dumb.

They kept saying that we were 'right on the edge' of getting a bunch of placements. 'Next week is the week.’ This continued for months. Next week never was the week. Instead of getting placements we just wasted money and time.

Our PR firm was terrible. No, they were worse than terrible, awful.  If you feel that your PR firm is not producing the results they’re supposed to then fire them – don’t wait.

Conclusion

When we talk about our experience with this PR firm that shall remain nameless, we refer to it as our 'PR firm debacle.' Debacle is a kind word. There are other words that describe our experience more accurately but should not appear on a reputable website like this one.

PR firms aren't bad. They, generally, do a great job. However, you have to seriously consider whether or not you have someone internally who can do a better job. We did. So, eventually we fired our PR firm.

Logmycalls is owned by ContactPoint, focused on revolutionizing the way companies listen and respond to their customers. They deliver the equivalent of bio-feedback for customer interactions, which allows companies to adapt to customer needs with unparalleled speed and agility.

Can You Afford PR? You Probably Can

So many businesses could benefit from a basic PR campaign. Aside from the free press you may get, utilizing some basic public relations tactics can pay huge dividends. In today's post, PR expert Todd Brabender talks about developing effective PR campaigns at a reasonable expense.

Personally, I like the tactic of sending releases on a regular basis. Although this isn't covered by Todd, this has helped me get #1 Google rankings for my website - can you say backlinks! Here's the article...

It's a phrase I hear over and over again from many entrepreneurs, small businesses owners and inventors: "I'd love to hire someone to launch our publicity campaign professionally, but we can't afford it, so I'm just going to have to do it on my own."

Over the past several months, I have been conducting an informal survey among entrepreneurs and business owners who have contacted me about my services. I have found that due to their lack of information or knowledge on the topic, many businesses typically over-estimate or over-budget the cost of a prospective public relations/publicity campaign. During my PR consultation with them, I asked: "How much do you think it will cost to launch a solid, effective PR/publicity campaign for your product/business?" Of the 102 people I've queried:

• 11% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $10,000+ per month
• 32% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $5,000-$10,000 per month
• 39% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $3,000-$5,000 per month
• 12% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $1,000-$3,000 per month

6% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost less than $1,000 per month

The truth is -- you can get a publicity/PR campaign in all of those price ranges. What you get for your money and how effective the campaign will be is the real question. It is true that the more you pay the more you get. But getting the most publicity/PR exposure doesn't mean you have to get the most expensive PR agency or specialist.

A good rule of thumb is to align yourself with a PR business that best reflects your business size. Most times their rates will be in line with your prospective PR budget. If you are a small business owner with two employees, you need not hire a high-dollar PR agency with dozens of employees. Find a PR business whose office size and capabilities closely resemble your business.

Case in point -- there is a large PR agency in a fancy building downtown a few miles from my office. Frankly, we are not even competition to each other - in fact we have even referred clients to each other. Why? They typically work with large corporations and implement campaigns of around $10,000 per month. My business works with small/medium-sized businesses. Mechanically, the downtown firm and my business do the same thing when it comes to PR campaigns: professional media release composition; extensive media market research; articulate personalized distribution to the media; months of media relations (article placements/interview scheduling/media request fulfillment, clipping/tracking of media placements, etc.).

Signing up with the big firm doesn't mean you'll necessarily get an experienced associate working on your campaign. So are you getting what you are paying for? A friend of mine who works at a major PR firm gave me the following breakdown of billing fees in his office:

• Interns/Junior Executives - bill at $75 / hour (Very little, if any professional experience)
• Account Executives - bill at $100 - $125 / hour (1-3 years of professional experience)
• Senior Account Executives - bill at $125 - $200 / hour (Multiple years of professional experience. Agency decision makers.)

Compare those prices to many small PR shops or individual PR specialists. Many have started their own PR businesses after years of experience in the industry and typically charge $50 - $100 per hour to professionally launch and maintain your campaign. Many times, you can get a seasoned PR veteran who will work directly with you and your staff for cheaper than the "Intern/Junior" executive rate at a downtown firm.

However, one word of advice -- when choosing a smaller firm or individual to do your PR, make sure they have the same tools that the bígger agencies do: updated media lists/contacts; personalized media distribution capabilities; professional clipping/tracking services to get copies of each of your media placements (articles, tapes from TV/radio shows) as well as the intangibles of expert communication/media relations skills and professional pitching prowess. If they are cheaper, but don't have all the tools to help you in the best manner possible, you are probably better off spending a little extra money to make sure your campaign is launched and maintained correctly.

The major benefits of hiring a professional (individual PR specialist or PR firm) to launch your campaign are:

Proper Campaign Implementation - Improperly composed or poorly pitched campaigns are the major downfall of many PR efforts. Poorly written, over-commercialized media releases; uncalculated, misdirected mass e-mailing of the release pitch; no follow-up media relations/media request fulfillment; etc.. Your first impression to the media is a lasting one - make sure it's a good one.

Efficiency and Effectiveness - PR specialists/agencies generate publicity full time, 8-12 hours per day and know the ins and outs, shortcuts and secrets to getting the job done better and quicker. Sure you could hang your own drywall or do your own plumbing, but do you have the tools, the time and the expertise to make it cost effective? I always tell my clients, "You do what you do well, I'll do what I do well and we'll collectively move this business further up the ladder."

One caveat when it comes to choosing a professional PR agency or individual to work with - signing up for a higher priced campaign doesn't necessarily mean you will get better results than a cheaper campaign. And the inverse is true as well. Over the past year or so, many "low-cost PR/publicity services" have begun to pop up all over the Internet. Ones that promise to write and launch a press release for as low as $99. They are low in cost - because frankly many are low in quality. Bígger is not necessarily better, and cheap does not always mean a good bargain.

If you have the time, tools and talent to launch and maintain your own campaign, you should definitely do so. If not - there are a number of public relations/publicity firms, specialists and services out there. Research to find the one whose services and fees match your business plan. Once business owners, entrepreneurs, and inventors learn more about their options when it comes to launching a PR campaign -- many find that they can't afford NOT to have one.

About the Author
Todd Brabender is the President of Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.. His business specializes in generating media exposure and publicity for innovative products, businesses, experts and websites. (785) 842-8909 todd@spreadthenewspr.com http://www.spreadthenewspr.com