While it’s tempting to request immediate action from your communication experts as soon as internal decisions are made, excessive revisions or unrealistic requests may reduce the effectiveness of your collaboration.
Here are three key points to consider when choosing your next retainer agency to ensure a beneficial long-term relationship.
Align the scope of work and budget with your management before requesting proposals
Requesting a proposal with an approved scope of work or budget can ensure the procurement process is completed on time. The chosen agency may need to revise its proposal multiple times to meet your management’s objectives or budget changes.
Although it may be tempting to request a proposal before getting management’s approval to save time, the proposed activities might not align with their expectations. This can delay your project timeline and extend the procurement process as your team waits for revised proposals or quotations.
Respect media relations best practices
Journalists must meet strict deadlines to remain competitive in today’s digital landscape. Respecting their deadlines is crucial for both agencies and corporate clients.
In-house communicators should advise their management on media expectations and ensure timely PR write-up approval to build strong rapport with key journalists and editors. Avoiding excessive revisions is critical to ensuring timely announcements. Corporate leaders should be advised against making significant last-minute changes.
Adopt the PESO approach in your communication
PR is no longer solely about earning features in top-tier publications due to changes in media consumption and business models of leading publications. Expecting agencies to earn all features and reviews would be unrealistic.
To effectively reach your target publics, it is important to embrace the paid, earned, shared and owned (PESO) model in your communications. It is common for agencies to reach out to top-tier publications or key opinion leaders for their rate cards, given that many in Thailand operate on a paid basis to ensure their business is sustainable.
Beyond traditional PR, agencies now provide strategic consultation on which paid placements or endorsements will yield an optimal return on investment.
Bearing the general working process of an agency, editorial expectations and media landscape will enable more seamless collaboration between your in-house team and external communication experts. Midas PR strives to nurture rapport with our clients and exceed expectations by improving upon their briefs through constructive feedback and regular consultation on best practices. Contact us at www.midas-pr.com or email us for a free initial consultation and kickstart your campaign.