The most important step for any company considering using a PR consultancy comes well before the procurement process even begins. The Twelve Consultancy offers its tips on making the most crucial decision – figuring out what you want from your PR agency.

www.twelvepr.co.uk

Determining what you’re looking for in an agency from the start will make the pitch process run smoothly and ensure you find a PR team that suits your needs and you’ll enjoy working with.

While marketing directors’ specific wish lists for PR agencies vary according to sector, budget size, and even personality, there are some universal traits that they look for.

When Twelve asked 100 marketing directors to name the five key things that they want from their agencies, they responded with:

1) a thorough understanding of their business and industry sector – the best PRs understand their clients’ complete business landscape, which allows them to make strategic recommendations based on the marketplace or competitive climate and achieve quality coverage rather column inches for the sake of it;

2) creativity – successful PR programmes always have one thing in common: constant innovation and challenging conventional thinking;

3) strong writing skills - agencies must bring their clients’ stories to life in a way that will engage the media;

4) strategic thinking - clients depend on PR agencies, as a third party with an objective but still knowledgeable perspective to offer up another way to look at any given situation;

5) access to senior people – it’s reassuring for clients to know that individuals throughout all levels of the agency are invested in the account. PR is still a people business and clients want to see that they’ll get experienced and knowledgeable people working on their business.

“This list of key traits provides a solid checklist for companies considering a PR agency, as well as a framework for how agencies should aspire to service their clients,” said Twelve’s founder, Graham Smith.

“At Twelve we incorporate these elements into our daily work. Our senior people are involved in the day-to-day running of all our accounts, and we keep our programmes fresh by offering our clients a new idea each month – twelve new ideas a year in addition to the core programme. We have a ‘creative circle’ which ensures new ideas keep coming and the volume of quality coverage we achieve in the national broadsheets is testament to the importance we place on strong writing and strategic thinking.”

A good PR agency should ideally make a marketing director’s job easier. Ultimately, marketing directors should use the same selection criteria for potential PR agencies that they would apply to prospective employees – they should be people you can trust, depend on, enjoy working with and have a proven track record for delivering results.

The Twelve Consultancy specialises in B2B and B2C public relations, particularly education, marketing services, and recruitment and offers outstanding service that aligns with the five key traits marketing directors look for. For more information, or to get in touch with Twelve to discuss what you want from PR, contact Graham Smith at graham@twelvepr.co.uk or visit www.twelvepr.co.uk.