When creating a PR campaign, whether an ongoing effort or a one-time project, there are three primary issues to consider (among many more):
1. Scope of work — What work will be performed?
2. Budget — What is your PR budget for the campaign?
3. Timeline — When will it start and end (if a project).
The first three are relatively easy to determine. Nonprofits and corporations pretty much know what they want to achieve and how much money they have to spend. What often comes into question is when to start.
One of the biggest mistakes organizations make when hiring a PR firm is to think they will save money if they hire the firm right before their event or project, and end it right after. After all, the less time a PR consultancy is on-board, the less budget they will require, right? It’s like hiring a lawyer the day before you go to court so you only have to pay him/her for that one day in court.
Unfortunately, this is a misguided approach if an organization wants a PR effort that is effective and yields results.
If an organization has an event in June, let’s say, and they want a PR firm to publicize the event, bringing in the firm in May is hardly wise. Giving the firm no time to understand the client, prepare the proper materials, think about pitch angles, make their media contacts and so forth only puts the PR firm at a disadvantage. It is often said that PR takes time to work, but PR firms also need time to prepare, lay the groundwork and do their work.
We face this often. An organization will have a big campaign in mind, but a limited budget in the bank. So the normal approach is to wait until a few weeks before the campaign to bring on the PR firm. The client feels good that professionals are on-board, but what they are doing is putting their PR agency at a disadvantage. If feature articles are desired, it often takes several months to make contact with the right journalists, pitch a story angle that makes sense and work within a journalist’s schedule. If you want journalists to attend, they have busy schedules and need notice. Just because an organization has an event on a certain day, doesn’t mean a journalist will give their event priority over all the other events happening in the city. If an organization wants their 5K race covered, they better understand there are probably three 5K races every weekend in Los Angeles, and without a strong angle and sufficient notice, getting media attention is tough. Hence, all too often opportunities are lost.
In cases when a client has a finite budget, it is better for the client and the PR firm to start early and divide the budget over more months just so the tasks that take time can be done. Sure the PR firm will make less each month, but they won’t give full-service as it is not warranted. But there are PR tasks that need three months lead time. They can’t be done with 30 days notice. PR firms want to do a good job and often will take less money per month, just so they can have the lead time they need for certain tasks to take hold.
So our advice is don’t put off getting your PR firm on-board because you think it will save money. It usually doesn’t, and often will cost you the success your PR firm can achieve if they are given the tools they need to do a good job, and one of those tools is time.