The top strategic communications firms should do more than simply drive awareness. They should be able to offer you endorsement from third-party sources that are known, trusted and respected within the industry.
When your target audience, whether that’s consumers or stakeholders, sees your brand offering being promoted by independent sources, they are more likely to trust it as a credible source over paid promotions.
This is why it is so essential that your business partners with a PR company that knows and understands your values, offerings and unique circumstances. A PR firm can’t be everything to everyone, or they risk being nothing to no one.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are choosing a PR company to work with your business.
These are the traits that set top strategic communications firms apart from the relatively good ones:
Top Strategic Communications Firms Have Great Reputations
The best PR companies will have been in the industry long enough to have created a solid reputation with both local communities and media spheres. It’s important that you look into recommendations and reviews when considering a PR company.
Solid media relations
A top Sydney PR firm will have cultivated and nurtured solid relationships within the media industry. They should be on close terms with a variety of quality editors, journalists, producers and more. They should know how to tailor their messages for the particular professional they are pitching to and what it is that the media-person/firm, in particular, is passionate about putting out to the public.
Adaptability
It’s essential for PR firms to be adaptable. Even if they specialise in certain areas of PR, they should be able to evolve their offering to benefit the unique circumstances of every client. Small and medium-sized businesses need adaptable PR companies in particular. Often, they are unable to access the big-budget PR companies that bigger, established brands would use and as such, they need to find a company that is focussed on the outcome rather than the output. They should be able to scale their services to suit each individual client.
Proactive teams
When you are looking for pr companies in Sydney, they shouldn’t feel like a completely separate entity to your company but rather an extension of it. The best PR firms are proactive in their relationships with their partners and will go out of their way to stay ahead of the game through constant research and learning.
Drive and dedication
As with any industry, people will do their jobs better if they are passionate about it. When choosing a PR firm, first find out what it is that drives them. Do they have the same values as you? Can you see them going above and beyond to get results? Are they going to be people that fit your corporate culture and that you enjoy working with? Drive and dedication make all the difference.
Understanding
The top strategic communications firms do not exist in a bubble. They keep well-informed of all the issues, conflicts and resolutions that occur in every industry, giving them an extraordinary insight into wider news events overall. In an industry that is very much led by information, communications strategists must be able to take these news stories and find a way for their clients to be a part of the conversation.
Above all, they must understand the messages that their clients want to put out. They must be able to do their own research and learn quickly and effectively about a diverse range of subjects so that they are avoiding misinformative messaging. They can then use that understanding to help explain and promote it to the wider public.
Entertaining
All the understanding in the world can be rendered useless if no one is listening. All communication strategies in public relations must be engaging. Storytelling is the oldest and remains the most effective method of sharing important information, and a communications strategist who can entertain as well as inform is a critical asset to any business. These are the individuals who can pique interest and lock down potential clients by simply telling your story.
They will have an instinct for how your product feeds into each demographic’s personal narrative. They have the ability to empathise with your clients so they can see how your service can solve any issues they may be facing or enhance their lives in a way that even the clients might not be able to see. They should be able to build legendary status around your products and make them difficult to resist.
Meet the Strategic Communications Team at Pure Public Relations
At Pure Public Relations, we believe that a business’s size shouldn’t impact the quality and value of the PR services that they can access. We specialise in helping small to medium-sized businesses, as well as NFPs, get the high-quality PR service that they deserve. Get in touch with us and meet our team of fiercely passionate PR experts who are ready to take your business where you want it to be.
