10 Yetis Insight Blog - Top Tips For Choosing an Online PR Agency

When it comes to choosing the right online PR agency, you’re going to want to shop around and compare a few agencies, get recommendations from others and check that the team mash well with the team that you have, especially as they’re going to be working so closely together and they’re going to have to get to know your company inside out.

Leanne did a great Insight Blog recently on How To Choose an Online PR Agency, but I wanted to do a follow up with a few different pointers, giving you a wider scope of things to look out for when picking the right agency for you…

Google them

First and foremost, do a quick Google search (or Bing, if that’s more your thing) of the agency and have a look at what comes up, the articles about them, what journalists may have written about them and so on. It’ll give you a good idea of how they’re perceived.

Don’t just Google the agency though, it’s also worth Googling the MD of the agency. For example, if you Google our head Yeti, Andy Barr then you’ll see that he regularly comments on stories in the media that are PR / SEO / Social Media or Outreach related, and that he regularly attends & talks at conferences around the UK and internationally. Here’s a great blog about his talk about the PMI London Conference where he in talked about blogger engagement and outreach.

Look at their coverage

If they consistently get good coverage they should have no problem showcasing this, whether they brag on social media, they have a dedicated Results page on their website, and so on. Not all clients want their PR agency to talk about their working relationship, so you may not find coverage for certain clients, which is a shame if they’re getting consistently good coverage, but there should still be great coverage for you to see. You want to see a mix too; National, Regional, Trade, Broadcast and so on.

Ask for case studies

This is one of the most important things to do when looking for an online PR agency as you want to know if they’ve worked with clients similar to yourself before, what experience they have generating coverage within your sector and how well their campaigns have gone in terms of follow and no-follow links. Again, most agencies will have some kind of Work page on their website showcasing some of their best case studies, but if they don’t you should definitely ask for them.

Get testimonials

It’s completely OK to ask for testimonials from their current or previous clients, or even to find out what companies they’ve worked with and get in touch with them directly to ask about their experience with the PR agency you’re looking in to. Many don’t think about it, but it’s a great way to discover what the PR agency are like with their clients; how they look after them, whether the client liked the ideas and were happy with the results of the campaign and so on.

Check it’s not a conflict of interest

Many online PR agencies will only work with one company per sector at a time to prevent any conflict of interest. For example, if you’re a mattress company, you don’t want to be competing with another mattress client for coverage. You’ll constantly be worried that if they’re paying more per on their retainer that they’re getting put forward for more opportunities than you are. What you want is a PR agency who are going to wholly focus on you and your company within a specific sector, not confusing journalists and being cemented as the go-to company for quotes, information and more.

These points, along with the points that Leanne recently gave, should give you a great idea of what you need to look for, questions that you need to ask and the research that you need to do in order to determine whether a PR agency is right for you or not.

Or, you know, you could just email me on Samantha@10yetis.co.uk and save yourself the time...