

Ask HN: What do you look for in a PR Agency? - zeedotme

I'm curious as to what you expect from a PR firm? Do you go with the retained option? If so, what do you expect of them every month? 
And you don't go retained, what sort of goals are you looking to achieve?
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tristmegistus
My goals would guide whether I spent a retainer or not on a publicist. If I
needed a reactive, damage-control publicist, then a retainer would make sense
to have them at the ready. But if I were planning a product roll-out and
wanted media placements it might make more sense to hire someone for a finite
campaign.

As far as expectations, for the proactive job I would negotiate goals with the
publicist for number and stature of media outlets I wanted coverage from.
e.g.(blog coverage, trades, or national TV and newspaper coverage). I would
expect them to spend their time understanding the product and then pitching
the story to reporters, and then to field press calls and handle logistics
(press releases, arranging interviews, etc.)

Expectations for a reactive publicist are not as clear cut. I'd want them to
control damage, but I can't think of a concrete metric for that.

In either case, I'd make sure they had news or reporting experience before
hiring them. If they don't understand how the media works from the inside,
they won't be as effective as someone who does.

