3 new business tips for PR agencies

PR agencies, this is your moment

Like every business in the creative sector recently, the leadership at our main company - The Advertist - has been prevailed upon to think laterally; to dance to a different tune and still look like we’ve got the moves.

Like when John Travolta danced with Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction.

One of those pivots has been the creation of Fuel – our podcast about new business for the creative sector. Very niche but fascinating to talk to agency owners and experts in building business on how they view the process and what techniques and channels they prefer.

I recently listened to our first ever advert produced over two years ago, and we’re still true to our creative vision for the show; helping those in agencies understand all the different ways that new business can help build an agency with a moat round it.

What follows is not just my view, but the views of experts, reported by me.

The most recent podcasts, which will be out this month, feature two very interesting personalities. People from different sides of the pond who know what hand-to-hand new business combat looks and feels like, and moreover who firmly believe that PR is in pole position to take advantage of brands and companies’ needs to communicate with their audiences.

This article is distilled from those conversations.

The first is Anouska Leon (right), who is in charge of business development at Richmond & Towers, one of the most established PR agencies in the world, that has survived three global depressions, a world war (possibly two), the death of print, the rise of digital and about as much disruption as any company could wish to experience. Yet it’s still thriving and the experience, innovation, talent and vision of the agency is helping it reassure and win clients consistently. Additionally, Anouska has just been appointed Chair of the Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA)'s Business Development Group. So you could say, she's been industry approved!

The second is a new contact of mine – Jason Falls (left), from US agency Cornett and also founder of the Marketing Podcast Network (MPN). Jason’s experience leads him to conclude that PR is – pound for pound - a much more effective marketing discipline during these uncertain times. His knowledge of the influencer market is unrivaled and, as host of the highly successful podcast Winfluence, he shared his vision for the growth of thought leadership and content marketing.

So that’s the introductions over with.

Let’s get into THREE REASONS WHY PR AGENCIES SHOULD BE THRIVING AND WINNING BUSINESS.

1. Disruption.

A global pandemic and now an aggressive imperialist leader of a nuclear state is threatening a world war. People are scared. Companies are scared. Brands are cautious and our business plans are limited to 3-6 months. We all learned the word “empathy” over the lockdowns and again empathy is going to be a superpower for brands to master. Public relations, through its skill in press and message management is the preferred weapon of choice from the marketing mix. Content development and the promotion thereof is ridiculously popular and for a reason. Influencers, podcasts, Vloggers, bloggers, TikTok, YouTube and SEO all are on the rise in terms of popularity because it’s quick to deploy and easy to adapt. When the food supply chain suffers from disruptions, what better time for food companies to distribute videos about how to adapt recipes or substitute ingredients, or even give online food creation or meal planning lessons? To quote Anouska Leon, in times of trouble “People have fallen back in love with trusted brands…and have been open to trying new things”

When a B2B company sees its sales pipeline begin to contract, what better time to reassure prospects with helpful advice and hearts and mind-winning, low-level white papers, webinars and multi-channel BTL campaigns?

As Anouska says: “I see PR taking on the ad industry because, as an agency we develop creative platforms, we call ourselves a brand engagement agency, rather than PR because it’s all about the impact we have, rather than what we're doing.”

2. Budget.

The economy needs to keep pumping but on a much leaner supply of fuel. Public Relations, is by far and away one of the most cost-effective disciplines in the marketing mix. It’s impervious to media buying price swings, it speaks directly to the brand or companies’ audience and it doesn’t have the appearance of propaganda that advertising can sometimes carry. Salesy messages can piss people off when they have things like security or putting food on the table at the front of their concerns, and companies would be wise to consider diverting a larger proportion of their ATL budget and upweighting their PR effort to get a bigger return on their marketing investment.

To quote Jason Falls, of Cornett and MPN: “PR has become much more of a pay-to-play business, because you’ve got to support these content creators if you want to get in front of their audiences.” But paying influencers and using their audiences to reach your audience is a lot more cost effective than buying billboards and TV adverts.

3. Proximity & PRCA

There are two types of new business: The three Rs (referrals, repeat & recommendations) and there’s cold new business. The three Rs is where you leverage your existing client base to keep projects flowing into the agency.

Cold new business is where your agency will be in two year’s time. It’s where you grow towards and where your NPD, innovation and staff morale comes from.

Using platforms like LinkedIn or even a new business development service like The Advertist, gets you right in front of these new decision-makers, quickly, conveniently and cost-effectively.

Marriage bureaus, procurement frameworks and pitch consultants can generate a lot of heat and light for a significant investment but not every agency has those kind of deep pockets.

The PRCA helps members and non-members with business-development related insight and events and If you’re a member of the PRCA, then The Advertist has arranged for a special member’s only discount for access to its new business development SaaS platform, so you’ll get a year’s worth of news, insight, research, contact data, People Moves, tenders and lists for just ￡1200*

Building out your connections and network into a profitable pipeline of work takes time. It’s not – to quote an old British Gas commercial - “Easily turn off and onable”. It takes time to build new connections and because of this, you need to maintain a constant level of new business activity.

As Anouska tells us in the podcast: “You need to have a constant, fresh pipeline of brands that you’re speaking to because there’s always going to be a natural churn with your current clients…and you need to have started building those conversations.”

?Whether or not you’re a PRCA member, if you are a PR agency, there’s never been a more interesting time to be prospecting for new business.

Fortune favours the brave and an investment in your new business will help pay dividends now and in 6-12 month’s time, whatever the economic climate is.

The Fuel podcast featuring Anouska Leon is out w/c 14 March and the Jason Falls episode one week later.

*for a single subscription. Multiple licences are also available.