Three Ways to Outsource Your Company's Public Relations

It often makes sense to hire outside experts. In fact, billionaire tech entrepreneur Bill Gates says, "Do what you do best and outsource the rest."

When it comes to outsourcing PR, nearly every major brand is smart enough to know the best professionals are often working in a company, community, and culture with other highly talented individuals. So here are the three ways you might decide to outsource your public relations strategy, programs, and measurement.

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1. "Home Depot" model 

Get an agency to advise you by following Home Depot’s previous slogan, "You can do it. We can help." The agency offers guidance and recommendations and not much implementation assistance except for mentoring, coaching, or consulting.

2. Get strategic help

Instead of hiring a PR agency to do the work, you might hire them to develop the strategy. You might leverage the smart and experienced PR agency professionals to develop your PR strategy and then allow your in-house PR employees to manage the implementation. This may or may not include the oh-so-important knowledge transfer where the agency is teaching you and your team how to do it.

3. Find a comprehensive solution

This "We do it all," model is where the agency is managing strategy, programs, and measurement. The clients on the brand side are coordinating with the agency and gaining necessary internal approvals.

See also: Why in-house PR departments don't work

When you're considering what works best for you and your company, think carefully about your needs, your team's experience and talent, as well as how an agency can best help you in these three areas:

1. Recommendations
2. Guidance
3. Implementation

Open Access

You should also be thinking about "open access" and how often you'll need their in-person, telephone, and email assistance. Are they available to you outside the agreed-upon coaching or consultation sessions? If so, how much? It's important to clarify these expectations so as to not be disappointed or charged more than expected.

If you need help identifying which of these is the best for you, your brand, and your unique situation, please reach out to us. We’d be honored to have the opportunity to help you.

Clients love Jason’s passion, candor, and commitment as well as the team he has formed at Axia Public Relations. He's advised some of America’s most admired brands, including American Airlines, Dave & Buster’s, Hilton, HP, Pizza Hut, and Verizon. He is an Emmy Award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner, speaker, author, and entrepreneur and earned his certification in inbound marketing. He founded the PR firm in July 2002. Learn more about Jason.

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