Not too long ago a company entered Beta and realized
they needed help in “spreading the word”. The goal was to help generate
publicity and placements during the Beta period. The company, LogMyCalls, hired a PR firm to
help with both strategy and execution of an aggressive public relations
campaign.
The most pressing need was to ramp up coverage during the Beta
period in preparation for their hard launch in May 2012. The company researched
a variety of PR firms and eventually settled on one that said they track PR
with advertising-style metrics. This is appealing for any business managing
their budget and seeking a positive return on investment.
The PR agency came highly recommended and
seemed like a sure thing. They assured the company that their strategy was
centered around hard metrics, data and results. According to McKay Allen from
ContactPoint, the parent company, “We were excited about working with them and
so we signed the contract.”
5 months later we fired them.
The public relations firm wasn’t doing anything! In 5 months they generated zero placements and
a few analyst reviews. They were terrible. To save their reputation I won't reveal their name but will reinforce the message. Just because you hire a vendor, don’t assume
they will exceed or even meet your expectations.
Why Did We Fire Them?
We were getting progressively more fed up as weeks without
results turned into months without results. Nothing was happening.
Then one day a member of our marketing team decided to take
matters into his own hands and support our PR effort. He just started calling
editors of major marketing publications and blogs. He asked them if we could
produce guest content about marketing topics for them, if he could write
articles about LogMyCalls
and if they would be interesting in reviewing LogMyCalls.
He called 4 that first day. They all said yes.
Our PR firm either hadn't contacted these people or their
pitch sucked.
This was the straw that broke the camel's back (killed the
camel actually). We realized that it was silly to continue to pay a PR firm
when we could--evidently--do the job significantly better. So we fired them.
Honestly, that was the best thing we ever did.
Since we fired them we've had an average of 4 hard
placements a week. That's almost one a day. We write guest blogs. We send out
press releases. We do everything and anything we can to generate publicity and
buzz. Now we are generating 4 placements
a week that mention LogMyCalls. (We're not counting press release
republications and article sharing sites, of course). And so far, it is
working. We've had investors contact us, clients reach out, leads generate and
deals close, all because of our new and internal PR strategy.
Why Didn’t We Fire Them Sooner?
We were dumb.
They kept saying that we were 'right on the edge' of getting
a bunch of placements. 'Next week is the week.’ This continued for months. Next
week never was the week. Instead of getting placements we just wasted money and
time.
Our PR firm was terrible. No, they were worse than terrible,
awful. If you feel that your PR firm is
not producing the results they’re supposed to then fire them – don’t wait.
Conclusion
When we talk about our experience with this PR firm that
shall remain nameless, we refer to it as our 'PR firm debacle.' Debacle is a
kind word. There are other words that describe our experience more accurately
but should not appear on a reputable website like this one.
PR firms aren't bad. They, generally, do a great job.
However, you have to seriously consider whether or not you have someone
internally who can do a better job. We did. So, eventually we fired our PR
firm.
Logmycalls is owned by ContactPoint, focused on revolutionizing the way companies listen and respond to their customers. They deliver the equivalent of bio-feedback for customer interactions, which allows companies to adapt to customer needs with unparalleled speed and agility.
For more free marketing advice, visit the marketing experts at http://www.MarketingScoop.com.
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