PR Insights Blog

CommunicationsMatch is not just for agency search. For clients and agencies seeking freelancers with PR and communications expertise, it’s a valuable resource. Client organizations and agencies looking for help with projects and long-term assignments can find individuals with the expertise that match their needs – from media outreach, writing, and internal communications, to website and design support.

Technology startups, local businesses, national brands, and global financial institutions are just some of the clients using CommunicationsMatch™ and PRSA's Find a Firm (powered by CommunicationsMatch) to find agencies, consultants, and freelancers. Make a Find a Firm profile part of your 2022 new business planning. Profiles are searchable through PRSA.org and CommunicationsMatch.com, and starting in 2022, on additional industry platforms.

A new CommPRO article highlights CommunicationsMatch™ coaching & development partner Ken Jacobs’ take on PR & the Great Resignation. Jacobs, PCC, CPC, principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, discusses the importance of purpose in keeping people, in the latest Communicators-to-Communicators zoom interview.

Public relations is a relationship business. Local market knowledge and relationships matter. No matter how strong your company’s story, the coverage you may be able to generate in national or trade media by getting into the Boston Business Journal, The Seattle Times, or the Des Moines Register, requires PR professionals who know the journalists and understand what will resonate with them.

In a new article for CommPRO.biz, "The Real Reasons to be Scared This Halloween," I highlight five scary things we need to stay focused on as we chow down candy corn. Congress, Climate, market Correction, China and COVID-19 are on the list.

Recommendations have always been important for public relations agencies and professionals. Online reviews, testimonials, and recommendations have, and will, become more important in the digital landscape. In a new article for CommPRO, I note that, during the pandemic word-of-mouth has lost one of its drivers – in-person interaction – and at the same time increased the importance of recommendations on digital platforms.

Nearly nine out of ten consumers read reviews before making a purchase, according to Trustpilot. What do clients do when hiring agencies? Our research of Fortune 1000 companies shows they ask people they trust for recommendations. One of the driving principles behind CommunicationsMatch™ is to replicate the human hiring and decision-making process in our online tools. From the very beginning, we included the ability to incorporate recommendations from clients and add links to testimonials.

The RFP process is broken. If client-organizations & agencies implement RFP best practices, it can be fixed. As a 20-year CorpComm veteran, I’ve issued my share of RFPs, and as an agency leader I’ve responded to them. As CEO of CommunicationsMatch, I've built these best practices into our RFP tools.

At the PRSA Counselors Academy fall conference in Nashville in September, founders and leaders of small- and medium-sized agencies heard about and shared best practices, discussed their experience as entrepreneurs, and broke bread. Counselors Academy is always invigorating and an opportunity for fellowship. As a three-time supporter of the event, it offers a window into what’s on the minds of agency leaders and where they are headed.

Agencies, professionals, and service providers now have the option of adding Clutch reviews to recommendation options on CommunicationsMatch. Reviews and recommendations offer clients the virtual equivalent of word-of-mouth endorsements.