PR Agency Growth: Keys to Success

In a new article for CommPRO, I highlight Five Keys to PR Agency Growth. It starts with the most fundamental of all – doing a great job for existing clients. But clearly on its own that is not enough to fill a new business pipeline. 

Word of mouth only goes so far. In a competitive marketplace, being top of mind when clients are looking to hire, sharing thought leadership that adds value and demonstrates expertise, resisting the urge to oversell capabilities when they aren’t a good fit for an assignment, and basic relationship building, when done together are a powerful platform for growing agencies.         

For most, the burden falls on founders and senior leaders to be marketers. The successful will leverage multiple channels synergistically and consistently. In CommPRO, I highlight the following five key points:       

1. Deliver outstanding results for existing clients. Even though this may go without saying, it is worth repeating: Great work is table stakes for any growth strategy.
2. You need to be visible. With finite budgets and time, you will want to be in the right places at the right time. That means being in front of audiences that matter, be it one-on-one, small settings, or reaching a large but focused group of prospects.          
3. Add value and demonstrate expertise. Thought leadership has and will continue to outlast other marketing trends because, when done well, it adds value and underscores expertise. It should always be about providing information that is relevant to the industry and clients.
4. Don’t oversell. Your track record, results, shared experience of clients, and demonstrated expertise will sell for you. Where there is match between a client’s needs and an agency’s capabilities, the more likely the conversation will start with “you got me at hello".
5. Build relationships. Business is all about relationships. The goal of a sales funnel is to connect individual decision-makers.                           

It’s no simple matter to do everything all at once. Finding ways to efficiently reach client audiences at scale, get thought leadership in front of them, make sure you can be found when clients are searching for firms with specific areas of expertise, and participate in opportunities where you can build relationships with potential clients without blowing budgets is a challenge.               

As I note in the new article – It's not a coincidence that our partnership with CommPRO is focused on “all of the above” by leveraging its publishing and events platform in combination with CommunnicationsMatch™ profiles to provide visibility for content, opportunities to build relationships, and a path to being hired based on capabilities.

Find out more about CommPRO memberships that integrate CommunicationsMatch™ profiles here.