CommunicationsMatch
What Clients Want in a CommunicationsMatch™ Profile
A senior communications leader at a large bank told me that it was important to: “Give me all the information I need to make the decision to reach out to an agency”.
Clients, for the most part, know what they’re looking for. They have the experience and knowledge to use CommunicationsMatch™, as well as their own networks, to find agencies that are qualified for projects, evaluate those qualifications, and make hiring decisions.
Agency search is not one-size-fits all. Approaches range from DIY (give me the tools and I’ll do the search) to “do it for me”. Searches begin with a basic evaluation of whether an agency or professional is qualified in terms of communications or industry expertise and other skillsets, and then a deeper dive to validate their skillsets.
Here are six ways in the CommunicationsMatch™ dashboard to provide “all the information a client is looking for” to make that all important decision to reach out:
Highlight Areas of Expertise, Skillsets and Provide Case Studies
A comprehensive profile provides the opportunity to add key areas of industry and communications expertise and importantly back them up by including capabilities presentations, client experience and case studies.
Add People to Your Profile to Create Additional Paths to Being Found
With a comprehensive profile, you can add as many people from your firm as you would like. This matters because when you add a person to the firm’s profile you also create a profile for that individual, making them searchable. And, clients hire people, so you want to ensure that your team and their unique capabilities and background are visible.
Add Video
Video is an important tool to engage clients. Adding a video to your profile is easy and provides a human dimension to your agency, as well as an opportunity to tell your story or share information about trends you believe underscore your expertise and ability to deliver results.
Add Awards, Recommendations and Testimonials
We provide three ways to add recommendations on the platform. You can request clients submit recommendations, link to existing recommendations on your website or add them into your profile. Recommendations and testimonials are an important component in providing a picture clients will use to evaluate the agencies they hire.
Contribute to the PR Insights Blog
A comprehensive profile gives you the ability to submit posts to our PR Insights Blog. It’s quick and easy to upload an article. Our editors will review and approve it, consistent with our submission guidelines, generally within 48 hours. Posts are attached to your profile, appear on the PR Insights Blog, are automatically emailed to our distribution list, and shared on social media.
Signup for RFPs and PR Insights Blog Posts
As part of our built-to-last approach, we do not bombard clients, agencies and professionals on the platform with email. Signing up to receive emails ensure you get notice of public RFPs and new Insights Blog content first. Click here.
A comprehensive profile also provides the opportunity to customize the look of your profile, add other offices, include specific client relationships, and much more. We give agencies and professionals the ability to create a robust profile, but you decide how much to include.
Importantly, once a username and password have been set up, agencies and professionals can go in at any time to add new information and update their information.
We are continually updating the platform. We are currently in the process of developing AI-driven tools for search and RFPs. We will be sharing more information as it is available.
Until April 30st use code SPRING25 to save 10% when you renew your subscription.
Contact me if you have any questions at [email protected].