Get best of the week

“Media business at home”: why should PR agencies make friends with small IT editions

SXSW was canceled this year, and I was invited to the SMALL jury , awards for small marketing and advertising agencies. Hence the theme of the material. I tried to figure out what's what.


© As they say: “dress for the job you want” or “when no other masks were found”

Joke about a little


It is said that in the advertising business, three out of four small firms do not live up to a couple of years. But what if you immediately open a big business? Do not trade for small coins - go and launch an international PR agency, an advertising group or something like a startup in the spirit of a “new generation global social network on the blockchain with stablecoins tied to the zodiac sign.”

Of course, modern problems require modern solutions. There is some truth in this joke. Indeed, many people think so even in times of crisis. But regardless of the scale of ambitions at first (and most likely many years), you will be a small business that will have to deal with the “ trick-22". To attract a client or take a contract, you need to show the portfolio and reputation in the market, but at the start of all this you simply do not have. In such a situation (and with the development as a whole), the closest competitors who have the opportunity to delegate something could help. And, most importantly, quickly check your level of competencies (on a pair of paid tasks).

But in fact, it turns out that not all PR agencies are ready to work with colleagues.

With them in the same field ...


Almost ten years ago, Arrington , the founder and journalist of Techcranch, just wrote about it under the heading “ Somehow a blogger enters a bar ... ” He told how he came to a private meeting of super-business angels - people who launched their funds to invest in startups.

He knew each person personally and expected an ordinary friendly relationship in the spirit: “Come in, sit down, chat for a bit, and then we will discuss our affairs off record, without your participation.” But the situation looked different . The Session was like a scene from the movie The Godfather. When he entered, silence hung over the oval table around which eminent investors gathered:

: «!»

- : «, ...»

: «, , ».

: * *.

: « - ...»

: * *.

: «- . , ».

According to the hero of the story, the embarrassment on the faces of investors was not caused by the fact that he showed up to them without an invitation. In fact, this group of people, responsible for almost 100% of early deals with startups in the Valley, regularly gathered around the table not for the most peace-loving purposes.

Arrington's informants said business angels discussed tactics of crowding out competitors and methods to lower the cost of startups. But if we ignore the fact that the founder of Techcranch found out about his market colleagues, what do we have with this story? In a similar situation - in the spirit of "better go play in your sandbox" - many have fallen. Someone at school, others unlucky at work, the third - got a cool attitude of fellow entrepreneurs or rejection by potential competitors. I think that everyone has such a story.

You will say that there are reasons. And you will be right. I recall the most frequent of them, illustrating the possibilities for interaction between PR agencies and technology editorial offices .

Do not break processes


Not everyone needs a contractor for marketing and technology copywriting tasks . Many refuse to delegate, so as not to break the processes built up over the years. These processes can look very differently, as well as the tasks of the specialists involved in them:

  • editor - makes press releases and texts for the site, deals with SMM and email newsletters;
  • PR- — , ;
  • — , , ;
  • — .

The main thing for the head of the agency is that he himself built this system, got used to it and knows how everything works. It is very likely that the boss personally selected and trained people, and now his copywriter Vitaliy does everything exactly as needed. Therefore, to snatch a piece of work tasks from his caring hands is an extra fuss with double-checking, which means an increase in the cost of services.

On the other hand, sooner or later there comes a moment when you have to take such a step. It can be connected both with the fact that the PR agency just does not have time to handle all the tasks of the clients, and it needs to be expanded, as well as with the quality of the work process in individual areas.

Vitaly may be a great advertiser, but he will not be able to write expert material in the words of the director of an energy company. He will work in the office and on the remote, on weekends and non-working days, take an expert’s comment, write a draft, hand it over to the media, and receive a polite request to redo everything. And so three circles.


© Karting in between editorial tasks

In such situations, even the most dedicated multi-taskers do not have enough stamina. They leave, leaving behind a hole from unclosed releases, newsletters and publications. Then the PR agency attracts freelance editors in an attempt to catch up with the expert column, which the client was expecting two weeks ago, and the media editors read in three versions.

Few people encounter this situation every day, but if it happens, the agency “steps on all the rakes” at once. A gap is created in the work process, and you need to look for several new employees at once in order to close everything that conditional Vitaly had done before. And this is the cost of vacancies and the need to verify the test tasks of dozens of candidates. What to do in this case with the turnover is not very clear, and customers are not waiting.

More agencies . Think about how to protect yourself - get to know not the ten freelancers that you drop in a heap in a working chat room, but contact a couple of small outsourced editions in advance . To know what they are doing, for what money, and how many employees. In this case, you will understand that at the right time you will be immediately helped.

Smaller contractors . Offer a service model - point service types , not packages in the spirit of “we do PR for CEO”. If your “senior” colleagues need a column for the head of a large energy company, help them with this task, do not try to immediately sell something else. Find your niche, stay connected and become the ideal freelancers in a crisis.

Do not give customers


Any business is afraid of stealing a portfolio of customers. It makes no difference whether you have been working with them for many years or just starting to cooperate. It is not difficult for a contractor to understand who acts as a customer at a PR agency. Therefore, the leadership of the latter often balances the scales with burning terms with something like mild paranoia. But when everyone understands that the contractor (for example, on editorial tasks and IT content ) will not engage in communication with journalists (competing with the PR service), but only wants to prepare texts - it turns out to delegate.


© Focus on habrapostah and podcasts for companies

Not everyone loves communications and PR. Therefore, in a crisis it is important to focus on the services that you do with pleasure for yourself, and go to your colleagues for the rest. It is likely that they will not take away your piece of the pie if they are on a gluten-free diet.

More agencies . Delegate a minimum of tasks to different contractors and compare the results. Everybody else who is doing something should go through you. And it will be seen who is doing better.

Smaller contractors . Do not forget about your safety - defend yourself from hunting, write compensation in the contract in case the agency employs your specialist.

Do not grow a competitor


There is no reason for PR agencies to worry about this. Your competitors at any stage of their development will be busy reading news about the pandemic and waiting for new initiatives from the government. Therefore, it's time to get to know your colleagues and understand how they can help you, client companies and the audience as a whole, which is already tired of newsletters and press releases.


What else do we tell about our work, podcasts and unusual media:

“ Those who posted something on Habr understand that it’s better to double-check everything ”
“ I went out to the distance and started the podcast: what to read for this ”
“ Music and videos that no one should have found "

More articles:


All Articles