For many growing as well as established large organisations this is a pertinent point to ponder over. Even small and medium enterprises need to evaluate and take a decisive step. Because while advertising pays – PR is rewarding!

There are many factors to consider if you are thinking of PR:

• Will getting publicity through editorial coverage make a difference to my business?
• Will a good image, being written about make my business more credible?
• Are we getting all the PR we deserve?
• Is our competition getting more than their fair share of media coverage?
• Do we have a PR strategy for continuous year round media coverage?
• Is our in-house “PR person or department” overburdened with “in-house” work like the company newsletter?

Accordingly take a call. Go for a PR firm if you know truly that a professional agency will help you reach your goals and objectives swifter. Today’s world is governed by fame, name and network. PR will ensure you get all this. Moreover, it will be your security also as it will help you during times of crisis.

Paid Space or Free Coverage

Many people confuse PR with Advertising when, in fact; they are the diametric opposites of one another. Advertising is a paid endorsement that can not establish credibility. PR is unbiased and unlimited editorial coverage in the media based on a reporter's appraisal of one's news worthiness, quality and uniqueness.

PR represents many times the clout of Advertising at a fraction of the cost. In Advertising, a single ad for one day in a major newspaper can cost as much as one year of monthly PR fees. Radio and Magazine Advertising can cost five times and television ads can run ten to fifteen times the price of one year of services.

PR can also include the following services: design of press kits, public education, business-to-business communication, new business development, media and press tours, seminars and special events, crisis communications and audio/visual product development.

You pay for the ad space. You know exactly when, where and how the ad will be aired or published. You control the message and the medium. You have control over the creative aspects. You can run your ads over and over for as long as your budget allows. An ad generally has a longer shelf life than one press release. Consumers know when they're reading an advertisement they're trying to be sold a product or service. Buy this product! Act now! Call today! These are all things you can say in an advertisement. You want to use those buzz words to motivate people to buy your product.

Advertising costs much more than PR. Consider this fact – the advertising industry is worth US$ three billion in India. PR on the other hand is less than US$ 70 million.

In PR your job is to get free publicity for the company. From news conferences to press releases, you're focused on getting free media exposure for the company and its products/services. You have no control over how the media presents your information, if they decide to use your info at all. They're not obligated to cover your event or publish your press release just because you sent something to them. You only submit a press release about a new product once. The PR exposure you receive is only circulated once. But it can be repeated over many publications. When someone reads a third-party article written about your product or views coverage of your event on TV, they're seeing something you didn't pay for with ad dollars and view it differently than they do paid advertising. You're strictly writing in a no-nonsense news format. Any blatant commercial messages in your communications are disregarded by the media.

PR gives you more than your value for money! It is far cheaper and affordable.

First of all, let's define a PR firm, some people interchange a PR firm with a marketing firm, or marketing agency, or even an ad agency. Basically a PR firm handles media relations and is the interface between a company and the news media. But today’s PR activity goes beyond Media Relations – Especially at K2.

A firm will “pitch” with the media on a story idea involving a company, invention or author. A good pitch about a story that would interest the people who read, watch or listen to a particular media outlet gets coverage. Many larger companies rely on in-house staff trained in PR or Marketing.

1. Do you NEED solid, consistent media exposure week after week, or are you satisfied with "occasional" exposure?
2. Do you have the internal staff and expertise to commit the internal resources to your PR?

If you have the internal staff, and they understand PR principles, then there may be no reason to hire an outside agency. Paradoxically, the busier you get, the easier it is to parlay, or "set aside" consistent, important PR activities.

It is a craft that requires PASSION. You may need PR, and you may even have the people to conduct your marketing, advertising campaigns but that's not enough. To be truly effective, your PR campaigns must be conducted with passionate consistency

• PR firms can get you news coverage in the Print, TV, radio, online media.
• A PR firm can get you interviewed on radio and TV.
• PR firms are in regular contact with journalists, editors, writers and producers from top national magazines, newspapers and radio/TV programs.
• PR firms help you with your communication programmes.
• A real good PR agency will strategise and evolve long term plans and PR roadmaps.
• In-house PR people do not have the strength of an agency.
• PR firms have multiple resources such as an “experts subscription service”
• PR firms present you and your firm as an authority on a particular topic and request an interview. The media will, in nearly every case, mention your firm in the story as it establishes your credibility with the reader.
• PR firms can spread your communication cost over several clients and glean the hundreds of daily queries looking for the one that may work for you.
• PR firms can provide media training regardless of your experience. Most executives need media training. PR firms use media trainers to prepare their clients. The training helps you capitalize on every interview and maximize each opportunity to the fullest.
• PR firms can get your press release to the top of the heap.
• A PR agency will have built a working relationship with key reporters, boosting your chances of getting coverage.

Good PR is more than hot air, it requires continuous implementation of a well thought out strategy to get results.

Work with agencies that have good references.
Determine what you want and then work with the firm that has a track record of accomplishments and media placement.

Make sure you get along with the members of the firm.
Hiring a PR agency is a collaboration that you can benefit from, month after month, year after year. Quality rapport is an essential ingredient.

Make sure the agency is realistic in terms of managing your expectations. Don’t trust them to work miracles!
It's one thing for a PR firm to promise results; it's another thing to promise "specific" results.

Make sure the PR firm is creative. Creative PR people will come up with more "angles" to test.

Make sure they understand how to pitch your story. A progressive PR firm will be effective and efficient at telling your story.

Make sure they listen to what you say. PR firms should listen and respond to your unique, evolving needs.

A good PR firm is a busy PR firm. They don't need to sell you. Their track record will allow you to decide based on the evidence.

Depending on your needs make sure that they have local, regional, national media offices / contacts.

Make sure they are strategists who can outline a campaign game plan for you. You can predict the effectiveness of a PR firm by the soundness of their overall strategic approach.

Check samples of their work? Track record comes in the form of QUALITY of exposure, in addition to the QUANTITY of exposure.

Make sure they are as passionate of your business as you yourself are.

Get value for money. Feel comfortable with the fee and the contract. Getting good PR is a process. It requires well thought out plans, implemented with passion, and a focus on results in the form of getting your story told to the world.

• Determine your position in the marketplace -- what makes you different and competitive?
• Determine your key audiences -- who has a significant impact on your business and who are your product users?
• Determine which media are best targeted at your selected audience. Media might include trade and technical publications, business press, television and radio, newspapers and magazines.
• Formulate a strategic message to each target audience. Put together a plan outlining objectives, strategies, tactics, timelines and budgets.
• Communicate. The tactics involved in executing a campaign are unlimited -- press releases, analyst tours, press conferences, media liaison, media tours, special events, articles/white papers, speaking engagements, trade shows, etc.

Campaigns can be as large and expensive or small and inexpensive as you need. There is no direct correlation between the size of your budget and the success of your campaign. The success of a campaign depends more on what is happening within a company than on the PR effort. When a company has a good product or service that has strong potential position in the marketplace, promotion is relatively straightforward. What remains is putting together and executing a solid, strategic plan to support your company's objectives.

One of the major questions companies have about doing PR is what they will get from their investment. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of a campaign is hard to measure. This is partially because it is a subtle process and the public often does not remember how they received the information.

It tends to be a tool for image-shaping, opinion-making, persuasion and changing behavior. When approached strategically and consistently, it works. You can not do "a little PR" and expect a lot of results. The impact of PR builds over time, with repetition of key messages in a variety of contexts.

A good campaign will reach and educate the people who influence market opinion in your area and present them with convincing evidence that your company provides the best quality, service, etc. The campaign will change the attitudes of these influencers and persuade them to share this information with your target audience through media reviews and recommendations. Readers and viewers of the media will receive this information and become aware of your company -- ultimately resulting in sales.

In the right situation PR is extremely effective. But, don't fall into the trap of thinking that it can take the place of advertising or good management. PR is part of the overall marketing picture and can be very effective when used well.