Brett Banter

When you've made the decision to hire an outside firm to do public relations for you, how do you know which firm to choose? Hiring a PR company to represent you can be a mind-boggling task and not the easiest of decisions to make.

Beyond the obvious such as established media relationships, many different public relations firms have specialized niches which can help guide you towards the agency that is right for you. You can also approach your selection like an interview. Sitting down with a handful of top prospective firms and asking them questions will offer better insight into what they can do for you as well as provide a more complete grasp on what your relationship with them may entail. Media Bistro's PRNewser blog recently published a post with five solid and insightful questions you can ask potential PR firms that will help you probe deeper into agency capabilities in order to determine if they will fit your needs.

You may be surprised at the varying degrees of answers you will get to these questions across the board from various public relations agencies. If they are unable to discuss the biggest obstacles your organization might face, they obviously haven't done their research ahead of time. If they know nothing about your competitors, they in turn may not know much about your industry.

According to PRNewser's post, the single most important question you can ask is "What excites you about doing PR for my company?" If the agency at bat comes up blank on this one, that should give you a full indication how much excitement they will put forth when it comes to actually working for your team.

Read the full PRNewser post here.