2012 PR Budgeting: Five Common Sense Tips

‘Tis the season to polish off your company’s 2012 PR budget. Most corporate communications directors know the drill. But reminders never hurt. Here are five pointers.

1. The Right People. Some in the industry expect 2012 to be a growth year. If you have staff openings, hire based on 4 attributes — writing, selling power, conviction and experience. The perfect PR person is a gifted writer, has the sales skills to win placements, the courage to make tough decisions and the experience to know whether they’re right. Hire the best even though they cost more: They pay for themselves many times over in the long run.

2. Invest Where it Counts. The greater part of a PR budget should go toward supporting the company’s most important revenue drivers — not necessarily the same as the most demanding business unit. Sounds silly to even mention this until you think of the occasional company where PR is run by “the mouse that roars,” i.e., a vocal but not particularly significant business unit. What a waste.

3. Cull the Non-Essential. Some companies still hire multiple PR firms: one each for trade, national, and vertical, plus a couple of offshore agencies thrown in for good measure. In today’s online-driven media world, such distinctions are increasingly irrelevant: The Internet has made everything global. Never carry an under-performing niche player. Concentrate your business on the agency that’s hungriest and has proved it by turning in consistently strong results.

4. Beware Ripoff Artists — On Both Sides. If you’re a corp comm department, beware paying extra for anything you believe is already covered in your retainer; it might be content, web work, social media or press release distribution — know what’s yours and insist on it. A similar rule holds true for agencies: Never put up with a client that consistently tries to wheedle free work out of you — it’s a ripoff and you’re better off without them.

5. Run from Agencies That Tout Their Media Relationships. We’ve all heard the song & dance about PR being a relationship business where great results flow from being buddies with reporters. This is like saying your boss keeps you around because he likes you. Journalists care about one thing only: great stories. Companies can save time and money by hiring an agency that’s completely candid on this point. Why that is: The real pros know to focus on what matters most to Joe Blogger and Jane Journo — exclusives, advances, and news that makes for 36-point headlines.

Hope that’s helpful. Save a few bucks and enjoy a Merrier Christmas and Happier Hanukkah.

Jim Crawford is the president and founder of Crawford PR and the author of Black Box Blog, where he offers hard-earned perspective on public relations for the tech and telecom industries.

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