You need PR help. Do you hire a consultant, an agency or an employee?
Full disclosure: I’m an independent consultant, so I have obvious biases (“Pick me!”). Having said that, I’ve also been a full-time staff member, and I often subcontract with public relations agencies. The fact is consumers face real pros and cons with each option. Let’s discuss some of them.
Consultant
Pros – An independent consultant should be able to offer personal attention, near unfettered access and rapid responsiveness. You should not have to compete with loads of other clients for a consultant’s attention. In fact, one of the reasons for becoming an independent consultant is to have the freedom to work with people and on projects that truly interest you. If a consultant agrees to work with you, that should be a good indication that he or she is genuinely interested in and appreciates your work. It behooves them to have your best interests at heart because your success and their livelihood are inherently intertwined.
Generally, independent consultants can be much less expensive than other options, and their pricing can be both straightforward and flexible depending on a client’s budget. Independent consultants don’t have to factor in the overhead of an agency, nor do they incur the employment costs and obligations associated with hiring a new employee. One person can afford to be accommodating in ways the other options mentioned here typically cannot. Consultants can agree to work hourly, on a project-to-project basis or on a retainer contract as best suits a client’s needs.
Cons – One person can only do so much. While an independent consultant is wise to have a network of highly skilled and reliable fellow consultants who can subcontract on projects as needed, there are likely to be legitimate limitations to what even a well-connected one-person shop may be able to deliver.
Agency
Pros – One of the greatest advantages to working with an agency is the number and quality of in-house resources they offer. Many agencies employ their own graphics, web development and even photography and videography professionals. Instead of working with one person, an agency might provide access to an entire team of experienced staff. The amount of skill and the variety of experience an entire team can bring to a project is likely to enrich the final product.
Additionally, depending on the agency you use, it’s possible to reap all the benefits of agency services for less than the cost of hiring a single, full-time employee. Even though many agencies will prefer that you commit to a retainer contract, this arrangement is far less binding, and typically more flexible, than that of hiring a full-time employee.
Cons – If you work with an agency, you may find yourself getting passed around from one employee to another. Often the workload at an agency shifts as clients come and go, which means your contact person could get reassigned to other accounts. Certainly, this is not something that always happens, but I mention it here simply because it is unique to agencies and cannot happen with an independent consultant or a full-time employee. Similarly, with an agency, it’s likely that you are one of many clients. While that volume is what enables the agency to provide an abundance of resources, with every client vying for them, it can have the effect of causing those with smaller accounts to feel slighted compared to those with larger accounts. Finally, while an agency can be a very cost-effective option (as mentioned in the “pros), particularly larger agencies can swing to the other side of the pendulum and become cost prohibitive especially for smaller clients.
Employee
Pros – Should you decide to create a new staff position at your organization, there will be no competition for that person’s attention. As his or her only “client,” your organization and its needs will be this person’s sole focus. While a consultant’s success will be very closely intertwined with yours, an employee’s success will be directly tied to yours. Similarly, an employee will know your organization better than anyone outside of it ever could. This will give him or her the best understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, capabilities and goals.
Cons – One person can only do so much. Even if this employee has a network of skilled and reliable consultants on which to call, the cost of attaining their assistance will be incurred over and above your employee’s compensation. And depending on the salary and benefits package you’re prepared to offer your new employee, this could easily be the most expensive of all three options, even before you add in those other consultants. Indeed, hiring an employee (arguably) requires a bigger commitment than agencies or contractors. If the position becomes superfluous or if your budget can no longer sustain it, you must end this person’s employment and take away his or her primary source of income. Agencies and consultants often agree to work for a limited time, and they typically have more than one client providing them income, so they tend to be much easier to cut loose.
Finally, the reality for many public relations and communications employees is that they often become the unfortunate victims of scope creep. If you don’t know what I mean, check out my previous post, “Why is our communications team so grumpy?” In my experience, scope creep does not impact the work of consultants and agencies the way it does permanent employees.
Ultimately, every organization, situation, consultant, agency and employee is different. Just make sure to find the right fit for you and your circumstances. That could mean pursuing one of these options or even employing a combination of them. Truly, there are plenty of good practitioners - and good people - working in all of these categories!
Mandy Minick is the principal and founder of Minick Public Relations, LLC. She is the immediate past chief communications officer for the Ohio Department of Education and has 20 years of public relations and entrepreneurial experience. Find Minick Public Relations on LinkedIn.