In general, a top-tier agency serves its clients through three fundamental processes: 1) pre-service diagnosis; 2) in-service execution; and 3) post-service evaluation.
Process 1: Pre-Service Diagnosis – Grasping the Overall Direction of Needs
a) If a company has not set an annual integrated marketing plan, it may need to rely primarily on PR communication to help define its yearly marketing activities and promotional content. This type of client is well-suited for agencies with integrated marketing and PR planning capabilities, because marketing activities conceived with a PR mindset can not only drive sales but also carry news value. Many front-page news stories originate from such client engagements. It's like a blank canvas: painting a beautiful picture on it is easier than completing a partially drawn one. Of course, this ease depends on the client's planning capabilities. This type of service often achieves excellent communication results at a fraction of the cost of hard advertising.
b) If a company has already defined its annual marketing strategy, including activity and product promotion plans, it may need to leverage the agency's resources for execution. This execution primarily involves news writing and distribution. The core competency of the agency lies in strategically crafting articles based on the client's existing strategy—articles that media outlets are willing to publish, ideally with substantial length and images. Different planning capabilities and media relationships will be fully showcased at this stage, creating a clear distinction in service quality.
c) If a company has its own unique marketing model and execution methods, but has a special honor, opportunity, or product feature that requires broad dissemination to maximize the spread of key messages, this falls under opportunistic PR marketing. Such opportunities are rare and time-sensitive; missing them means losing the chance, while seizing them can elevate the company to the next level. This type of service is 70% driven by the client's own proactive marketing awareness and 30% by the agency's keen ability to spot opportunities.
The fundamental actions of an excellent PR agency during service include three steps: creativity, writing, and distribution. Process 1 helps define the scope of service, ensuring effectiveness and relevance. So, how does the agency deliver in the subsequent three steps?
Creative Phase: This is the critical stage that determines the quality of the service. Top PR agencies deploy their core advisory team to participate in creative meetings, conducting 2-3 rounds of brainstorming to develop key creative concepts tailored to the client's characteristics. The advisory team represents the agency's highest professional level; they work across projects without being tied to any single one, serving clients from various industries. By leveraging best PR practices from different sectors and combining them with the client's unique traits, they contribute through the creative process. This includes big-picture ideas like event themes, communication topics, and core PR strategies.
Writing Phase: Based on the main creative ideas from the meetings, the agency completes the writing of proposals and articles—this is the drafting phase. The key skills here are strong writing ability and comprehension, transforming the brilliant ideas from the creative sessions into text form so the client can understand the overall concept and execution plan through the proposal. For articles, the writer must integrate consumer characteristics, media style, and product advantages to craft pieces that attract readers, effectively convey product strengths, and appeal to media interests. This phase is akin to the production line in a factory, where the final product is the article the client sees.
Distribution Phase: After the proposal and articles are presented to the client and approved (or partially revised), the media distribution phase begins. The effectiveness of distribution largely depends on the agency's media relationships. The same topic and content can be placed in different media outlets, on different pages, and in different sizes depending on the agency's connections, leading to significantly different outcomes.
Process 3: Post-Service Evaluation and Summary – Good Service Accumulates
Most PR agencies consider their work done after news distribution, but excellent agencies add a valuable evaluation and summary phase. This not only helps accumulate experience for the client's marketing efforts but also refines the agency's own service skills.