It has been over two years since I last searched for a PR agency in Boston and a lot has changed since then. With all the new social media channels exploding we needed to find an organization with proven Web 2.0 chops to support Firstgiving (an online community that connects people with the causes important to them).
Before I started building my Web 2.0 PR agency short list, I put together a plan for outreach:
1. They must possess tangible Web 2.0 experience. This is more than understanding how to optimize a press release for organic search. This means current clients in the Web 2.0 space with funny sounding names and real success stories.
2. They need to be active in multiple online communities. How many Twitter followers do they have? How many Facebook Friends or LinkedIn Links do they have? How active are they in these communities?
3. How connected are they with me? I have over 200 Linked contacts in Boston so I wanted to find someone with mutual friends for vetting purposes.
4. Talk with my CMO friends for recommendations.
5. Remove “old school” firms I have worked with in the past or I know their “reputation”.
My process started with some simple research by Googling things like “Web 2.0 PR in Boston”. After that I reached out to each of them through a social media channel. Bonus points for quick replies through site to set-up initial calls.
So, who made the short list? Stay tuned…
[...] you’ve been following Tangy Slice’s series on Selecting a Web 2.0 PR Agency. Part one is here. Upon return from a recent trip to London, Tangy brought me a gag gift, a 147-page, glossy, [...]
[...] If you’ve been following @tangyslice (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?) you may have noticed that he’s back and tangier than ever. For a while there he was spending many long hours a day comforting a screaming child – and then he had to go home to his new baby. Anyway, we were talking about public relations recently and I thought I’d share some of it. You may also remember last summer’s Web 2.0 PR Agency roundup. [...]