Why employ a PR agency?

As an interior designer, you might consider employing a PR (Public Relations) agency to gain publicity that can raise your profile and result in new clients. A PR firm could win editorial coverage for your projects in magazines, newspapers, and online, and arrange for you to be quoted as an expert. Here, we take a look at the advantages this route could bring, as well as how to find a suitable individual or PR agency.

The advantages of employing a PR

There are both solo PR professionals and small and large firms whose specialisms include interior design. That means they have the right contacts among editors, writers, bloggers, and influencers to promote your practice. They will have the contact details for journalists who need whole homes as well as single-room projects for print and online publications, and who require expert commentary to quote in their features.

As well as what’s known as consumer PR, which will help you reach homeowners and other potential clients, many agencies also provide trade PR, targeting coverage in sectors that might include architecture, hospitality, and yachts, which could be appropriate to your practice.

A PR’s contacts can work both ways in promoting your business. They know to whom they should send details and photographs of a recently completed project from your practice because it’s the right fit for the print publication or online medium. But equally, a good PR is a point of contact for journalists looking for a particular type of home or room, or project and can suggest your work when a journalist gets in touch if you’re a client.

PRs are also likely to subscribe to various services where journalists post requests for interior design projects or ask for experts to comment (either with or without supporting images), and can promote your practice that way, too.

Using a PR to save time

As well as gaining the benefit of the extensive contacts and access to subscription services that journalists use, a PR who’s experienced in working with interior design practices offers the huge asset of saving you time.

It is, of course, perfectly possible to be your own PR, and our resource on how to get media coverage provides the inside track on doing so from editors of the leading magazines and websites. But working with a PR means it’s their time, and not yours, spent speaking to or emailing journalists, sending out project details, and getting information and photographs to those requesting it by their deadlines – which can often be very tight.

Finding the right PR

As we’ve mentioned above, individual PR professionals and PR agencies have specialisms. If you decide to investigate employing one or other to promote your practice, you should always look for those who are experienced in the world of interior design. They may have other specialisms, too, but if that’s the case, interior design should always be an important part of the mix. This way, they’ll already have all the right contacts, and thoroughly understand the readership of each print publication or site that specialises in or includes interior design, so time (and your money) isn’t wasted.

It’s easy to search for agencies or professionals with the right know-how online if you’re interested in what employing a PR can offer your practice. Many also offer services such as blog writing, photography, and social media, too, so it’s worth considering if these could also be worth investing in so you can concentrate on the other aspects of running your business.

PR professionals’ sites will typically list current clients and often former clients, which can assist you in finding an individual or firm familiar with practices in your particular niche.

Raise your profile

One way to dip a toe into the water of working with PRs is to put your name forward for the PR – and speaking – opportunities organised by the BIID. The BIID’s PR agency manages approaches from consumer and trade publications looking for interior designers to include in features, while the BIID’s relationships with trade shows such as Decorex, Focus, and Clerkenwell Design Week bring other promotional opportunities for members.

To be considered, take a look at raise your profile in the industry, which has further details and explains all the information you need to supply and where to send it if you’re interested in the opportunities that arise this way.

When professional PR is worthwhile

Employing a PR firm or individual PR professional is an additional cost for your practice. However, the benefits it brings in getting your name known, bringing additional traffic to your website, and attracting the type of clients you’re targeting could repay your investment.

Get in touch with firms and PR practitioners who seem a good fit for your practice to examine what each could offer and whether the outlay is a business expense worth incurring.