Should you work with a York PR agency, a York freelancer or employ someone? This is a conundrum faced by many businesses. I’ve worked in house managing a team and recruitment, I’ve appointed and managed PR and marketing agencies and have also worked for agencies as well as working freelance. I can give you a completely open and honest view of the right solution for your situation. Here are a few thoughts that can help inform your choice.
What’s your budget?
Freelancers are often more cost effective than agencies for small businesses. In my experience, day rates are often around 50% cheaper and many don’t charge VAT. You are also less likely to be locked into a long term contract. I work with clients on a project basis for a term or on a retainer with a month’s notice. Many agencies have much longer contract terms. Many agencies will have a minimum monthly fee, making them out of the reach of smaller businesses. Many also only work on a retainer and don’t offer one-off pieces of work or project support. I support clients with both ongoing work and one-off requests for a press release or help during a short term project.
How much support time do you have available?
Freelancers and agencies will likely need less hand holding than a temporary paid member of staff. They bring with them significant expertise and experience, often working in very similar businesses to your own. You’ll often get more experience for your budget. For example, I often support my clients with strategy as well as day to day delivery.
Temporary staff can be a good solution to provide support for a longer period e.g. a maternity cover but recruitment agency fees, holiday pay, national insurance etc can soon add up. You might also find that they take longer to get up to speed with your work if they have less sector specific experience.
With a member of staff you’ll need to spend time on inductions, training and appraisals, which you don’t need to do with a freelancer.
What skills and experience do you need?
Agencies are more expensive but they will likely have a larger team with several specialists e.g. in PR, digital marketing and advertising. This can be beneficial if you are looking for very specific expertise, for example to develop a new website for you or to launch a digital campaign with very specific targets. An agency team may also brainstorm ideas together, meaning you benefit from multiple creative minds.
Freelancers can also be specialists and can deliver specific expertise, including bringing together a team for you from their network of other specialist freelancers. I often build a team for my clients, introducing them to other cost effective freelancers including designers and photographers.
Some freelancers, like me, also have a wide skills background. This means that one person can deliver a holistic marketing campaign for you, looking at how all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. For many of my clients I write PR for them, manage their social media, create their e-newsletters and also edit and update their website, as well as running advertising campaigns and creating adverts on Meta.
Having one person managing all your activity is more like having a member of staff. It makes reporting much easier and you are only dealing with one person, rather than several.
Do you need support 24/7?
PR agencies come with a price tag but they often have a team of people who will cover when your account manager is on holiday or working on other projects. A good freelancer will, however, be organised and work with you to plan in advance, meaning that you shouldn’t notice any difference when they are on holiday.
Do you need support quickly?
Appointing a freelancer or agency can be much quicker than going through the recruitment process so we are a great choice if you need support quickly. The nature of our work means we are highly skilled and competent at getting up to speed with new clients and projects very quickly and will soon be delivering the results you are looking for. Finding a recruitment agency and interviewing candidates can be much slower and you might find that you are not able to find the level of skills and expertise that you are looking for.
If you are just thinking about the right solution to your support needs, I’d love to have a chat. I’ll be completely honest with you about your options and, if I am not the right fit, I will happily share my knowledge and contacts with you.
Emma Kate Farley Communications 