Keep The Right Expectations From Your PR Campaign

The path of a long-lasting happy relationship with a client ends if you fail to meet client expectations. As a PR professional, it is crucial for you to not only fulfill your promises but to consistently exceed them. This is probably why PR is considered a tough field to master, where PR professionals are constantly trying to fuse the client's expectation with reality. Most PR professionals will agree that clients expect overnight success from their PR campaigns; it is up to account managers and PR executives to instill a sense of reality, as when these rosy expectations are not met, clients will be dissatisfied. Managing client’s expectations is a fine art that every PR professional should master. Here are a few tips to help PR executives hone their client-relation skills, manage their client’s expectation and dispel rampant PR myths:  

Don’t be hesitate to call the baby ugly

Unaware of how PR works, clients are often not the best judge especially when it comes to determining what’s best for their PR campaign. They need a little tough love to set things on the right track. Their vision might not be feasible and it is your job to be upfront about it, before signing the contract. Transparency and honesty go a long way in building client trust and loyalty. Constant communication and reality checks will help keep the client’s expectations realistic and will pose as a complete win-win situation for all.  

Educate your client

There are many misconceptions about how PR works and what underlying value it offers a business. Educate your client on the basics as well as on the internal processes. Doing so can mean a world of difference between a happy client and a frustrated one. Conducting client training to update them on internal processes and other practices will get everyone on the same page and dispel any unrealistic expectations or myths.  

Under-promise, but Over-deliver

Your reputation alongside your performance is at stake if you frequently under-deliver. To avoid this, make sure you always deliver what you promise and for this, always promise results that you can achieve. For example, if you hope to deliver four media placements for a client, and you know you can deliver two, it’s best if you set their expectations for two. Now, if you do get all four placements, you will be their hero.  

Open communication

Create a schedule and encourage open communication. A question such as ‘how often should your clients expect to hear from you?’ and ‘How often will you send them progress reports?’ should be addressed at the beginning. More importantly, by encouraging open communication, clients are clear about their expectations VS reality and thus, you will be setting the right tone for your client relationships with realistic goals in mind. PR professionals should keep in mind that acquiring new customers cost, on average, six to seven times more than it does to keep existing clients happy. Therefore, it makes sense to put a strategy in place for managing client expectations on every campaign. A PR plan without a clear objective and realistic expectation is a recipe for disaster.   Tags: PR Professionals, Counter negative PR,  Influencer marketing