Since the beginning of the agency or business has an influence on its future fortunes, people who are considering setting up a public relations or advertising agency need to make sure that their business has a sound footing. One needs to explore to settle on the particular areas they can do well. One also needs to know which areas have good job offers and how they will be able to win good contracts or jobs in those areas. Knowledge about these should form the basis for setting up a new firm or business.
Acquiring the necessary information for setting up a successful agency should involve activities like market research, writing successful business plans, building good business networks and relationships, and acquiring relevant skills training and experience. In addition, setting up an office, where to site it, choosing a name for the firm and choosing logos and corporate colours are all important considerations. Taking all these important business decisions into consideration should not be done in a vacuum. Each and every step should be informed by findings of a quality market research which may be contracted to a professional market research consultant or consultants.
Reasons for Doing Good Market Research
The market research carried out by a prospective agency owner or by consultants should be aimed at identifying the best strategies for marketing a new firm. It should also be aimed at identifying ‘green areas’ and newly established businesses that may require the services of public relations and advertising agencies, consultancies or professionals. Such new corporations may not have had links with the renowned firms yet and negotiating a business relationship with them may be relatively easier. Marketing research consultants can also be contracted specifically to help identify companies in need of PR or ad agencies.
In doing the research, which may involve surveys among business organisations, one should be interested in knowing which agencies are ranked high by corporations and why. Knowledge and information about the strategies of existing agencies will equip the prospective agency owner with the right information on how to also excel as well as knowing which strategies are considered best practices among service consumers.
Successful PR and ad practice also require the monitoring of new trends in the industry. The market research should therefore also provide information on new trends in advertising and public relations. It will be good to know if more organisations now prefer online advertising to traditional advertising or internet public relations to traditional public relations.
How to Apply Market Research Findings
The findings of the market research should let one know which business areas will be profitable. Applying the market research findings should lead one to focus on specialising in (for example) the telecommunications industry, the oil industry, sales and purchasing companies, political advertising or public relations, or any others that the research may throw up as being very ‘fertile areas.’
Besides deciding on industry specialisation, the research findings should also be applied in deciding the specific areas of specialisation.
Areas of Specialisation in Public Relations
In PR for example, such areas of specialisation may include:
- Crisis Management or Communication
- Public relations research
- Issues Management
- Promotions
- Protocol Management
- Media relations
- Launches
Areas of Specialisation in Advertising
For advertising, one may choose to specialise in:
- Web or Online advertising
- Outdoor advertising
- Print advertising
- Traditional media advertising
- Branding and promotions, among others.
