Brand Strategist & Entrepreneur Taylor Ping on Growing a PR Company

The world of public relations and representation has never died down. With an ever-growing base of online platforms and users, it seems like the sky is the horizon for making your brand known. 

Gone are the days when you relied on expensive billboards and hired full-time strategists in expensive pantsuits to run your campaigns. Social media and online presence mark a whole different territory for those that want to establish their footprint.

As the volume of ads and brands increases in front of our eyes, the more important it becomes for brands to resonate with their audience. Executing an authentic campaign that represents the brand well means often that the people behind the branding strategy have to connect with their clients. Otherwise, a client is just another number through the growing funnel.

Hierarchy Media is a PR & branding consultancy agency that recognizes this resurging desire for brands to connect with their users authentically. Every single client, ranging from professional celebrities to entrepreneurs and athletes that walk through the door (or in this case, Zoom meeting) is met with a custom, tailor-made solution to their unique needs. Its founder and CEO, Taylor Ping, an experienced branding strategist, social media mogul, and creator of the Dragun Dens celebrity podcast, puts her full attention on every client that she brings on. 

Here she provides the secrets behind how to scale a PR company in the digital age.

Have a Clear Vision In Mind that Doesn't Involve Fame or Money

Those that get into PR with the dollar in their mind, might find it impractical to push beyond a certain limit. PR is a lot of grunt work and competition, especially if you want to have well-established connections and long-term clients. Developing those relationships takes time and proving your expertise. You might not be able to see results right away, even when you're following a plan and hiring the right people.

"My advice to entrepreneurs is to find something they're actually passionate about. It's much easier to get back up when you fail if you actually enjoy what you're doing and learning," asserts Taylor.

Treat Every Customer Like a Million Dollar Client, or Don't Take Them On

The old adage goes, the customer is always right. This is in fact true with PR too. You might be the top strategist in the industry, but if you can't facilitate that trust with your client— it'll be hard to keep them around. Building that trust means you're paying close attention to what your client needs, and not giving them a general template that can be reused for anyone. If you give your clients the star treatment, they'll be more likely to give you star reviews back.

The success behind her company is the consistent delivery of quality work and developing those imperative relationships to help represent her client's brand accurately every time. She focuses on quality, rather than quantity because she knows what the long-term impact it can have on Hierarchy Media.

Learn to Relinquish Your Responsibilities in Operations

The hardest but probably most important part of scaling a PR company is delegating responsibilities. As a strategist, you might be accustomed to doing everything yourself. But eventually, if you want to grow your client base, you need to focus your energy on the things you bring the most value to. 

Learning to trust individuals to fill your gaps is crucial if you want to move this process along. You need to delegate adequate attention to training the right team to take on these tasks, which will save you an abundance of time in the future.

"I eventually realized that if I wanted my company to scale, I needed to give up some parts of the operations and trust other professionals to do it for me", Taylor reflects.

Conclusion

Although growing a global PR branding agency is no easy feat, the opportunity is open for anyone who has the passion for helping shine light on the most brilliant individuals in the world. Developing the right strategy and relationships takes time and perseverance, but is well more executable these days with the numerous digital platforms available. Everything from content creation to social media automation tools are user-friendly and available for the strategists to learn to help elevate their client's brands.