When a company hires an agency, there is a set of expectations: get more media coverage, develop and place ads, create marketing collateral, manage special events and trade shows. All of these activities should be in an agency's quiver, but there's much more that a well-rounded agency can do to help its clients.

At the center of any agency should be the ability to help a company develop strategy, focus its messages, increase sales, and communicate effectively with targeted audiences. The basic skills required are in-depth knowledge of the industry and company, and the ability to communicate in a way targeted audiences will respond to.

But why limit those skills to traditional PR and marketing? If an agency brings that kind of depth to the table, there's so much more it can do to help its clients' business. Below are some examples of services that agencies can provide to help a client's bottom line. Some of these are in the purview of full-service agencies, while others might be unexpected:

Assist with strategic planning, company and product positioning.
Plan and produce technical papers, white papers, opinion pieces, and issue-oriented articles.
Create and produce permission-based e-newsletters that are relevant and valuable to customers.
Provide writing and editing services for RFPs, user manuals, grant proposals, sales letters, business plans, award entries and other important company communication.
Provide content management and/or consulting for the company web site.
Write speeches and letters for high-level management.
Prepare sales templates and presentations.
Tutor top managers on presentation techniques and speaking to the media.
Assist with software splash screens and product packaging.
Conduct customer and industry surveys and analyses.

Basically, anything that includes strategy and communication can benefit from the services of an agency that will do this work as part of a complete package. Ask more of your agency. The ones that can deliver are the kind of great business partners you want to have.

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