How to choose a digital PR agency

Start with a clear brief

• Your goals and how you will measure them
• Priority pages and markets
• Spokespeople and data you can offer
• Topics and claims you must avoid
• Budget range and timing

A clear brief makes proposals comparable. Without one, each agency answers a slightly different question and you end up comparing creativity instead of fit.

What good agencies have in common

• Recent coverage you can click and read
• A clear process from idea to report
• Honest labelling of earned and paid links
• People who understand both PR and SEO
• Transparent pricing and contract terms

Size matters less than you might think. Boutique agencies can offer more senior attention; larger ones can offer more capacity. Judge each on its work and on who will actually run your account.

How to check an agency’s examples

1. Open each example and confirm the article is live.
2. Check the outlet is a real publication with real readers.
3. Look at whether the article links, and to which page.
4. Ask what the client’s goal was and whether it was met.
5. Ask which examples were earned and which involved a fee.

Ten minutes of checking tells you more than any credentials slide.

Questions to ask

1. Show us three recent campaigns and their results.
2. How do you test ideas before pitching them?
3. Which of our pages would you target, and why?
4. How do you report coverage, links and impact?
5. Who will work on our account day to day?
6. What happens if a campaign underperforms?

Listen to how they reason, not only what they promise. An agency that explains its thinking clearly will usually run campaigns the same way.

Red flags

• Guaranteed coverage in specific top-tier outlets
• No examples you can verify
• Reports built only on logos and reach estimates
• Long contracts before any results
• Vague answers about paid placements
• Ideas with no connection to your pages or audience

Comparing proposals fairly

Put proposals side by side on what they include: research, assets, the number of journalists pitched, reporting depth and contract terms. A cheaper proposal that skips research or reporting is not a like-for-like comparison.

Score each agency on a few weighted criteria, such as verifiable coverage, SEO understanding, reporting clarity, flexibility and team fit. It turns a gut feeling into a decision you can explain to colleagues.

A sample scorecard

Weight the criteria that matter most to you and score each agency from one to five. An illustrative version:

• Verifiable recent coverage (high weight)
• Understanding of SEO and your target pages (high weight)
• Quality of thinking in the proposal (medium weight)
• Reporting clarity and transparency (medium weight)
• Contract flexibility (medium weight)
• Team fit and seniority (medium weight)

Ask everyone involved in the decision to score independently first, then compare. Big differences between scorers usually point to questions you still need to ask.

What a good first proposal looks like

1. A short summary of what they learned about your market and competitors.
2. Two or three campaign ideas, each linked to target pages.
3. How each idea would be tested before pitching.
4. The outreach plan: segments, waves and spokespeople.
5. Measures, reporting format and review points.
6. Price, what it includes, and contract terms.

If a proposal skips the middle steps and jumps straight from idea to price, ask how the agency would actually run the campaign. The answer tells you a lot about the work you would get.

Agency, consultant or in-house?

Before choosing an agency, check that an agency is the right model. Agencies offer capacity, journalist relationships and speed. An in-house specialist offers deep product knowledge. A consultant offers senior expertise with limited capacity.

Many brands combine them: one in-house lead who owns strategy and approvals, working with an agency for campaigns and outreach. If you choose that route, make sure the agency is comfortable reporting into your lead and sharing its journalist notes, so knowledge stays with you.

Making the first 90 days work

1. Name one decision maker for approvals.
2. Agree response times for both sides.
3. Share product news and data early.
4. Review results monthly against the same measures.
5. Hold a proper review at the end of the quarter.

Expect a kick-off and audit in the first weeks, ideas for your approval, first outreach within the first month or so, and a review that decides what to scale. If you are comparing agencies now, we are happy to be one of them; send us your brief and we will reply with how we would approach it.

Frequently asked questions