When it comes to getting great PR results, it definitely takes two to tango. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, an organisation onboarding a PR consultancy for the first time has to prepare itself as thoroughly as its partner to get the best out of their partnership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on our experience working with dozens of clients with different engagement models: project, retainer, or a single activity, we have created the following six questions that will help you set yourself up for PR success, no matter how you and your partner choose to define it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working with a PR consultancy costs money and time. The first question naturally then is to ask yourself is whether you really should engage a PR partner – whether on a retainer or for a short-term assignment. There are many tests to evaluate, but we recommend two of the simplest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First: organisations have diverse needs: some need PR for building credibility or crisis management, some for leadership visibility, some for category building or education, some for investor confidence, some for employer branding, and some for policy influence. Listing out your most critical needs is often the first step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second: Most organisations who do well with PR results have at least one good story, and often a bank of good stories about them that are ready to be told, and if told well, would be of high interest to their stakeholders, starting of course with the media. Note the two keywords: good story(ies); high interest and\/or relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only after you have clearly established that PR has a meaningful role to play, the next question is whether your organisation is ready and aligned to support it. This is often the most underestimated part of a new PR engagement. Many organisations assume that once a consultancy is onboarded, the PR engine will begin to run on its own. In reality, even the best PR partner needs timely inputs, access to leadership, internal context, proof points, approvals, and a reasonable level of responsiveness from the client organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PR success depends heavily on internal alignment and preparedness. A consultancy can refine or shape narratives, identify story opportunities, engage journalists, prepare spokespersons and manage outreach. But it cannot do this effectively if the organisation is unable to provide clarity on priorities, validate facts, share data, make leaders available, or approve material within workable timelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understood this way, the question can thus be reframed as: do we have the internal capacity to participate in PR, not just outsource it? This participation is not always complex. But as a minimum, organisations should identify a clear internal owner for the PR relationship, provide access to relevant business leaders and subject matter experts, share credible information about the business, and respond quickly when opportunities arise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They should also be prepared for the iterative nature of PR: messaging may need to be refined on the go, spokespersons may need thorough preparation, and story ideas that appeared bullet proof on slides may need to be tested in the field and improved (or junked) over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Readiness also means being willing to look at the organisation from the outside in. What may seem important internally may not automatically be interesting to the media or meaningful to external stakeholders. Similarly, what the organisation wants to say may need to be reframed around what its audiences are likely to care about. This requires openness, patience and a willingness to be advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good PR partner should help you build many of these foundations. But ultimately, the more prepared and internally aligned the organisation is, the more effectively its PR partner can convert expectations into real outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PR cannot succeed without leadership alignment, and this goes much beyond signing off on the contract. The organisation\u2019s leadership must have a shared understanding of why PR is being pursued, what the organisation wants to be known for, who its priority audiences are, and what kind of visibility it is willing to build over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many organisations, PR underperforms not because the agency lacks effort, but because the leadership team has not aligned on the fundamentals. Journalists may want access to the founder, CEO, business leaders, technical experts, or functional heads. Thought leadership may require a strong point of view from the top. Issues management may require quick decision-making. Media opportunities may require spokesperson availability at short notice. If senior leaders are not willing to invest time, share perspective, participate in preparation, or respond quickly when needed, even strong PR opportunities can lose momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Equally important is alignment on what the organisation is willing to say publicly. PR is not only about communicating good news. It often involves taking a position on market trends, business shifts, sectoral developments, innovation, regulation, talent, customer needs, or future direction. Leadership teams must be comfortable with this level of visibility and with the time commitment that comes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most effective PR partnerships in our experience are usually those where leadership actually owns communications as a strategic function, is always accessible and willing to be advised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The whole point of PR is establishing credibility for your narratives through an independent third party, which often (but not always) is a media title writing a story carrying your narrative\/messaging. The keyword here is independent. We call it earned media, because it can\u2019t be bought, scripted or guaranteed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is remarkable how many internal stakeholders (refer to points 2 and 3 above) do not understand how earned media really works. Unlike paid media (think ads, sponsored or branded content, paid influencer collabs), where you control the message, format, timing and placement, earned media depends entirely on independent editorial judgement – from a journalist and their editor – who both must believe that the story is authentic and useful for their audience. What may appear very topical and newsworthy to a senior leader may actually be judged by an editor to be irrelevant for their title\u2019s audience (or readers). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding earned media also means accepting that PR outcomes are influenced by factors beyond the organisation\u2019s and their PR partner\u2019s control. News cycles change, other stories might take priority, journalists may ask difficult questions, coverage may not use the exact language we planned. Sometimes, a strong story may still not result in immediate coverage because the timing, context or editorial appetite is not right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your organisation and internal stakeholders understand and appreciate the independence of editorial judgement, you are far more likely to build a productive, mature and credible relationship with earned media over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Measurement is one of the most common sources of misalignment in PR engagements. It connects the line between stated expectations: \u201cwe want more visibility\u201d, \u201cwe want to build our reputation\u201d, or \u201cwe want to be seen as a thought leader\u201d, and the outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a blank slate, one can start with painting a rough picture of what exactly would make this PR engagement feel successful after six or twelve months. This picture should have elements like the quality, relevance and strategic value of visibility. Visibility in the right publications, and not necessarily the biggest news sites or TV channels, is often the key to reaching the audiences that matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t go after vanity metrics like number of coverage clips or AVE. Instead, choosing strategic metrics like whether the desired messaging is appearing in the coverage, whether the leaders are quoted on topics you want to own, and whether you have visibility in the right business, policy, industry or talent conversations is a better way to develop a measurement approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A thoughtful interview, an authored article, a strong quote in an industry story, or a sustained public leadership commentary around a chosen theme may contribute more to achieving your PR objectives than a high volume of generic announcements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Measurement should also be tightly aligned to the nature of the PR objectives and a good early indicator of a good PR partner is how thoughtfully they have designed the measurement approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, you are going to ask yourself: is our visibility becoming more credible, more relevant and more aligned with what we want to be known for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While earned media can certainly be highly cost-effective, good PR still requires serious investment across consultancy fees, time, content, research, spokesperson preparation, measurement, and sometimes supporting assets or activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It therefore helps to ensure that the expectations from PR are proportionate to the budget and resources being committed. Often, a clear listing of scope or mandate can be the first input in budget estimation. A good PR partner can support everything from corporate messaging and narrative development to media, influencer, analyst, and policy stakeholder relations, content development, events, thought leadership or policy advocacy programs, crisis preparedness, and even internal communications. The broader and more strategic the mandate, the more important it is to resource it appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also important to recognise that PR cannot be evaluated only on the basis of monthly retainer comparisons. Two agencies may quote different fees, but they may also bring very different levels of senior counsel, strategic thinking, writing quality, media understanding, team depth, responsiveness, and ability to work with leadership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, appropriate budgeting does not always mean choosing the largest agency or the most expensive proposal. It means aligning the investment with the complexity of your mandate and the quality of counsel required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisations should also account for costs beyond the retainer fee. Depending on the mandate, these may include monitoring, research, reports, design, photography, video, events, travel, media roundtables, content production, spokesperson training, awards submissions, or digital amplification. Not every PR mandate needs all of these, but it is better to identify likely requirements early rather than discover later that the budget only covers a fraction of the ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is PR does not need unlimited budgets to work well, but it does need realistic budgets – both time and money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013-<\/p>\n\n\n\n