Choosing a Public Relations Agency: Services, Fees and How to Evaluate Fit

A public relations agency helps an organisation plan and deliver communications, such as media relations, messaging or campaign support. To choose one, define the audience and outcome you need, then compare each provider’s proposed work, evidence, measurement and fees. The right fit depends on what your team can manage and what the agency will actually own—not on the length of its service list or the number of press mentions it promises to pursue.

Table of Contents

• Define the communications work you need
  • Common PR service categories
• Match the delivery model to your team
• Evaluate fit through relevant evidence
  • What to check in a case study
• Compare fees, workload and implementation
  • Budget and delivery questions
• Agree how success will be measured
• Use the interview to test the working relationship
  • Vendor interview checklist

Define the communications work you need

“PR” can describe different kinds of work. A small business announcing a new service may need targeted media outreach and clear messages. An NGO promoting a public-awareness campaign may need to explain a complex issue to several audiences. A marketing team with an established communications plan may need extra capacity for a specific launch. Describe the job before asking providers to recommend a package.

Separate the organisational objective from the communications activity. “Get media coverage” describes an activity. “Help small-business owners understand why this service is relevant and where to learn more” sets out a more useful objective. Coverage may contribute to that goal, but it does not by itself show that the intended audience noticed, understood or acted on the message.

Common PR service categories

These categories can help you write a brief. Providers may combine them, so ask what specific work is included rather than relying on a broad label such as “full-service PR.”

• Media relations: identifying relevant outlets, preparing spokespeople and materials, and pitching stories. This can suit an organisation with a newsworthy announcement or expertise to share. The outlet retains control of its editorial decisions.
• Communications strategy and messaging: clarifying audiences, key messages, supporting evidence and the role of different channels. Consider this when your offer is difficult to explain, messages vary between teams or a campaign needs a consistent narrative.
• Campaign communications: planning communications around a launch, event, awareness drive or public-interest issue. The agreed scope may combine media outreach with content or other channels.
• Issues and crisis communications: preparing for or responding to reputational challenges. This work requires clear decision-makers, approval routes and escalation arrangements. Confirm the provider’s relevant experience rather than assuming every PR team offers this specialist support.
• Public affairs or stakeholder communications: engaging stakeholders and explaining an organisation’s position on policy or sector issues. This may be a better fit when the audience includes decision-makers or organised stakeholder groups.

A practical brief might say: “We need to help small-business owners understand a new service and give them a clear next step.” Add the audience, evidence available to support claims, relevant channels and approval owner. This gives agencies a basis for proposing work without making publicity the goal in itself.

Match the delivery model to your team

The type of engagement should reflect the work and your in-house capacity. A business with a marketing lead may need targeted media support for one announcement. A small organisation without communications staff may also need planning, writing and coordination. An NGO running a public campaign may need a partner that can work within its approval process and explain information clearly to different audiences.

Ask each provider to distinguish strategy, production and placement. One proposal might include message development and media pitching but exclude video production, paid media or ongoing social publishing. Another provider might coordinate some services through partners. Neither structure is automatically preferable: identify ownership, dependencies and additional costs before work starts.

Also check how the agency will work with your existing suppliers and staff. If your team owns the website, campaign content or customer follow-up, a PR plan may depend on their availability. For example, a media pitch that directs readers to a page that is not ready creates a handoff problem even if the outreach itself is well scoped. Put those dependencies in the brief and ask agencies how they would flag a delay.

Evaluate fit through relevant evidence

Relevant experience is more than a recognisable client logo. Look for evidence that the agency understands an audience, subject or communications constraint similar to yours, and can explain its role. A useful case study states the client’s need, the work the agency delivered and the evidence behind any claimed outcome.

Ask for examples that resemble your challenge: making a technical message accessible, reaching a specific community or managing a project with complex approvals. Ask what changed during the work and what did not go to plan. A provider should be able to distinguish its contribution from other influences, such as the client’s existing reputation, paid activity or the news cycle.

What to check in a case study

• Audience and objective: Who was the work intended to reach, and what were they meant to understand or do?
• Scope: Which activities did the agency own, and which relied on the client or another supplier?
• Evidence: Are the results supported by meaningful measures, or presented only as a list of placements?
• Constraints: Does the example explain how the team handled approvals, limited information or competing priorities?

Check that the people presented in a pitch will be involved in delivery. Ask who will write, handle media contact and report progress, and who covers if the day-to-day lead is unavailable. If your brief also calls for creative production or campaign delivery, review relevant examples in the 2 Fellas Media portfolio, while asking for the scope and supporting evidence behind any project you plan to use as a comparison.

Compare fees, workload and implementation

There is no responsible way to infer a suitable fee from the label “PR agency” alone. Scope, seniority, workload, specialist input, geography and third-party costs can all affect a proposal. Compare what each fee includes and excludes; a lower total is not like-for-like if it leaves out planning, reporting or production included elsewhere.

Common pricing approaches include a project fee for defined work, a retainer for ongoing agreed capacity, or time-based billing. A proposal may also combine a fixed scope with charges for additional approved work. Ask each provider to state its pricing model, billing assumptions, payment schedule, cancellation terms and process for scope changes. Give shortlisted agencies the same brief and requested deliverables to make proposals easier to compare.

Budget and delivery questions

• Which staff roles and approximate capacity are included, and how is that capacity allocated?
• Are research, writing, media monitoring, travel, production, paid placement or specialist suppliers included or charged separately?
• What happens if the brief changes, approvals take longer than expected or a time-sensitive issue arises?
• What reporting and review meetings are included, and will the agency explain additional charges before they are incurred?

Account for your team’s contribution as well as the agency fee. The provider may need a reliable source of facts, access to subject experts, timely approvals and someone empowered to resolve conflicting feedback. Agree who checks factual or legal claims, who can approve materials and how spokesperson access will be arranged. If those inputs are missing, work can stall regardless of the proposed tactics.

Be wary of vague deliverables, promises of guaranteed editorial coverage or a focus on volume without an explanation of relevance. An outlet controls its editorial choices. Clarify whether a placement is earned coverage, paid placement or another format; they are different activities and should be identified separately in reporting.

Agree how success will be measured

Before activity begins, decide what evidence will help you judge whether communications are working. AMEC’s Barcelona Principles call for measurable objectives and attention to outputs, outcomes and impact, and reject advertising value equivalents as a measure of PR value. Use the principles as a reference when discussing what a measurement plan should capture.

AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework distinguishes what communications produce from how audiences respond and what changes as a result. For a product launch, relevant coverage could be an output, audience understanding or qualified enquiries could indicate a response, and a business outcome could be agreed with the marketing team. The measures depend on the objective; no single metric proves PR caused a change.

For example, an NGO might assess whether campaign materials reach intended community organisations, whether participants understand a service and whether the agreed next step becomes easier to access. A business might examine whether coverage reaches its priority sector and whether relevant website enquiries mention the campaign. These are possible measures to agree in advance, not guaranteed effects of media activity.

If website visits are part of the plan, agree who will create and maintain campaign links. Google Analytics explains how URL parameters identify traffic sources and campaigns in its guide to URL builders and campaign parameters. Consistent tagging can help interpret referral traffic, but it does not establish that PR alone caused a conversion.

For every proposed measure, record its definition, data source, reporting interval and the decision it will inform. A placement count without a relevance criterion can reward volume over audience fit. Website visits without consistent campaign tagging may be difficult to interpret. A broad goal such as “improve reputation” needs a defined audience and a way to assess change before it can guide reporting.

Use the interview to test the working relationship

A pitch shows how an agency presents itself; an interview should show how it thinks through your constraints. Share the same short brief with each shortlisted provider. Ask for an initial approach rather than a fully developed unpaid campaign. Notice whether the team asks about audience, evidence, approvals and internal capacity before recommending tactics.

Vendor interview checklist

1. What would you need to know before recommending an approach?
2. Which parts of this brief would you own, and which would stay with our team or another supplier?
3. How would you judge whether a media opportunity is relevant to our audience?
4. What evidence would you report, and what would that evidence not prove?
5. Who will do the day-to-day work, and how will we reach them when priorities change?
6. What approvals, spokesperson access and internal response times will you need?
7. Which costs or activities are excluded, and how are changes approved?
8. Can you describe a challenge from comparable work and what you learned without disclosing confidential client information?

Useful answers explain trade-offs, limits and dependencies. A proposal that promises attention from particular outlets without acknowledging editorial control is a warning sign. So is a standard package offered before the provider understands your audience and objective. Ask how the agency checks facts and protects confidential information; PRSA’s Code of Ethics sets out professional principles including honesty, accuracy and protection of confidential information.

For a South African business, NGO or marketing team, compare providers against the same brief, settle on measures before activity starts and choose a scope your team can support. 2 Fellas Media lists capabilities including brand strategy, video production, web development, marketing campaigns, PR and media placement; explore 2 Fellas Media if your brief would benefit from considering those connected services alongside communications support.

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