When to Engage Outside PR Services

How to find that perfect PR consultant or PR firm

Founders and executive staff of startups and early stage companies often ask me when they should start an engagement with outside PR counsel and how to evaluate a firm aside from their proposal and fee. Obviously, no single answer I might give applies to every business situation; however, over the years I’ve learned that there are key indicators to recognize when a company isn’t ready to engage PR. I also have advice about what to consider when selecting a firm

If you think your company is ready for PR, make sure that you have:

Dedicated sales personnel, sales support under contract, or a reseller

Every company needs cash flow so make sure this process is sorted out. Small companies have limited personnel who are responsible for too many essential business practices. Investing in PR before the sales mechanism is in place is putting the cart before the horse. It also becomes a distracting task for people facing too many essential responsibilities like product development, engaging investors, and managing operations.

A social presence with some followers and more than a few dozen posts

Part of our work as consultants is digging into sticking points to get them unstuck so I can see where these blockages are and why they are occurring. A nonexistent social presence could mean there aren’t enough personnel in place for a public presence. It could also mean that the company’s branding isn’t ready for public view. Aside from the obvious problem of not having people to keep social properties active, more common reasons why companies haven’t engaged their social properties in a meaningful way is either they aren’t satisfied with their brand or they don’t fully understand their value proposition.

These indicators aren’t unusual nor alarming. It just means pay attention and get this sorted out. No doubt, branding can change over time. So can the public face and flavor of your social strategy. However, being too anxious or uncertain to jump into social media reflects something deeper that needs to be developed within a company. PR consultants can help here but it is crucial to recognize that this situation exists and recognize that it needs to be fixed.

Remember, too much uncertainty around the messaging and brand paralyzes the team from getting anything done. Worse yet, it means that nobody understands why nothing is getting done.

At least five users who will talk about the product

The best pitches and thought leadership originate from stories about implementations of the product. Likewise, press releases are better with the addition of a user quote and a short narrative describing actual use. The product’s value is better understood when it is explained visually either with pictures or words ( or both). That’s why it is critical for PR pros to talk to people using product stories.

Make it clear in your agreements with pilot testers and early adopters that they will share their use story with the PR team and external media. We find that these contracts usually include a clause about referrals and marketing, but public relations is not explicitly stated. Business people might think of PR as part of marketing but not educators. If this hasn’t been included in the contract, take steps to secure permission early in the relationship so that when it is time to move forward with PR, progress can be made more quickly.

Be mindful of summer vacations. School administrators tend to be more available during the summer but teachers are not. Teachers can disappear for the entire  summer – and rightly so because they need time to recharge.

Questions to consider when selecting a PR consultant

The skill sets needed for internal staff or external consultants are generally similar. In general, the PR team members — either internal or external — need to be efficient managers of the budget while also being trustworthy stewards of your brand. In my experience, when looking for outside PR consultants the following factors become even more critical.

Are the consultants experts in your industry?

Given the speed of business and the rapid changes in media, it is essential that PR firms specialize in your industry. This is not to say that effective PR people can’t adapt to new verticals and build contacts. It just takes time to build those relationships. Very few firms are experts in everything. Clearly the larger firms have broader territory, but broad can also mean less depth. There is no substitute for knowing people and following a business sector day after day.

Do they have established media contacts?

Knowing individual reporters and editors is vital. They need a broad list of contacts and understand the specific kind of stories those reporters cover. Merely pulling a media list based on a beat isn’t sufficient. PR pros need to have institutional knowledge, the kind that isn’t recorded in media databases. One way to get a better read on this is to ask consultants which reporters your company should stay away from and why. If they can answer this question spontaneously, they know their media contacts well and they know the business market.

Don’t confuse this recommendation with the expectation that consultants need to know every reporter in the space. They should know lots of them, but beats change all the time. It isn’t that hard to do the backgrounding needed to make an adequate story pitch. However, the more reporters your prospective counsel knows, the greater the odds are that they can land stories. It also means they can give better strategic counsel because they are following the space so closely that they anticipate where the story opportunities might be and know the troublespots.

PR pros have to know the subtleties within an industry including trends, issues, terminology, the leaders, and the competitive landscape.

Can they write well and succinctly?

Good writing leads to better wins. Pitches to the media have to be tight. Consultants should be able to model this in everything from proposals to email messages, to social posts and long form writing.

Some may not agree with this next point: PR professionals should NOT use AI to write. I stand firm on this. PR is a relational and strategic exercise. Using AI is not only ineffective, it prevents thoughtful development of strategy. Fighting through the message choice and backing into and out of corners is a valuable exercise that has long term benefit in preventing issues and seeing opportunity. Leaving the writing to AI prevents that mental gymnastics. Furthermore, media can spot AI in the first 3 words of anything including subject lines or the physical structure of an email.

In my opinion, it is a little insulting to approach a person who writes words for a living with an email written by AI. Don’t be the company the reporter remembers for AI-generated pitches and press releases.

Are they able to strategize effectively?

A PR campaign is like training for a marathon: lay a solid foundation and notch some short term wins that build up and support the long term goal. More specifically, a good PR campaign is like training for a marathon when you’ve never actually run anything. The new runner needs an entire year of work building up to that marathon. There are dozens of short term wins in the training calendar. That first mile run, the first 5k, and the first mile under 8 minutes are all solid achievable benchmarks that are great morale boosters and when achieved, represent a smart training plan.

It’s a similar idea in PR. Have a long-term plan that builds on short-term wins. Building the strategy takes vision and the ability to engineer a series of wins that build and feed off one another.

Can they organize themselves and others?

To keep the budget in check and stay on that well-conceived plan, good organizational skills are needed. This can be demonstrated through a well organized proposal, or something as simple as an agenda. You can also recognize an effective organizer by how they conduct a conversation and demonstrate how they might construct the PR plan.

Good consultants also can sense when a conversation is veering off-track or when they themselves are being distracted, then get the conversation back on track. Having this skill indicates confidence and knowledge of the space. You have to be 100 percent sure your consultant (team) has your account in good hands.

My final advice in evaluating a potential PR consultant is to make sure your personality and communication style meshes well with the consultant under consideration. It might seem that getting along shouldn’t be part of the consideration since success is measured on results, not friendship. This advice isn’t about simply getting along. Rather, it reflects the idea that two parties tend to get into sync faster, are more efficient, and generate better results when they have complementary traits and communication styles.

This was originally published in PR in EdTech on LinkedIn on January 30, 2025.