Top 5 Factors That Impact How Much a PR Campaign Costs
If you’re thinking about public relations for your business, one of your first thoughts might be: how much does a PR campaign cost?
There are a number of factors that go into corporate PR campaign pricing. Here are a few we always take into consideration as we develop scopes of work for our clients.
1 - What is the news?
Before we prepare a proposal for you and your company, we first meet for a consultation. In that conversation, we discuss what you’re trying to achieve and the impact you’re hoping to make.
As a strategic PR and marketing firm, we’re always taking your short- and long-term goals into consideration. Different campaigns require a variety of strategies and tactics to accomplish those goals.
Here are a couple of examples of common campaigns that will require very different communication elements, and therefore different budgets:
Product, service, or business launches
Launches of any kind require tons of PR and marketing strategy, planning, and content.
You want to ensure that every channel your audiences - clients, prospective clients, employees, investors, referral partners, etc. - interact with provides cohesive, consistent messaging.
From news announcements and media pitches, to website updates and blog content, to social media and ad campaigns, and more - PR for product launches, service launches, or business launches is quite comprehensive and must be thoroughly planned and expertly executed.
We create this strategy and content in collaboration with you.
Sometimes clients have internal marketing teams or team members who share responsibility for this content creation. Other times our team at Kwedar & Co. handles everything. Pricing can then vary depending on who is responsible for the various aspects of your campaign.
Executive announcements
Sharing news about new hires or promotions for your executive team is an important part of public relations programming. This news supports the vision you - as the leader - are casting for your company, and how your team is going to help you get there.
In addition to sharing the announcement with the media, it’s really important that this news is shared internally and on social media.
As well, do you want your executive to be considered a subject matter expert? Do they need to be pitched to podcasts? Should they be writing columns for your niche’s trade publications?
The breadth of the campaign and the executive’s public-facing role both impact the scope - and therefore the pricing - of your PR campaign.
Crisis communications and reputation management
When it comes to sensitive issues and crises, PR campaign pricing is generally related to the severity and magnitude of the issue. While we rarely charge by the hour - our PR project and retainer fees are tied to deliverables - issue management can certainly be an instance where we budget based on time, and the fees will higher than standard services.
If you think you have an issue brewing, don’t hesitate; reach out for help immediately. The longer you wait, the more expensive it gets.
(Also, crisis communications is a situation where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - what you do to plan, prepare, and communicate long before you have an issue at hand can have a dramatic impact - in reputation and in cost - should you ever face a crisis.)
2 - Where and how is the news being shared?
We share news a few different ways (check out our news release intro guide to learn more here!):
We build custom media lists for clients based on their geographic location and their industry niche, and then we send the announcement to the media on that list via email.
We share the news on the client’s owned channels, such as their website and email, as well as on their social channels.
If appropriate, we distribute the news on a traditional newswire, like Businesswire (great for big announcements, but more expensive), or on a web-based service like PRWeb (ideal for image-heavy news, and where SEO is the primary goal).
Your project pricing will vary depending on the breadth of the media list, as well as if we are adding the expense of a newswire, and which wire service is best suited for your news.
3 - When is the news being shared?
One of the first questions we ask is: what is your timeline?
Do we have months to prepare? Weeks? Days? The longer we have to create your custom PR strategy and news content, the better and more cost effective. If your news is urgent, and other clients are getting rearranged to accommodate your needs, then rush fees will apply.
4 - What assets will help tell the news?
Artwork is so critical to storytelling!
For product, service, and business launches, we are looking for photos and videos that help tell the story, and how your customers will interact with your brand. For instance, think about a shoe launch. Reporters are hungry for as many photos as possible of the shoe itself, someone wearing it, a headshot of the designer, b-roll of the design and production process, your logo, etc. The more we can visually tell the story, the better.
For executive announcements, we principally need headshots of the team member, though if we have video to go with it, too, then that’s always great.
And, for crisis communications, a variety of artwork could prove helpful - physical plant imagery, headshots of the team, supporting video, and more.
If you already have these assets on hand, then your project fees aren’t generally impacted. However, if a photo or video shoot is needed, or the story requires custom artwork creation, then that will be taken into consideration when we prepare your custom scope of work for your PR campaign.
5 - Who is involved in the project?
As you think about who you’d like to join you from your company for your PR campaign team, more is not necessarily merrier. We need the right people involved, but no more.
So, who’s “right”?
The individuals critically involved in the story itself - for instance, if the news is about an individual, they need to be a part of the process. We need to be able to at least speak with the subject matter experts to ensure we accurately tell the story.
Anyone who can derail the process at a later stage. If the strategy and story are approved by everyone on the PR campaign team, and we move to send out the news, but then someone who was left out comes along and stops progress in its tracks because they weren’t included… they should have been brought in at the beginning. Not everyone has this power, but if someone is coming to mind as you read this, then you already know the answer.
Generally the CEO and/or another high-level executive who has the authority to approve strategy, content, and budgets.
This is not an exhaustive list of who you should include on your company’s PR campaign team, and we guide our clients through this process daily, so don’t fret. But, keep in mind that if more than 2 or 3 people are intimately involved in the project, then the budget does increase in order to expertly manage and include various opinions, feedback loops, etc.
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There you have it! Hopefully you feel more informed about how PR budgets are developed now that you know some of the primary factors that impact a company’s PR campaign fees. There are certainly factors that could come into play, such as if travel is involved, or if your executives require media training, but this list should get you started as you begin to think about your news, your team, and your company’s budget.
If you’d like to discuss your PR project’s needs and goals, please schedule a consultation today or send us a message below. We look forward to visiting with you and answering any questions you may have.
About The Author
Lauren Kwedar Cockerell is founder and president of Kwedar & Co. She is also the firm’s lead PR and marketing strategist, host of our podcast The Impatient Entrepreneur, as well as a frequent podcast guest.
Over the past 20+ years, she has worked with 100s of leaders and organizations to create PR and marketing strategies and tactics that support visions and reach goals.
To connect with Lauren, please send an email above, or book a consultation.