By David Barkoe

Published June 22, 2023

Note: I wrote a version of this for our April monthly newsletter. You can subscribe here for more PR tips, creative inspiration, and original content.

As an agency that handles PR for startups and growth-stage companies, we meet many companies that are excited to get their story into the media. But the excitement does not equal readiness. 

We’ve sometimes lost clients after just a few months of working together. It was clear, looking back, that they weren’t ready for PR in the first place. 

PR isn’t just a service—it’s a partnership. Clients bring as much to the table as we do, and they need to be prepared for the investment we will make together. Here are our 5 signs that you’re ready to hire a PR agency.

5 Signs of PR Readiness

1. You’re aligned on your basic narrative. 

If you don’t know who you’re selling to, who you’re competing with, or why you exist, you need to do more work before properly guiding an external agency. 

PR only works if you stick to a simple, consistent message about who you are and what you do. Your spokespeople need to speak the same language, and it needs to line up with what your brand says elsewhere. 

You don’t have to have everything figured out. We run a narrative session in the first two weeks of every partnership to nail down messaging. Some clients show up with a beautifully detailed marketing brand bible. Others show up with old messaging that they’ve pivoted away from or simply a great business idea that they haven’t figured out how to communicate. 

At the end of the workshop, we have a matrix that details the brand’s “what, why, how, who, and for whom.” It’s tailor-made for media — simple yet differentiated.  

2. You know what PR success looks like for your company. 

Before starting your agency search, you should know what you’re trying to achieve or how you’ll “judge” the work. What are your most important business goals, and how can PR help you achieve them? 

For example, the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) reports that companies’ top 3 objectives for hiring a PR agency are to proactively improve their reputation (63%), increase sales (52%), and build brand purpose (46%). 

These objectives are trickier to measure than CPM or other traditional advertising metrics. Simply looking at monthly visitors or viewership can be misleading: is a one-word mention in the New York Times really more valuable to your brand than a 500-word feature in your most important trade publication? 

At Carve, we use measurement methods that make sense for the goal or tactic. For example:

We’ve also created a proprietary grading system that measures standalone coverage with more nuance than transactional metrics like advertising value equivalency (AVE). That helps us make sure that each individual placement ladders up to your overarching goals. 

Work with your business teams to set an objective that is relevant to the entire business. This will help you hire a PR agency that can deliver value for your company beyond just getting your name into the media. 

3. Your competitors are getting coverage that should be going to you. 

Often, PR strategies focus on major announcements. Companies think that if there’s no funding round or product launch upcoming, there’s no reason to invest in PR. 

One often-overlooked sign that it’s time to hire a PR agency is if you are seeing competitors get media coverage on topics that you could be commenting on. Ask yourself honestly: could that have been us? Do we have a more detailed, nuanced, or different point of view than what the competition is offering? 

Our sustainable PR approach focuses on creating momentum beyond the tentpole moments. 

For example:

• When the smoke from Canadian wildfires caused air quality to plummet across the northeastern US, we helped get Friedrich, an air conditioning manufacturer, on Fox News to talk about how air conditioners can keep smoke out of homes. 

• After The Wall Street Journal revealed that ESPN was building a DTC (direct-to-consumer) streaming app, we connected Quickplay, which builds the platforms Tier 1 operators use to run their streaming businesses, to a Forbes reporter looking for expertise on the impact on cable companies. The reporter ended up quoting Quickplay’s CEO at length in an article that also quoted Disney CEO, Bob Iger. 

Potential customers and clients want to have no doubt that you are experts in their businesses and the industries in which they operate. They won’t see you as an alternative to your competitors if all they hear is silence.

4. Your C-Suite is on board. 

The C-suite needs to be an active participant in PR efforts. They don’t just write the checks—they are the faces and voices of the brand. 

Executives should be willing to talk about their brand and the issues and trends within their industry. Reporters need authoritative sources who can offer new perspectives: they won’t cover someone who’s saying the same things as everyone else in their field. 

PR agencies will help executives develop a viewpoint and get comfortable speaking with reporters. But the executive has to be willing to put in the time – making themselves available for last-minute interview opportunities that have been vetted, answering questions tied to hot topics quickly. 

I promise this: less time is needed as the relationship between agency and brand strengthens. We see this across the executive LinkedIn feeds we run as thought leadership channels for many clients. Those posts get minimally revised by our clients because we all commit to one hour per month to have a conversation. That one hour per month generates media pitch ideas, speaking topics, byline headlines, and more.

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5. You have a point person who’s ready to collaborate. 

Your day-to-day contact obviously needs to show up for calls and get materials and information to us in a timely manner. But they also need to be a partner who is willing to be challenged. 

We rely on our clients to share their business expertise. Conversely, we expect our clients to trust our judgment in public relations. 

The best agencies aren’t order-takers. They mold and shape opportunities and viewpoints in collaboration with the client to meet objectives. 

Landing a client is always a moment of celebration for a PR agency. It’s not just about the income—it’s also about potential, opportunity, and learning something new. 

We want to keep up this momentum and avoid that moment when it becomes clear that a client has jumped the gun in engaging us. We hope these signs help you gain clarity on when you’re ready for external PR. Once you’re ready, use our 7 questions to find an agency that has the chops to deliver great PR for startups and growth-stage companies.