9 Questions Growth-Stage Companies Should Ask a PR Agency Before Hiring
By David Barkoe
refreshed May 2026
Once, I had a meeting with the CEO of a growth-stage company preparing to complete a funding round that would mark a significant step in the company's evolution. He was hiring a PR agency to support the funding announcement and use it as the launchpad for an ongoing media and influencer relations program.
After we spent some time discussing strategy, tactics, and timetables, he asked me a question that I often field during my meetings with prospective clients:
"Is there a question I should ask you that I haven't yet?"
I smiled and said, "Yes, there are nine." That kick-started a productive growth-stage PR discussion that lasted for more than an hour.
These nine questions to ask a PR agency are especially important for companies evaluating a growth-stage PR agency for the first time. If your company is thinking that now is the time to bring in external PR counsel, you can pose these questions to identify theright agency to support your company's growth before and long after your next funding announcement.7 Questions to Ask a PR Agency
9 Questions to Ask a PR Agency
#1: Do you have experience with funding announcements?
I realize this question may seem unnecessary, given my intro to this piece. A company looking for initial support on funding PR would have already asked me this question. But let's get specific.
The tactics to support a funding announcement are similar to those announcing the launch of a new product, a customer win, or hiring a new senior executive. You want your PR partner to craft and issue the press release, conduct media outreach, prepare media briefing documents, measure results, and more.
However, subtle differences set a funding announcement apart from others. For example, many outlets require exclusive and/or embargoed pitching for funding announcements. You’ll also want to make sure your agency understands embargoed pitching as they can be a point of contention with reporters. We covered the ins and outs of embargoes in one of our articles here.
Also, you want to get your assets and your advocates ready before the launch. Make sure you have quotes and a POV from the investors on why they chose to invest in your brand. It’s even better to have customers willing to go on the record, and that will come in handy with the critical trade reporters who are closest to the buyers you’re trying to reach. And be ready to coordinate all communications across brand, employees and more when announcement day hits.
#2 What results can we expect from our partnership, especially within the first 3-6 months?
This is the most common question we get at Carve. So many companies we talk to want us to “guarantee” results but PR is not a guarantee game. However, this question is more answerable when we focus on both the tangible and intangible results.
The tangible are things like media placements, media opportunities (an opportunity is an opportunity, even if it doesn’t come to fruition for any reason), impressions, and reach. At the start of a relationship, we set a range of goals and KPIs that we work to meet or exceed on a monthly, quarterly and even yearly basis depending on the client. Sometimes we set them so that they grow over time since we know that media breeds media.
The intangible results, while not always directly measurable with a number or algorithm, are equally as important. How many inbound emails does your lead executive get? How many new business opportunities come through LinkedIn? Does your agency stay in real-time contact and come to you with ideas? Are you left wondering what your agency is doing and what you’re paying for monthly?
PRO TIP:You’ll also want to make sure you talk to a number of references for the agency you’re in talks with to really understand how they work, not just the results they deliver.
#3: What will you do in between announcements?
The best growth stage PR agencies are masters of sustainable PR strategies that raise awarenessduring "the time between tentpoles" — those months between significant announcements such as product launches, new hires, big events, and funding PR.
It's non-negotiable to hire a PR agency that understands modern PR is not just about media relations. It brings together earned, owned, and paid channels to surround the market, even without news. This is prime time for agencies to elevate the expertise of the company's leadership to separate them from the competition and stay top-of-mind. The best funding PR strategies don’t end once the round closes; they use that visibility to build long-term market credibility.
LinkedIn is one channel to activate, but it's not the only one; your agency should be agile enoughto move between channels and experiment where they see opportunities. And they should take what they learn from one channel and apply it in another.
PRO TIP:You might want to ask your agency about their philosophy on next-gen media opportunities: how do they incorporate non-traditional outlets in their strategy, who have they worked with, what kind of success they’ve found. Next-gen channels are great for speaking directly to niche audiences.
#4: Can you give me an example of when you made something out of nothing?
This is a great follow-up question to ask a PR agency because it goes right to the heart of a Sustainable PR program.
Ask agencies for specific examples of when they created something out of nothing. When did they ride a trend — or even spot a trend – turning their client into a resource for journalists? When did they identify an opportunity or a bigger idea with no push from the client?
Look for signs that they're creative, in sync with the speed of news, strong writers, and strategic pitchers. Also, look for ideas that came to life vs. those that were never activated.
On our end, we could share how we turned a LinkedIn post into podcast coverage or suggested a celebrity activation for a freight and logistics tech client’s seasonal moment. The list would be long.
#5: Have you worked with other brands in my industry before? What about reporters that cover the industry?
It's good to work with a partner that gets your space. But you don't have to lock yourself into a box; look for adjacent experience.
If you're a real estate tech company, you don't need the firm to have had specific real estate tech experience, but the firm should have worked with other disruptors. They should understand how to tell a story about the "old way" of doing things and the future.
When it comes to reporters, the benefit of hiring a PR firm is that they'll almost always have a common thread across clients. So, ask about those common threads and understand their media relations approach.
Don't worry too much if a prospective partner can't rattle off a list of specific journalists' names. You want to hear that they don't spend a lot of time building lists on Cision or other similar tools; instead, they take a personalized approach. The more significant opportunity is knowing how to target and attract a reporter and tell a story that drives them to report.
#6: What's the team structure?
No matter the size of your retainer you should have more than one person on your team. You want a few people – including senior coverage – that show up, give counsel, build strategy, execute, etc. This enables the account team to be more agile and respond quickly and creatively to challenges and opportunities.
Generally, this is one of the advantages small agencies have over larger agencies, where the more experienced professionals don’t have to play a game of catch up during tentpoles or in moments of crisis.
By asking this question, and by asking to speak with some of the members of your prospective team, you will also ensure the agency won’t pull the ‘ol bait and switch where the senior team shows up on the call to get you to sign, but then they turn the day-to-day work over to a very junior person.
Just be aware that the agency might not have the whole team in place before they land the business. In many cases they need a contract or verbal agreement in order to make people moves internally.
#7: How much time on our end will be required to do this right?
Each client has a preferred way of working, and the timing and frequency of meetings and brainstorms are usually up to the person who "owns" the relationship. We typically hold weekly meetings with our client stakeholders for the first 60-90 days of the relationship, then move to bi-weekly or project-based meetings.
You'll want an agency partner that's available to flex to your way of working. Sometimes, for us, that means Slack all the time because of our time zones; other times, it means early or late meetings.
What is important is that you share: share materials, share POVs, share upcoming plans. Give your agency the tools they need to make informed decisions, and the leeway to run with the right ideas.
You are the subject matter expert; we are the experts on communicating your vision to your target audiences. This is a sign of a true partnership.
#7: How do you measure and report results?
I've been in PR long enough to remember when we used to report the results we secured for clients with a resounding "Thump!!!" We would make hard copies of print, broadcast, and online hits and bind them together with circulations, viewership, and UVPMs (Unique Visitors per Month) into "coverage books." The louder the thump, the better the results.
PR is about so much more than an impression or UVPM. There are paid metrics platforms like Cision and Talkwalker, which we use at Carve. Some agencies go beyond that and develop their own tools to measure the impact of PR. Our proprietary scoring system takes a deep dive into the quality of each placement we secure. This system is beloved by our clients, with a number of them using our score as a corporate-level metric.
Whatever the method, you want an agency to understand and agree with your expectations and how you want to measure success.
#9 How do you factor AI into your work?
This is an important question to ask today, even just to see the look on the agency team’s face when you ask. If your prospective agency doesn’t understand how media coverage impacts AI visibility and has some measures in place to account for that, you probably want to walk away.
Here are some ways we factor LLMs into what we do at Carve:
Understanding which coverage and press releases contribute most to your company’s mentions on LLMs
Measuring how your company’s narrative and brand sentiment are changing over time
Keeping in touch with how AI is being used by reporters, by publications, and by thought leaders
Knowing what questions to ask a PR agency will help you quickly identify which partners will help your company grow faster, and which will not – which will truly be a partner to you rather than just a line item in your marketing budget.
One last thing: pay attention to the questions agencies ask you because that's always a sign of curiosity (or lack thereof). If they ask good questions, it’s a sign they'll be quick studies and good storytellers.
