One of the more vexing elements of being a PR client is figuring out what you are paying for. The vast majority of PR firms charge clients monthly retainer fees that cover the entire scope of their work, whether or not that work resulted in any media placements that month.
It takes a special client not to gripe about this arrangement. After all, everyone always wants to get their money’s worth, but with PR, sometimes it’s hard for clients to see the value of a strategy session or the drafting of marketing materials.
An alternative model is called pay-for-placement. It simply means that the PR firm only gets paid after a story about you appears in the media. Mainstream PR agencies consider this to be an unseemly practice, and few engage in it.
According to a story in today’s Wall Street Journal, however, the pay-for-placement model is gaining traction. Small business owners who can’t afford multi-thousand dollar monthly outlays with no results are starting to turn to pay-for-placement agencies.
The pay-for-placement model has its own pitfalls, however. For instance, even though you think you are paying only for media placements, in reality the fee charged for the placement encompasses all the behind-the-scenes work the agency did to get the story in the media (for instance, the story in the Journal, which focused on a single small business owner, cost her a $6,000 fee paid to the pay-for-placement agency she is working with). In addition, there is some concern that pay-for-placement agencies are often boiler-room operations, where they are dialing around furiously trying to get stories placed, since that’s the only way they get paid.
What’s a client to do? The most practical solutions are to:
- Do your homework so you know what you are trying to achieve with your PR spending and what type of agency would best help you
- Develop a close working relationship with your agency that allows you to keep track of the work they are doing on your behalf and adjust your program if you don’t think you are getting your money’s worth
