“How much does it cost to send one press release?” – This is a question that most PR agencies are very familiar with. In fact, agencies could potentially make a significant profit from handling individual press release orders. So why is there such a strong demand from clients, yet a strong reluctance from agencies? Why do agencies typically refuse these requests, and why do they occasionally make exceptions?
Money grows on trees, yet PR agencies claim they won’t pick it? At first glance, this seems absurd, but the agencies have valid reasons. Here’s why they typically avoid “picking it.” And at the end, we’ll explain the rare circumstances when they are willing to make an exception.
Customer and brand is unknown
An agency typically refuses to distribute a single press release when the client is unfamiliar or the brand is entirely new and unknown, with the people behind it remaining anonymous. Even a company registry check might not provide much useful information. In such cases, the income is uncertain, and the risk is too high. Since PR services are not cheap, it’s the agency’s responsibility to verify the client. If the potential client can’t be thoroughly vetted, it’s often better not to take on a single release at all.
Financial risk
The risks associated with this are significant and can be measured in PLN or EUR. When you know nothing about the brand or the people behind it, you can’t be sure if they are reliable and honest entrepreneurs. No agency wants to find out the hard way by wasting dozens of work hours on a questionable client. It’s far better to invest that time into sales efforts that could lead to long-term partnerships with more reputable brands.
Workflow
Agencies have limited human resources, meaning they can’t always allocate employees to handle extra tasks. From the agency’s perspective, if they have to choose between taking on a one-off project to earn some quick cash or doing something additional for a regular client, they’ll choose the regular client every time. Predictable financial flow is crucial in every industry, and PR is no exception.
Non-educated customer
Establishing cooperation with clients is a time-consuming process that requires effort from both sides to understand each other’s operating principles. This collaboration tends to be much smoother with clients who have prior experience working with a PR agency. Such clients understand why terms like “first on the market,” “best,” or “largest” are used so carefully in media materials. Without a clear understanding of the agency’s work, a client might develop unrealistic expectations about the results, tone, or messaging of the content the agency aims to distribute.
At Profeina, we almost always begin our collaboration with clients through joint workshops. During these sessions, we define the language of benefits, identify the needs of target groups, and establish the company’s archetype, among other things. This is also an opportunity to explain what types of information are likely to gain media coverage and how to write blog content that performs well on Google. These workshops ensure that we and the client are on the same page, reducing the need for ongoing explanations and minimizing the client’s involvement in the process to only what’s necessary. As a result, we understand each other better, and after the workshops, we can develop a comprehensive communication strategy.
Without proper preparation – such as workshops and a strategy – the content created might rely solely on the agency’s intuition and experience, combined with the client’s assumptions about what the media wants to cover and what might resonate with their audience. These assumptions could be accurate or entirely off base, making the process somewhat random. As a result, the content may not be optimal and, worse, could be ineffective.
Specialist topic
To write a press release that truly makes sense, you need to understand the topic thoroughly. This holds true even for seemingly simple and well-known products or services. For example, if we’re writing about image recognition technology, it’s important to know who else offers similar services and how they differ. If the subject is factoring, it’s crucial to understand the challenges entrepreneurs face and to be familiar with statistics on invoice payments.
When someone asks us to write a brief press release, it doesn’t mean we’ll spend only a little time on it. To fully grasp the subject, we need to conduct extensive research, which is often time-consuming. However, many clients are unwilling to pay for this research; they want to pay only for “distribution,” often expecting us to work with “information that is already written.” But it doesn’t work that way. Effective PR requires much more effort and understanding than simply pushing out pre-written content.
Cold media
If a brand has been relatively unknown so far, the media will be cautious about the materials provided by the agency. To gain their interest and excitement, you typically need to build a strong case. However, if the brand offers something truly unique—whether it’s exceptionally interesting, unusual, very affordable, or extremely high-end—something that stands out in the market—then the media may be more inclined to cover it.
Concern about results
When an agency has limited insight into a client’s industry, the brand is unknown, the client provides uninteresting information, the product or service lacks distinction, the client ignores the agency’s advice, or a foreign client fails to consider local context, the fear of poor results from a press release is entirely justified. Such a situation could lead to a complete failure, leaving the client disappointed and possibly permanently discouraged from working with any PR agency. We certainly don’t want that outcome!
Unfulfilled expectations
As I’ve mentioned, some customers have unrealistic expectations for a single press release. They might believe that one release will not only generate numerous publications but also make them widely known, open doors to key institutions, and more. However, achieving these results requires ongoing efforts. A single press release alone won’t deliver such outcomes, and even if it is exceptionally successful, its impact tends to be short-lived.
Unfulfilled customer expectations – despite a successful release – can damage a PR agency’s reputation. To avoid this risk, agencies often choose to decline such requests.
Why do agencies sometimes agree to handle a single press release?
PR agencies sometimes do handle individual press release requests, but this is usually under conditions that counter the typical reasons for refusing. For instance:
- Brand Recognition: If the brand is already known.
- Previous Collaboration: If the agency has previously worked with the brand or if a reputable partner, such as an international agency, has worked with it.
- Communication Strategy: If the client has a well-defined communication strategy, including a clear language of benefits and an understanding of the media their target audience consumes, as well as what aspects of the product or service are most important.
- Engaging Information and Openness: If the client provides compelling information and is receptive to the agency’s suggestions.
When most of these conditions are met, the agency may be more inclined to accept the task.
How much does it cost, and why is it so expensive?
Sending a single press release is definitely a more costly service compared to a PR agency’s monthly subscription fee, which is often divided by the number of releases included. This is because PR agencies offer a range of services beyond just sending press releases. They handle communication on behalf of the client not just once or a few times a month, but continuously.
What does this involve? Here’s an overview:
- Strategic Planning: Developing a comprehensive communication strategy.
- Research and Analysis: Understanding the market, media landscape, and audience needs.
- Content Creation: Crafting compelling press releases and other materials.
- Media Relations: Building and maintaining relationships with journalists and media outlets.
- Monitoring and Reporting: Tracking media coverage and assessing the impact of PR efforts.
To illustrate, Picasso was once asked to sketch something quickly in a restaurant and quoted $10,000, surprising the requester. When asked why it was so expensive for something that took only 30 seconds, Picasso replied, “It took me 40 years to get to this point.” Similarly, while writing and sending a press release might seem straightforward, it is only the tip of the iceberg. The extensive work behind the scenes is often underestimated but crucial for successful PR outcomes.
*What do our partner agencies based abroad think?
Clients often have similar expectations, as we’ve repeatedly observed within our Enterie agency network. However, within the network, we frequently encounter situations where a client who regularly works with a brand in their own market wants to expand into a new market. When such a client has established trust with us, we are more than happy to take on the task of introducing them to the new market.