What Does a PR Agency Actually Do Each Month?
By Jordan Baker, Founder of Fair Public Relations and former UK national journalist
A PR agency should be doing considerably more each month than writing a press release, emailing it to a list of journalists and waiting to see what happens.
At its simplest, I think ongoing PR comes down to two things: creating good content and consistently pitching it to the right journalists.
There is obviously a lot of work sitting underneath those two things.
A typical month may involve:
- developing new story and media angles
- writing press releases and media pitches
- creating expert commentary
- researching journalists and publications
- pitching proactive stories
- responding to journalists looking for experts, products or stories
- following up where appropriate
- gathering information from the client
- coordinating interviews
- supplying images, products or supporting material
- monitoring pending opportunities
- tracking published coverage
- reviewing which angles are working
- adjusting ideas that are not generating interest
- keeping the client informed
Not every month will contain exactly the same activities, and not every piece of work will result in a published article.
That is one of the most important things to understand about a monthly PR retainer.
You are paying an agency for its strategy, judgement, writing, pitching, relationships, execution and account management.
You are not buying a guaranteed number of articles.
But that does not mean clients should simply accept being told that lots of invisible work is happening.
A good PR agency should be able to show you what it is doing, why it is doing it, where journalists are showing interest and what it plans to do next.
What are you actually paying for when you hire a PR agency?
Ultimately, you are paying somebody to turn your business into material journalists might genuinely want to use.
That sounds fairly simple.
In reality, it involves a lot of judgement.
An agency has to understand:
- your business
- your goals
- your expertise
- your products or services
- your audience
- the media you want to reach
- what journalists in those areas actually cover
- what is happening in the wider news agenda
- which parts of your business have genuine editorial potential
Then it has to turn those things into stories, commentary, pitches and opportunities.
After that, somebody has to take those ideas to journalists consistently.
That last word matters.
Consistency is a huge part of PR.
You can have the best media idea in the world, but if it never gets written properly and pitched to anybody, it is worthless.
Equally, you can send hundreds of emails every month and achieve very little if the ideas are poor or the journalists are irrelevant.
Good monthly PR needs both quality and activity.
Does a PR agency just write press releases?
No.
Press releases are useful, but I think people sometimes use "press release" as shorthand for virtually every piece of proactive PR content.
A client might have:
- expertise we can turn into advice or commentary
- a founder story
- a consumer product
- a service
- original data
- customer stories
- company news
- an upcoming launch
- an opinion on something happening in their industry
- a real-life story
Those things do not all need to be presented in exactly the same way.
Sometimes a formal press release makes sense.
Sometimes a short pitch makes more sense.
Sometimes a journalist wants a few paragraphs of expert commentary.
Sometimes the opportunity is a product review.
Sometimes we are responding to a journalist who has already told us exactly what they need.
The format follows the opportunity.
What I want to see on an account is a healthy flow of ideas moving from the business, through the PR team and out to journalists.
How much content should a PR agency be pitching?
There is no universal number that every agency should produce.
It depends enormously on the client.
A business with one expert spokesperson has a different number of possible content streams to a company with three experts, several consumer products, customer stories and regular company news.
At Fair PR, I tend to think about activity by the different things we are promoting.
If we have an expert, I want to see useful expert-led content going out.
If we have a product, I want to see product opportunities being explored.
If there is a good service angle or story, that can become another stream of activity.
As a broad internal activity aim, I like to see at least one strong proactive piece of content being pitched in a week when the client has something genuinely worthwhile to say. This is a judgement-led working benchmark, not a deliverable promised to every client every week.
Where a client has several genuine content strands, there may be several different pieces being worked on or pitched at the same time.
I also like to see us actively responding to journalists who are already looking for experts, products, stories or information.
Another internal aim might be to respond to around four genuinely suitable journalist requests in a week when those opportunities exist. These are flexible working benchmarks, not contractual quotas or fixed weekly deliverables.
Some sectors naturally produce far more reactive opportunities than others.
Some weeks the news cycle is extremely active.
Other weeks there may be very little worth responding to.
The important thing is not hitting an arbitrary number.
It is that there is enough relevant activity taking place to give the campaign a realistic opportunity to generate interest.
How does a PR agency decide what to pitch?
A good agency should not simply ask the client, "What would you like us to announce this month?"
That is part of the conversation, but it cannot be the whole strategy.
Businesses naturally think about what matters to them.
Journalists think about what matters to their audience.
There is often a gap between the two.
A client may want to promote a particular service because commercially it is their priority.
A journalist may be much more interested in the expertise behind the service.
A founder might want to talk about a company milestone.
The stronger story may actually be something they learned while building the company.
A brand might want to promote a new product.
A journalist may only care about it because it fits into a wider consumer trend.
The agency's job is to find that connection.
That can involve a lot of ideation.
We might look at:
- current news
- seasonal opportunities
- consumer behaviour
- industry developments
- common customer questions
- new data
- interesting opinions
- client experiences
- journalist requests
- recurring editorial formats
- product trends
- wider cultural conversations
Then we work out where the client can add something credible.
What does good journalist pitching and follow-up look like?
As a former journalist, I would rather receive a short, relevant pitch that makes an opportunity obvious than a long email full of agency language.
Are you offering an expert to interview? A product to review? A story, a useful comment or original data? The journalist should not have to work out what you are asking.
I would much rather see a smaller number of sensible pitches to journalists likely to cover the subject than hundreds of irrelevant emails.
Follow-ups can be appropriate, particularly when a strong pitch gets buried. But repeated messages asking whether somebody has "seen the below" rarely make a weak story stronger, and constant phone calls can damage relationships.
What matters is repeatedly being useful to journalists, not chasing every pitch until somebody replies.
What happens when journalists are not interested in an angle?
You learn from it.
Sometimes we change the pitch.
Sometimes we adjust the angle.
Sometimes we try a different part of the media.
Sometimes a journalist gives us useful feedback which changes the direction completely.
Sometimes we park the idea and move on to something else.
I do not really look at that work as wasted.
Everything we pitch is an attempt to create journalist interest, which can ultimately lead to coverage.
PR involves testing ideas.
You are not going to know with certainty how journalists will react to every story before you send it.
What matters is what the agency does with the response.
If something repeatedly gets no interest, continuing to send exactly the same thing to more and more people is not a strategy.
The agency needs to think.
Why is this not working?
Is the story weak?
Is the timing wrong?
Are we pitching the wrong journalists?
Is there a better angle?
Does the client have another part of the business that is more interesting?
Good PR is iterative.
What does reactive PR involve?
Not all media opportunities start with the agency.
Journalists are constantly looking for:
- expert comments
- case studies
- products
- statistics
- personal experiences
- business owners
- professional opinions
- examples for features
A PR team should be watching for opportunities that genuinely suit its clients.
The important word is genuinely.
Responding to everything simply to increase an activity count is pointless.
When we find something relevant, there can be a lot to do quickly.
We may need to:
1. assess whether the client is actually suitable
2. contact them for information
3. gather their genuine thoughts or experience
4. shape that into a concise response
5. check facts
6. get approval
7. send it to the journalist
8. supply any additional material
9. answer follow-up questions
10. monitor whether it gets used
Sometimes all of that needs to happen within a couple of hours.
That is one reason client responsiveness matters so much.
A brilliant answer tomorrow is useless if the journalist's deadline was today.
What happens when a journalist shows interest?
Interest is good.
It is not the same thing as publication.
A journalist might ask for:
- more information
- another quote
- an interview
- images
- product samples
- statistics
- supporting evidence
- clarification
- availability for a call
The agency then becomes the coordinator between the client and journalist.
We make sure the journalist gets what they need.
We make sure the client understands what is being asked.
If there is an interview, we can help the client prepare.
We may need to clarify facts or source additional assets.
Then we wait.
Sometimes the story is published quickly.
Sometimes it takes weeks.
Sometimes it is delayed.
Sometimes another news story knocks it out of the publication completely.
That is why I would never treat journalist interest as though it were already a published result.
It is progress.
It is not coverage until the article actually appears.
What might a typical month of PR activity look like?
There is no fixed PR calendar that applies to every business.
Activity overlaps.
Journalist requests arrive unexpectedly.
Breaking news can create opportunities that did not exist yesterday.
A story pitched this month may not publish until next month.
But this gives a reasonable illustration of the kinds of activity that might be happening across an account.
| Type of work | What the PR agency may be doing | What the client might see or need to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ideation and strategy | Looking for new angles, news hooks, trends and campaign opportunities | Discuss ideas, share company updates or give feedback |
| Content creation | Writing releases, pitches, expert commentary or story material | Answer questions, provide opinions and approve content |
| Journalist research | Identifying relevant writers, editors, programmes and publications | Usually very little client input |
| Proactive pitching | Sending relevant ideas to selected journalists and managing replies | Occasionally provide extra information or assets |
| Reactive PR | Responding to suitable journalist requests and time-sensitive opportunities | Give quick answers, voice notes or approvals |
| Media interest | Coordinating journalist questions, interviews, images and additional material | Attend an interview or provide supporting information |
| Follow-up | Sensibly revisiting strong pitches and managing ongoing conversations | Usually little client involvement |
| Campaign review | Looking at what is generating interest and what needs adjusting | Discuss strategy and priorities |
| Monitoring | Tracking pending opportunities and published coverage | Review or share coverage |
| Reporting and communication | Explaining activity, interest, results, blockers and next steps | Ask questions and make sure priorities remain aligned |
That is much closer to how I think about monthly PR than saying:
"Week one: press release. Week two: journalist outreach. Week three: follow-up."
Real media simply does not operate on such a neat timetable.
What is a PR agency doing if no articles have been published yet?
This is where I think the word activity becomes really important.
Before coverage comes activity.
Before activity comes ideas and content.
There is normally a pipeline.
Perhaps content has been created and pitched.
Perhaps journalists are considering it.
Perhaps an interview has happened.
Perhaps a journalist has asked for more information.
Perhaps there are stories waiting to publish.
Perhaps several ideas have failed and the agency is now trying different approaches.
That can all be perfectly legitimate progress.
But I would not use that as an excuse for endless inactivity.
If I were paying an agency and nothing had yet been published, I would want to know:
- What have you created?
- What have you pitched?
- Who has been approached?
- Has anybody responded?
- What interest is pending?
- What have you learned?
- What are you trying next?
In my experience, sustained, relevant pitching creates opportunities for coverage, but no individual pitch or campaign is guaranteed to convert.
That is why the activity has to exist.
If very little is being created and very little is being pitched, there simply are not enough opportunities in circulation for results to come from.
You cannot get published if nobody is pitching you.
Is all PR activity valuable?
No.
This is an important distinction.
I strongly believe clients should look at activity before panicking about a quiet publication period.
But agencies should not hide behind activity either.
Sending irrelevant pitches is activity.
Emailing hundreds of journalists who would never cover the subject is activity.
Writing endless content that never gets approved or pitched is activity.
Those things do not automatically create value.
The better question is whether the activity has a sensible relationship with the client's goals.
Sometimes we will deliberately pursue an opportunity that is not the client's dream publication.
There can be good reasons for that.
Perhaps it gives the client an easy early piece of credible coverage.
Perhaps a publisher links to their website, although links are never guaranteed.
Perhaps the article provides relevant, independent information about their expertise.
Perhaps it supports their wider online reputation and gives people or search systems another source to discover, without guaranteeing improved SEO rankings or AI recommendations.
Perhaps it starts a relationship with a journalist who covers their industry regularly.
I am very open-minded about that.
But there should be a reason.
If the pitching is irrelevant to the client and there is no clear benefit if the coverage lands, that is different.
That would concern me.
What are the red flags that a PR agency is not doing enough?
If I were hiring another agency, there are several things I would pay attention to.
Very little activity
This is the obvious one.
If nothing is being created and nothing is being pitched, I would want to know why.
Without activity, there is very little chance of results.
Slow communication
I do not think clients paying a monthly retainer should regularly be waiting several days for basic replies.
At Fair PR, we aim to acknowledge client questions promptly and keep them informed, particularly when something requires further research or input from the team.
That does not mean every question can be fully answered instantly.
Sometimes somebody else needs to be consulted.
Sometimes we need to research something.
Sometimes the answer needs thought.
In that situation, I would still rather acknowledge the message and explain what is happening than leave somebody wondering whether we have seen it.
Constantly blaming journalists
I find this one particularly strange.
Yes, journalists are independent.
Yes, they reject pitches.
Yes, the news agenda can be unpredictable.
But the whole point of employing a PR agency is that it should understand how to create material journalists may want.
If nothing is landing, the answer cannot permanently be:
"The journalists just aren't interested."
The agency needs to consider whether it should try something different.
Maybe the client needs to be more open-minded too.
That can be an uncomfortable conversation, but it is part of doing the job properly.
Irrelevant pitching
Not every pitch needs to lead to the client's number-one dream publication.
But the agency should be able to explain why the opportunity is worthwhile.
If there is no relationship between the activity and the client's goals, I would question why it is happening.
The agency still does not understand the business
You should not have to repeatedly correct fundamental misunderstandings about your company, expertise or objectives.
An occasional correction is normal.
Months of constantly saying "that's not quite what we do" is not.
Vague reporting
"We've been doing lots of outreach" would not satisfy me.
I would want a clearer picture of:
- what has been pitched
- which publications have been approached
- where there has been interest
- what is pending
- why particular opportunities were chosen
- what is coming next
No obvious senior oversight
Not every task needs to be completed by an agency director.
In fact, that can make an agency unnecessarily expensive.
But I do think clients should feel there is experienced oversight of the account.
Somebody senior should understand the strategy, know what is happening and be available when judgement is needed.
How should a PR agency report its work?
PR reporting should make the campaign easier to understand.
It should not simply be a giant spreadsheet designed to make the volume of activity look impressive.
I would expect useful reporting to explain things such as:
- what content has been created
- what has been pitched
- relevant journalist interest
- interviews or requests
- published coverage
- opportunities still pending
- anything waiting on the client
- what the agency has learned
- what it plans to work on next
The exact reporting format can vary enormously.
At Fair PR, our ongoing Standard PR service includes fortnightly progress updates, a monthly account call, a portal for campaign activity and approvals, and a private WhatsApp group for quick communication.
That is our model.
Another agency may structure communication differently.
What matters is that the client is not left guessing.
How much work does the client need to do?
Outsourcing PR does not mean disappearing completely.
A PR agency can do the thinking, research, writing, pitching, journalist management and monitoring.
It cannot invent your genuine expertise.
It cannot know about a major company development you have never mentioned.
It cannot approve quotes on your behalf without your involvement.
It cannot attend your interview for you.
Clients may need to provide:
- opinions
- factual information
- product details
- photographs
- business updates
- expert insight
- approvals
- interview availability
As I explained in my guide to when a small business is ready to hire a PR agency, engagement makes an enormous difference.
I generally think clients should be prepared to give PR around five to ten minutes a day when needed.
Equally, the agency has to make that easy.
Different people communicate differently.
At Fair PR, our client portal is the central place for campaign activity, information requests and approvals. WhatsApp voice notes and account calls can make it easier to exchange ideas or discuss something urgent, but the designated process keeps the work visible and organised.
I think it is worth asking before hiring an agency how you will actually work together. A good process should make it easy to contribute without losing track of what needs to be approved.
Why doesn't every month produce the same results?
Because the media does not behave consistently.
One month might contain a major news story directly related to your expertise and create several opportunities in a week.
The next month may be quieter.
A product could suddenly fit three separate seasonal features.
Another product may have fewer obvious media moments.
One pitch might generate interest from several journalists.
Another might generate none.
And there is often a gap between the work happening and the public result appearing.
An interview can happen this month and publish next month.
A journalist can request commentary and hold it for a future feature.
A product might be selected for a guide that does not go live for weeks.
That is why I would not judge a monthly PR service purely by counting the articles published within one calendar month.
I would look at the broader pipeline.
How can you tell whether a quiet month is still productive?
Look at the quality and pace of the pipeline rather than only counting published articles. Are ideas moving into approved content and then into suitable pitches? Are journalists responding? Are interviews, new angles or reasonable follow-ups being pursued?
Speed matters too. An idea that sits untouched for weeks, or an urgent journalist request that waits too long for an approval, can become a missed opportunity.
A quiet publication month is not necessarily an unproductive one. But clients should be able to see the work and understand what happens next.
What should you expect from a good monthly PR service?
If I were hiring another agency, I would expect relevant activity, good judgement, consistent pitching, responsiveness, honest reporting and a willingness to change direction when ideas are not working.
I would not judge the service purely by the largest numbers in an activity report. More press releases, more journalist emails and more follow-ups do not automatically mean better PR.
The goal is enough relevant activity to create a sensible flow of credible media opportunities.
How does Fair Public Relations approach monthly PR?
Fair PR's Standard PR service is designed as an ongoing, account-managed PR service.
Every campaign is different, but the service can include:
- journalist-led strategy
- a Founder & Authority Positioning Session
- media angle development
- expert commentary and thought leadership
- founder visibility
- product and service PR
- business news
- press release and media content creation
- proactive journalist pitching
- reactive media opportunities where relevant
- journalist follow-up
- interview preparation
- press monitoring
- ongoing account management
- fortnightly progress updates
- monthly account calls
- a client portal
- direct WhatsApp communication with the team
We use systems to organise the work, but campaigns are not templated.
An interior designer, doctor, SaaS company and consumer product brand should not all receive exactly the same monthly PR activity.
Their media opportunities are different.
Our job is to work out what journalists are most likely to care about for that particular client, then keep creating and pitching around those opportunities.
Standard PR currently costs £797 per month for UK clients, US$997 per month for US clients and CAD$1,497 per month for Canadian clients.
It starts with a three-month initial term and then continues with one full billing cycle's notice.
Coverage is never guaranteed.
Neither are named publications, backlinks, rankings, enquiries or sales.
What we can control is the strategy, content, pitching, responsiveness, communication and judgement that go into creating opportunities.
So, what should you actually be paying a PR agency to do each month?
You should be paying it to create media opportunities around your business and consistently put those opportunities in front of relevant journalists.
That means ideas.
Writing.
Research.
Pitching.
Responding.
Following up appropriately.
Managing interest.
Learning from what journalists respond to.
Changing direction where necessary.
And keeping you informed throughout.
If coverage has not appeared yet, look at the activity and the pipeline before assuming nothing is happening.
But do not accept vague assurances either.
Ask what has been created.
Ask what has been pitched.
Ask who has shown interest.
Ask what is pending.
Ask what has not worked.
Ask what is changing as a result.
A good PR agency should be perfectly comfortable answering those questions.
FAQs
Does a PR agency send press releases every month?
It may, but there should not be a fixed universal quota. Different campaigns need different combinations of press releases, expert commentary, reactive media responses, product pitching, founder stories and other media material.
Should a PR agency contact journalists every week?
For an ongoing media-relations campaign, I would generally expect regular journalist outreach. The exact amount depends on the client, sector, available stories and media opportunities. Relevance matters more than sending the highest possible number of emails.
What does a PR agency do if journalists do not reply?
It should assess why the pitch is not gaining traction. That may mean changing the angle, rewriting the pitch, approaching different journalists, using journalist feedback or moving on to a stronger idea.
How do I know my PR agency is working if I have not had coverage?
Look at meaningful activity and the campaign pipeline. Ask what has been created and pitched, whether journalists have responded, what opportunities are pending and what the agency plans to do next. Activity does not guarantee coverage, but very little relevant activity makes coverage much less likely.
How much input does a client need to give a PR agency?
It varies, but Fair PR generally asks clients to be prepared to give around five to ten minutes a day when required. This may involve approvals, providing information, answering questions or responding to time-sensitive journalist opportunities.
Does a monthly PR retainer include paid media placements?
Not necessarily. Earned PR and paid editorial opportunities are different things. A reputable agency should clearly explain when something is paid rather than presenting a purchased placement as independently earned media coverage.
Can a PR agency guarantee articles every month?
An agency cannot guarantee decisions made independently by journalists and editors. Journalists and editors decide what gets published. An agency can commit to the professional work it controls, but not to a particular number of independently published articles.
Should every PR agency provide a monthly activity report?
Reporting arrangements vary, but a client should have a clear way to understand what the agency has done, what is happening now, where media interest exists and what happens next.
Want PR support that makes sense month after month?
Fair Public Relations provides ongoing journalist-led PR for suitable small businesses, founders, experts, consumer brands, B2B businesses and professional services firms.
Our Standard PR service combines strategy, content creation, journalist pitching, reactive opportunities, monitoring and ongoing account management.
UK clients pay £797 per month, US clients pay US$997 per month and Canadian clients pay CAD$1,497 per month.
There is an initial three-month commitment followed by one full billing cycle's notice.
Written by Jordan Baker
Founder of Fair Public Relations and former UK national journalist
Jordan Baker is the founder of Fair Public Relations and a former UK national journalist with more than a decade of PR experience. He writes about public relations, journalist outreach, PR agency models, founder visibility, expert positioning and earned media.
View Jordan Baker's media expert profile
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