How to Find the Right PR Agency Partner
August 5, 2026
Whether you’ve worked with a PR and marketing agency before or you’re just getting started, the challenge is always the same: how do you determine the best agency partner to help achieve your goals?
One agency might quote a lower retainer. Another might have an impressive pitch deck. But the answer you’re looking for isn’t always written in the proposal. The best way to decide on the right agency partner for your business is by engaging in open conversation.
When you’re searching for your next agency partner, here are the questions we recommend asking each agency to understand what your potential partnership would look like. At spark* communications, we believe this information is so important that if you don’t ask us, we’re going to tell you the answers anyway.
Who will actually do the work and be my day-to-day contact?
Unfortunately it happens across the industry. An agency brings an impressive, experienced team to the pitch meeting. Once you sign the contract, most of them disappear.
If an agency tells you they are senior-led, ask the next question to understand what that means to them. Ask to meet the team members who are going to be working with you. Ask who will be your day-to-day contact and seek to understand their experience to determine whether they are the right fit for the work that needs to be done.
When an agency says they’re senior-led, make sure they’re not just talking about their own agency pitch team. When we say senior-led at spark*, we mean the team who brings the vast experience AND sticks around when it’s time to do the work.
What results have you secured for a similar client?
Many PR agencies will tout their media connections, dropping the names of journalists they know at some of the most recognizable media outlets. That’s great, until those journalists move on to a new role. It’s no one’s fault, but over time “who you know” starts to matter less than the ability to tell a great story at the right moment to the right contact.
What you really need to know is what results the agency team has secured, consistently, for similar clients or products. Assess whether the team knows what to do when they don’t have a direct connection at a media outlet. Ask how they uncover the stories that are uniquely yours and how they plan to share those stories with your prospective customers. Understand what additional strategies they employ to reach your audience across different media outlets, formats, and platforms. If the pitch is all about getting a big media win with a contact they already know, you are leaving countless opportunities on the table and you are unlikely to see sustained momentum.
Make sure to review case studies to understand the breadth and depth of the team’s expertise, and their proven success. Better yet, once you’ve established that the team in the pitch meeting is the same team who will be doing the work, ask them to talk about their personal experience.
What results should I expect - and when?
In this industry, there is nothing worse than misaligned expectations. While quick wins can happen - and indeed we’ve succeeded in this ourselves - it’s not typical to get a big win right out of the gate. Even if your agency has a list of journalists they personally know, the only results they should guarantee to you are paid placements.
Ask what you should expect in the first 30, 60, and 90 days of your partnership. If the answer seems too good to be true, it just might be. If you get a lot of hedging, the team might not be confident in their strategy. An agency should be able to articulate major milestones to expect in the first few weeks and months of your partnership, and how those milestones relate to your business goals.
What will you need from me?
Your job doesn’t end when the contract is signed. In addition to aligning on what you can expect from your agency, it’s best to align now on what they expect from you.
You know your story and company better than anyone else. It’s your job to take your agency along on the journey. You should have regular touchpoints for two-way conversation. Your agency should tell you the status of everything in progress and what’s coming up next, and you should share what’s going on inside the company - whether you’re preparing for a new product launch, celebrating a milestone, or have a compelling community or customer story to share. These touchpoints are also where you should expect strategic discussions about what’s working, what’s not, recommendations for continued momentum, and what opportunities are coming up next.
In addition to regular touchpoints, you will need to make yourself available for interviews, deliverable reviews, ongoing feedback, and questions.
Ask the question now to make sure you understand what is expected from you and that you can commit to a successful partnership.
Where do we grow from here?
When an agency can articulate the bigger picture, that means they know how to meet you where you are today while understanding how you want to grow. It’s a sign that they know how to prioritize what can and should be done now to drive results, and what can be layered on in the future to deliver even more impact.
What you’ll uncover in this conversation is whether the agency understands your near-term and long-term goals and whether they have the experience and expertise to turn early momentum into sustainable business results.
Do you have questions about what to expect from a partnership with our spark* communications team? We welcome the conversation. Let’s get started: ignite@thesparkteam.com
