What to Look for When Hiring a B2B Tech PR Agency

Finding the right PR agency is essential for B2B startups, scale-ups and category leaders. Here are seven key factors to evaluate when looking for a firm.

1. Industry Expertise: PR firms should have direct experience in your sector – period. Effective tech PR requires a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities your buyers face, where they live and how to drive action. The best PR agencies know your ICP inside and out, proactively bring you trends, maintain relationships with relevant media outlets, and know how to position your brand for maximum visibility.
2. Experience Delivering Media Results in the Publications Your Buyers Read: Building off number one: A great PR agency doesn’t just promise media coverage; they deliver. Ask to see coverage examples in publications your buyers actually read. Insist on examples of proactive PR – results based on proactive pitching and creative campaigning, not just major company announcements. 
3. Clear and Transparent Programs: Your agency should focus on helping you grow – not billing hours. Find a firm that commits to tangible deliverables and aligns its program with actual impact, not hours. Statements of work should be clear, transparent and specific.
4. Strategic Insight and Execution: PR is the means – not the end. Great PR agencies create and execute comprehensive strategies that drive business goals. When evaluating PR firm, prioritize their ability to align PR efforts with your overall marketing strategy and long-term objectives – whether that be a funding round, acquisition or growth goal.
5. Proven Track Record: An agency’s portfolio speaks volumes. Look for a B2B PR agency with case studies that showcase how they’ve achieved measurable results for SaaS companies in similar markets and business stages. Do they have experience with clients of your size and tech specialization? Do they have generating stories that align with what you buyers care about? 
6. Employee Retention and Workplace Culture: PR agencies are notorious for their high turnover rates – especially in tech. Agencies that bleed talent create more work for their clients. PR firms with strong retention grow with you – and are able to build on their successes and go deeper on your product, company and market – all of which leads to a bigger impact for your business.
7. Reporting and Measurement that Matters: Vanity PR metrics are dead. Most KPIs that PR agencies report on today – like ad value equivalent – are not relevant or meaningful and won’t help you in that next board meeting. In B2B tech, PR reporting must align with your sales cycle. Results should connect back to the buyers you need to reach and how and where you influence them.

Vanity PR metrics are dead. Most KPIs that PR agencies report on today – like ad value equivalent – are not relevant or meaningful and won’t help you in that next board meeting. In B2B tech, PR reporting must align with your sales cycle. Results should connect back to the buyers you need to reach and how and where you influence them.