Why PR Isn’t a Done-for-You Service

“So after this PR kickoff meeting, you won’t need anything else from us, right?” our newly-minted PR agency client asked.

“Well, here’s the thing,” I said. “We’ll need your killer anecdotes. Astonishing facts. The astounding origin story of your company. We also want to know your data-driven, up-to-the-minute insights on the most exciting trends happening in your industry so we can get your company into the conversation.” 

“I’m not doing your job for you!” he stammered, actually pounding the table and nearly making a water glass spill over his laptop. “You know what? We’re not going to send you anything. And to be honest, I’m not even sure we’re up for a weekly PR check-in. Our people are busy! Just get us results!” 

When companies hire a PR agency, sometimes they think it’s a done-for-you service. They expect it to be like Starbucks. I go inside, order my coffee, the barista makes it for me, and I leave with my beverage.

PR isn’t about pressing a button and instantly getting a front page feature in the Wall Street Journal. It’s about telling the story of your brand and your founders. 

And stories are built on facts, insights, and - well, here’s the important thing: collaboration. 

Your PR success relies on collaboration between the PR agency and your marketing insiders

“All the information is already on our website.” That’s what we heard from the VP of Marketing at a manufacturing client we were working with. She looked at us like we were crazy for even asking questions about the company. Her facial expression made it clear that she thought we were wasting her time. 

Marketing execs are convinced that their PR agency already has everything they need if they would just take a look at the blogs, case studies, and marketing materials that are already out there. But many times, when we go looking, we come up short. We find company websites look like this: 

• No new blogs since 2022 

• Landing pages for services they don’t offer anymore 

• Case studies with no real data 

• AI copy that’s so generic, any of their competitors could say the same 

• No information about how the company was started

Some marketing teams also report that as much as 80% of their content is produced by AI. But just having new content isn’t enough. It needs to have engaging insights and great data to be useful. AI models put out generic marketing language, and your PR team, and your audience, notices. In fact, 82% of people can spot AI-generated content some of the time. 

If you really have everything in place - killer case studies, new blogs every week, copy that shows off what’s unique about your brand - your PR agency might be able to craft pitches without your input. 

Take AI startup Anthropic as an example of what to do. If you check out their website, you’ll find: 

• A minimum of 3 to 4 new blog posts per week 

• Reports and research on everything from AI use in schools to model welfare 

• Transparency about the ongoing problems with AI, and how they plan to fix it 

• Recent case studies, from clients in industries ranging from telecoms to live events  

Unless your website looks similar, your PR agency will need to interview you and your experts to understand the behind-the-scenes that makes for a compelling story. 

Why do PR agencies ask so many questions? 

A strong PR strategy starts with understanding the full iceberg, not just what’s visible above the waterline. That’s why agencies ask questions like:

“How did the business get started?”

Journalists love a zero to hero story. 

We worked with a SaaS startup founder who started his business with $5k and a card table in his living room. He was living in a one-bedroom apartment with his wife and two kids. 

He hadn’t slept in months. And when he would go into the office for his day-job, his CEO would constantly push back on his ideas, and tell him that he would have to wait years to implement his vision. 

Burnout wasn’t a matter of if, but when. But he figured out a way to reduce client costs by over 50 percent, and decided it was now or never. Fast forward two years: he was able to scale to $2 million in revenue with no VC backing. 

How did he do it all? That’s a success story that journalists want to tell. It’s also the kind of thing a PR agency pro can interview your CEO about in quick-time. Give them 30 minutes and they’ll be able to spin that into gold.

“What’s the biggest objection you have to overcome in the sales process?” 

We worked with a SaaS company that served clients in the oil & gas industry. They had been speaking with household names in the industry, and every single CEO told them, “if you can’t tell me how this impacts my bottom line, I don’t care.” 

They only had a few months of runway left after spending the majority of their seed round on product development. They needed clients, and fast. 

We were able to build PR campaigns for them that clearly showed that the technology could cut project costs by 20 percent. The low-end estimate was millions in savings, and the CEOs immediately started reaching out to sign deals. 

“What are your marketing team’s goals over the next three months?” 

As PR professionals, we want to figure out what the goals of the marketing and sales teams are, so our interests are aligned. 

A retail client told us that they were being impacted by tariffs. They had started at 10%, but now were at 200%. Their industry had been turned upside down overnight. Our client was planning to move their operations to the US to sure up their supply chain. 

They were able to speak to the media about their new planned facilities before they were up and running, which gave their investors more confidence, and put their competitors on notice. 

“What is your vision for the company in 3 to 5 years?” 

“We just signed a contract with the US government. My goal is to sign a contract with every government on Earth.” 

That answer came from a client of ours who provided an online marketplace for government officials to purchase office supplies, furniture, and anything else needed to keep public agencies running. It’s not vague, and it’s ambitious. 

Every startup founder has that optimism, but because they had just signed a deal with the world’s largest government, we were able to talk about plans for expansion in a way that made investors confident they would follow through.  

These aren’t filler questions. They’re the building blocks of storylines that can capture media interest.

Sometimes clients hesitate to introduce us to subject-matter experts (SMEs), or they worry that we don’t have the “right” questions. But good interviews, whether on podcasts, in the press, or on late-night TV, don’t script every answer in advance. They share themes, then let the dialogue unfold. PR works the same way.

PR requires your expert insights and stats 

“I don’t understand. I only speak with my Google Ads person once a quarter, and that call only takes 10 minutes. It seems to be working fine.” 

It’s easy to see where the “done-for-you” misconception comes from, even from CMOs.  

For traditional paid search ads, you work with an ad agency. They’ll ask you about your brand, and what you want out of the campaign, and then provide you with options for copy. It might take a few rounds of feedback, but you’re only looking for a few lines of copy that convey your message. Google is also offering to take the pressure off clients by pushing AI tools, even when it’s against the advice of their ad agency. 

But PR is different, and a bit more involved. We’re not just looking for a few lines of copy. We need to tell a story that catches the eye of journalists. That means it needs expert insights, stats, and conflict. 

Who’s in control of your PR efforts? 

Another challenge is control. With almost 60% of marketers feeling overwhelmed on the job, it’s no surprise that CMOs want PR to be an “extension of me,” executing their vision without friction. 

We worked with a client who was skeptical about PR because their last agency had got them zero results in six months. “Not a story. Not even a media mention. They just twiddled their thumbs.” 

When we got into the details, we discovered that their previous agency had been putting all of the responsibility of finding news angles on the client, and when they didn’t have anything, the old PR agency just sat back and did nothing. They were told “well if you don’t have any news, I don’t know what you expect us to do. We can’t do magic.” 

After a few meetings, they got used to our way of working. We came to them with multiple newsjacking angles every week, and had ways to connect them with what was going on in their business. They quickly figured out that we could come up with story angles, but they just needed to be there with expert quotes and incredible data points to finalize it. 

If you can’t give a little ground, you’ll never get the payoff. In PR, the best results come when clients trust the process, share insights openly, and allow the narrative to take shape.

Your PR team can’t do the interview for you

We once landed our health and lifestyle app client an interview with a huge social media influencer. Awesome! This star averaged over 100k live viewers on Instagram. Our client wasn’t used to working on social media, so we sent over a video recording of exactly how to set up a profile, and how to join the livestream. We even sent the video instructions and text over to them multiple times... to no avail. 

On the day of the interview, our client’s CEO called the PR Associate working on his account and started yelling. “Just do it for me, you idiot. I don’t know how to use Instagram. I don’t care about Instragram. Screw this. Make it work!” 

He refused to do so much as download Instagram, or even open the video instructions we had sent over days earlier (and re-sent and re-sent). And of course, he wouldn’t leave the Zoom call to join the Instagram Live from his phone, so that was another problem. He was so late that the influencer with the huge audience just cancelled. 

We convinced the influencer to give it one more chance. Our client’s app was perfect for her audience. Our client still couldn’t figure out how to join! He video called us again to try to troubleshoot the problem. Not only was he unprepared, he was also planning on taking the interview in his car! 

Your PR team can land you an interview with the right outlet to reach your audience. But you need to be invested in the process if you want all of that work to pay off. 

Give your PR team a little, get a lot

PR is a force multiplier. With the right collaboration, small agencies can deliver outsized results, punching above their weight, landing coverage, and building thought leadership that money alone can’t buy.

But it requires trust, access, and partnership. If you’re looking for “done-for-you service,” PR isn’t it. If you’re ready to co-create and share your story, PR can transform your brand’s visibility.

Need help getting media coverage for your business? Contact Mind Meld PR today.