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Topic: What PR Firms Charge
| Author | Message |
| Ryan M | Posted – 4/18/2007 9:43:17 PM | show profile | email poster I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find information about how much PR firms charge their clients? |
| marianna | Posted – 4/19/2007 8:47:15 PM | show profile Hi Ryan, the prices are all over the place (a lot of high-tech clients pay upwards of $20,000 a month) but GENERALLY I'd expect to pay $3000 a month with a 3 month contract. It just depends on how much work you want them to do...events? blogs? newsletters? bios? All those will increase the price. It's kind of like asking how much an attorney charges...it depends whom you hire and what you need. Just start calling around and PR firms will usually quote you a minimum monthly figure. M |
| Cyrus | Posted – 4/20/2007 9:07:55 AM | show profile Firms charge an hourly rate that drives everything. Monthly retainers go all over the place, but as a rule, you won't find a full-service firm in a major market charging less than $5,000 a month for a retainer. Below that, it just doesn't make it feasible to many. Hourly rates in a major market run roughly $150-$200 for an account supervisor, $250-$300 for a VP and up from there. Obviously this can differ, but it's pretty realistic. So if someone can only afford $5,000 a month in services, at a traditional full-service, major market firm, they're only going to get about 20-25 hours of staff time once you blend in the impact of various rates. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| marianna | Posted – 4/21/2007 6:12:17 PM | show profile Ryan, in the unlikely event you're in entertainment, you'll be paying a flat monthly fee to a firm for each "product" that you want publicized. And if it appears that you could give a PR firm a lot of future business, they will cut you a deal (or accept a below market rate for a few projects, in the hopes of getting a big fat project later.) When I worked at a major firm in LA, someone from the PR dept at Sony would call and say "Look, I've got this mediocre DVD I need to publicize and only $2500 in my budget---do you guys want to do it?" Since it was Sony (who might have other HUGE projects for us later) my bosses bit the bullet and said yes. They undoubtedly took a loss, but created some goodwill, which resulted in highly profitable projects from Sony arriving later. So if you have a series of products, rather than just one, you're probably in a position to negotiate. The PR firm just needs to believe they'll come out ahead in the end. Good luck! |
| Ryan M | Posted – 5/16/2007 6:24:21 PM | show profile Thank you to everyone who replied to this message. Your advice was very helpful and I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. |
