Reviews
Part of How to run digital PR reviews and compare agencies
How to assess digital PR suppliers before signing
Use a consistent digital PR process to compare data, delivery evidence, ownership and total cost before agreeing terms with a supplier.
What to take away
- Decide which class of product you are comparing before you score anything: software, managed service, or a hybrid that bundles both.
- Score vendors on evidence you can verify, not on pitch decks. Ask for named case work, contract terms and data provenance.
- Check who owns the output and the data, and who is accountable when coverage does not land.
- Compare total cost over twelve months, including seats, data licences and renegotiation clauses.
- Use a numbered sequence so every shortlisted supplier faces the same questions.
Why product comparison in digital PR keeps going wrong
Buyers usually start with a feature grid. That grid mixes tools that do different jobs. A media database, a managed outreach team and a reporting dashboard are not substitutes for one another.
Start by naming the job you need done. If your team lacks media relationships, a managed service may fit. If you already have contacts and need scale, software may fit. Hybrids sell both, so price the parts separately.
Set criteria before a demo, rather than letting it set your agenda. Our digital PR comparison-methods resource is a related reference; the checks below focus on supplier evidence and terms.
The three product classes to compare
Software platforms
These sell access: media databases, monitoring, outreach sequencing and reporting. You pay for seats or credits. The risk is unused licences and stale contact data.
Software vs Managed vs Hybrid
Software platforms
- What you buy
- Access
- Pricing
- Seats or credits
- Main risk
- Unused licences
- Key question
- Export rights?
Managed services
- What you buy
- Outcomes
- Pricing
- Retainer or project
- Main risk
- Attribution
- Key question
- Working files?
Hybrid bundles
- What you buy
- Both
- Pricing
- Licence plus labour
- Main risk
- Hidden day rate
- Key question
- Written split?
Ask how often records are refreshed and whether you can export your data if you leave. Export rights matter more than the interface.
Managed services
These sell outcomes: strategy, pitching and coverage. You pay a retainer or project fee. The risk is attribution, because you cannot always see which pitch produced which link.
Ask for the working files, not just the clippings. A supplier that will not show its target list is asking you to trust the invoice.
Hybrid bundles
These pair a platform with a service layer. They can work well for smaller teams, but compare the platform and service components against standalone alternatives.
Bundles often hide the effective day rate. Ask for the split between licence and labour in writing.
A numbered comparison sequence
- Write the job description for the product, including the outcomes you will measure.
- Shortlist no more than five suppliers across the classes above.
- Request written answers to the same twelve questions below, with evidence attached.
- Verify the supplier's legal identity and ownership on the Companies House register, and check filings for people with significant control using the GOV.UK guidance on people with significant control so you know who actually controls the business.
- Ask who will deliver the work and how decisions are approved; check claimed membership or qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) or the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), and do not treat membership as proof of outcomes.
- Check that the contact-data sources and refresh cycles fit the market you need to reach; do not accept 'regularly updated' without a date or stated cycle.
- Score each response using the evidence labels in the next section; treat source provenance and delivery evidence as gates, not compensable points.
- Compare twelve months of total costs, then use your evidence-backed findings to negotiate scope and terms before signing.
Use these twelve questions with every shortlisted supplier:
- Which tasks and outcomes are included, and what is out of scope?
- Which named media, contact and other data sources do you use, and when was each refreshed?
- Which countries, sectors, publishers and channels do those sources cover?
- How do you verify contact accuracy, handle corrections and remove outdated records?
- Can you provide dated, named campaign examples and evidence linking the work to the reported results?
- Who will do the work, and what relevant experience or CIPR or PRCA membership can be checked?
- For software, what seats, credits, usage limits and data-export rights are included?
- For a managed service, who builds the target list and pitches, and can we inspect the working files?
- For a hybrid, what is included in the licence and service, itemised separately?
- What do you report, how do you attribute coverage and links, and what outcomes, if any, do you guarantee?
- Who owns the accounts, data, campaign assets, coverage and links during and after the contract?
- What are the total fees over twelve months, contract term, notice period, exclusivity, renewal and renegotiation terms?
Keep one comparison record: quote each supplier's answer, note the attached evidence and record any gap for follow-up. Do not treat an unanswered question as a positive score.
Eight-step comparison sequence
- Write the job description
- Shortlist up to five suppliers
- Request twelve written answers
- Verify ownership on Companies House
- Test credential claims
- Ask about ad blocking and consent
- Score answers against criteria
- Price twelve months, renegotiate top two
Scoring weights that survive scrutiny
Give provenance the heaviest weight. If you cannot trace a data source, you cannot defend the pitch to a client or a regulator.
After those gates, rank ownership and contract terms ahead of total cost; apply the same evidence labels to each criterion. A low price should not offset weak evidence or unacceptable rights.
Finally, weight cost. A cheap licence that nobody uses is expensive. For example, a team paying £400 a month for unused seats is spending £4,800 a year on nothing.
Common questions
Should I compare software and agencies in the same exercise?
Only if you score them on the same outcomes. Otherwise run two shortlists, because the cost structures and risks differ.
How long should a comparison take?
Allow three to four weeks for a shortlist of five. Rushing steps four and five is how weak suppliers get through.
What single document should I request first?
A written data provenance statement naming the sources, coverage and latest refresh date or cycle. It exposes more than any demo.
When should I walk away?
When ownership of links, data or accounts stays with the supplier, or when they will not name the people doing the work.
