Before you promise a digital PR return on investment, check the maths

What to take away

Why the cost figure is usually too low

Most spreadsheets start with the monthly fee and stop there. That understates the real cost of earning coverage. Outreach tools, database seats, media monitoring and the hours spent chasing a reply all sit in the same budget.

Our Digital PR: costs and budget guide for England lists the line items that belong in the cost base, which is the quickest way to stop a model flattering itself.

Add the client's own review time too. A campaign that needs two approvals per release consumes staff hours that never appear on an invoice, yet they cut the return.

Assigning a value to what you earn

A link has no price until someone puts one on it. Use benchmarks the client already accepts: a sponsored placement rate, a paid search cost per acquisition, or a tracked referral value.

Where you cannot defend a number, say so and show the ratio instead. A coverage-to-cost ratio is honest when the cash value is genuinely unknown.

Compliance work carries a cost as well. Teams collecting contact data for outreach need a documented basis, so the BSI data and privacy standards are a sensible reference when you price that work into a campaign.

Bought placements carry reputational risk. Before you recommend a supplier, check the list of non-compliant online advertisers the ASA publishes, because a penalty later costs more than the saving.

Heavy outreach also generates crawler and server load at your own site. Google's guidance on how to reduce Google crawl rate keeps hosting and response times, and the bills behind them, predictable.

Client-side value should come from the client's own data where possible. Ask for their sponsored content rate card or their average order value, then apply it to the referral sessions a placement produces.

Setting the counting window first

The window decides the answer more than the cost does. A three-month view excludes links that land in month five; a twelve-month view flatters a campaign that has already stopped.

Write the window into the model before you calculate anything. If the client's finance team works to a quarterly cycle, a six-month window will not match their reporting.

Worked example: an illustrative month

The figures below are illustrative, not benchmarks.

An agency retainer of £4,500 a month, tool seats at £300, and 12 internal review hours at £45 an hour, or £540, give a total cost of £5,340.

Coverage brings nine referring domains, three of them national titles. At the client's own sponsored-placement benchmark of £900 a placement, gross value is £8,100, a ratio of about 1.5 to 1.

Run the same model with a weaker month: five referring domains and a slower patch, with tool seats still at £300. Cost stays near £5,340 while value falls to roughly £4,500, and the ratio slips below 1 to 1. That version is the one clients remember.

The cautious case counts only the three national titles: £2,700 of value against £5,340 of cost, or roughly 0.5 to 1. Show both versions and let the client say which they trust.

Common questions

What counts as a return in digital PR?

Anything the client already values: a placement, referral sessions that convert, or lower paid media spend. Agree the definition before the campaign starts.

Should I quote a ratio or a cash figure?

Quote both where you can. A ratio survives an unknown price per link, and a cash figure is easier for a finance team to challenge.

How long should the counting window be?

Long enough to capture delayed coverage and referral traffic, usually three to six months. State the window beside the number, or the figure means little.

Where can I compare quotes before committing?

If you are weighing proposals, our Digital PR cost guide: selection guide for England sets out what a credible quote separates and what it leaves vague.