PR Centre has created a niche in the UK for outsourced PR. There are several things we do that makes us different – and helps us fill the gap between a PR agency and PR consultant, without treading on their toes.
PR Centre v the traditional PR agency
In one way we ‘compete’ against traditional PR agencies because we have a far lower price point. But the audience for a PR agency is very different. Businesses that engage PR agencies tend to do so on a retainer. The PR agency will handle their public relations and crisis communications needs based on a number of hours or days retained per month.
Typical customers for PR agencies are medium-sized or large businesses that have marketing teams, or need to outsource their whole marketing and PR output to one agency. Typically you can pay a PR agency anywhere from £500 to £1500 a day in the UK – but expect a retainer of 2 to 8 days per month.
Our customers ‘retain’ PR Centre because we’re always there online with a guaranteed turnaround time for their press releases (or blogs and web copy). If there are crisis communications to handle we can respond quickly using our express service. We can also then distribute releases quickly and accurately, wherever they need to go. Even to a named contact level.
So, we can output what PR agencies do, but we don’t provide the additional services such as creating ideas, liaising daily, strategising, event management… If you need this, then look at a PR agency such as The Oxygen Agency (our sister business).
PR Centre v the PR consultant
PR Centre can provide much of the output you’d expect from a PR consultant, but we do not provide the hand-holding service that they can offer.
PR consultants typically have experience in specific market sectors, with the insight and knowledge your company may need in that area. It’s not uncommon to find a travel specialist or retail specialist PR consultant. They would often be slightly cheaper than a PR agency, which has multiple staff to work on your account. So they may be more suitable for the lower to mid SME client.
PR consultants often don’t have the budget to handle significant press release distribution, and PR Centre has many PR consultants who use our distribution services as an addition to their service portfolio. Some even use PR Centre as an outsource for press release writing when they are busy or on a deadline.
Depending on the PR consultant, expect to pay £300 to £1000 a day for their PR services.
PR Centre v online copy shops
There has been a huge increase in the number of websites offering press release writing and copywriting, and they market themselves heavily. PR Centre has come across several of these – and while we can’t say they are all poor, our customers have shown us samples of very low quality work at bargain prices. We’ve seen rates as low as 10 US dollars for a press release. It’s no wonder some customers come to us to re-do their work.
While these companies ‘compete’ with PR Centre, we do not want to compete against such a service. Why? Quality is important to us. We’re accredited to ISO9001 which is the international quality standard, so you can expect a quality press release when we send you a draft. We nearly always get it right first time.
Often these copy shops will be based overseas, and their writers will not be native English speakers – even when their website or address is in the UK or USA. This poses the risk of grammar errors, factual errors, duplicated copy or a release that is not suitable for its target press audience. At PR Centre we draft well-targeted, original copy. You will have no risk of duplicate content by Google when it comes to SEO. We also know that editors and journalists don’t suffer fools gladly – and they’ll reject a badly written press release.
All of our writers work in-house at our Devon offices and, as you may expect, are expert in our trade
In summary, if you don’t have the budget for a PR agency or PR consultant, and don’t require the level of hand-hold that they provide, PR Centre may be the perfect long-term solution.