The main characteristic of the British media landscape is its partisanship and the lack of a strict division between fact-based reporting and opinion newspapers. While print press readers are strongly divided according to their class and political views, the broadcast media are more politically neutral. Digital news platforms are on the rise.
British people are usually tolerant and open-minded, however communicating too directly may be considered inappropriate. For the same reason, in different situations the British may send an indirect message just to be polite. It may be confusing for the foreigners and requires reading carefully between the lines.
This varies hugely, from a freelancer to a huge international agency. There are also different billing models, from an hourly basis for ad-hoc work to monthly retainers. Hourly rates typically range from £30 to £150, depending on the level of expertise employed. These rates also vary according to the complexity of the work, competitiveness of the market and speed with which the message should be communicated.
For project-based cooperation, for example, a press release, the price in the UK is around £800–£2,000 – similar to the price of placing an article in the media and dependent on the topic and outreach needed.
While retained PR depends on services required and types of media included. Generally, the price range is £1,800–£4,000 per month.
Regarding payment, most agencies will ask for some payment up front for new clients. This can be up to 50% of a project. Long-term contracts fall under the normal trend of monthly fee payments stated in the contract.
Vitis PR is a multi-award winning UK public relations agency specialising in B2B PR and B2B technology PR. The agency has worked across multiple technology sectors, though the majority of their clients target enterprise sized businesses.
Vitis PR’s clients include Deutsche Telekom, Kodak Pixpro, and Datto, among others.
Carrot Communications is a highly specialized PR consultancy working exclusively for fast-growth and early-stage technology companies.
Carrot is owned and managed by Kate Hartley, who has more than 25 years’ experience in PR, reputation management, and crisis communication. She is a member of the UK industry associations the PRCA and CIPR; and is accredited by the PRCA’s Consultancy Management Standard. She also sits on the digital steering committee of the PRCA, which is tasked with improving digital skills across the industry.
Comarch, Diligent, and Gnatta are among Carrot Communications’ clients.
- Media relations are based on mutually beneficial interactions between journalists, editors, and public relations specialists. Their purpose is to communicate a client’s relevant and newsworthy message in a suitable media outlet – press, TV, radio, and the Internet.
- Social Media management is managing a client’s online presence on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. This service starts with a consistent strategy preparation to, later on, create and publish appropriate and eye-catching content on the aforementioned platforms.
- Content writing is producing marketing content such as blog posts, press releases, webpages or whitepapers to reach the targeted audience. It aims to increase traffic to a client’s website and to fulfill certain marketing objectives.
- Event presence is an opportunity to showcase a client to the general public and/or prospects and expand their network. It also includes inviting key media workers and thus aims to increment the client’s visibility in media.
- Market research is often useful to prepare a brand to enter a given market. In such a case it consists of a thorough analysis of the presence of the brand and its competitors, as well as their presence in the media and social networks. Research – e.g. surveys – can also be commissioned to a research agency to obtain valuable content that can attract the attention of the press and the client’s target audience.
- Media training aims to guide a client on how to interact with media. It improves their communication skills and provides them with tools to deliver an effective and credible message helping to get more media coverage.
- Reputation management is shaping positive public perception and opinion about a client. It consists in an active and regular monitoring of client’s mentions, mainly online, and reacting to them.
- Crisis management starts with creating a plan and strategy in case an unexpected PR crisis arises. Its goal is to minimise the impact of negative publicity and media mentions, as well as to reduce the potential damage the crisis may cause to the client.
