Can PR Agencies Survive the Current Crisis?
Short answer: Yes — Provided They Reinvent.
The Indian PR industry is at an inverted tipping point and has been for a few years. Agencies are so used to handling client stress, that they often don’t fully recognize their own internal stresses. But when you probe, one comes to know that agencies and professionals are beginning to feel the pinch alike.
Agency retainers are shrinking. Client expectations are rising. Many times the client wants the agency on tap, without the fee being on tap. Clients demand content, digital strategy, influencer outreach — all packed into the same old PR fee – in fact much lesser fee than 7 to 10 years ago. But the cost of talent hasn’t dropped. If anything, it’s grown — salaries, training, and tech costs remain stubbornly high.
So, the question is real and pressing – Can PR agencies survive this economic squeeze?
The answer: Only if they radically rationalize costs, increase efficiency, and evolve how they work.
📉 The Harsh Reality
- Average retainers are down 25–40% in many mid-sized agencies over the last 3 years. Much more it you look back further.
- PR is increasingly being seen as a tactical service, not a strategic partner.
- With pressures on budgets, and with digital marketing and influencer plays being more measurable, the budget is tilting away from PR
- Clients are stubbornly unwilling to understand the growing difficulties in PR
💡 What Needs to Change? Literally, everything.
Here’s how smart PR agencies can beat the squeeze:
1. 🧮 Cost Rationalization (Without Losing Capability)
🔁 Replace expensive tools with agile, DIY alternatives
- Traditional media monitoring tools often eat up 8–10% of agency costs. New age AI driven solutions like News That Matters (NTM) offer the same results — custom keyword alerts, sector summaries, real-time updates — saving up to a lakh or two per client every year. Since this is provided as a service to the client by the agency, 8% saved, is 8% earned.
📦 Re-evaluate bloated subscriptions
- Audit every recurring cost — from PR wires to analytics dashboards.
- Move to freemium or modular alternatives wherever possible.
2. ⚙️ Boost Efficiency with AI + Human Synergy
AI won’t replace PR — but it will replace agencies who don’t use it.
- Use ChatGPT or Gemini to generate first drafts of bios, press releases, POV documents
- Then layer your human editorial sensibility to make it client- and journalist-ready
- Automate coverage tracking summaries, media lists, pitch follow-ups
🔁 AI = Assistant, not a replacement
✅ Saves time, effort, fatigue — and keeps costs lean.
3. 🎯 Smarter Media Pitching = Better ROI
Media relationships still matter — but so does how you pitch.
- Personalize each pitch using a journalist’s last 3 stories
- Match angle to the zeitgeist — sprinkle it with the client’s agenda, use it as seasoning
- Write for the publication with your client at the back of the mind (not the other way around)
✅ One strong, smart pitch often delivers more than 10 mass emails.
4. 🧰 Productize Your Services
Instead of vague generic retainer service contracts, offer PR as palatable product packs:
- “Startup Launch PR”
- “Crisis PR Pack”
- “Founder Positioning Sprint”
- “LinkedIn + Media Combo Pack”
Clients understand value better when it’s packaged.
🧭 Bottom Line: Reinvent or Retreat
PR has never been more essential — but only for agencies that evolve with it.
It’s not about doing more with less.
It’s about doing better with leaner.
Let NTM be your agency’s AI-powered news butler.
📲 Track keywords, get real-time alerts, and streamline media monitoring — all from your phone.
🎁 Free Platinum access till July 15.
👉 Download NTM Now on Google Play