How to choose a B2B Tech PR agency?

Choosing a new PR agency is an opportunity to raise your profile, build your brand’s reputation and find a team that brings fresh ideas while taking some of the pressure off your marketing department.

But with plenty of talented agencies out there, how do you find the one that’s right for your business?

A clear brief, a sensible shortlist and the right questions will get you better pitches, better ideas, and a partnership that works from the start.

This is our guide to choosing a PR agency for B2B tech companies, it’s what we’d do if we were in your shoes.

1. What do you want your PR to achieve?

Start inside your own business. Decide what you want PR to do for you. It might be breaking into a new market, changing how buyers see you, supporting a big product launch or giving your sales team more to talk about. Get everyone involved in the decision to agree on the objectives and put it in writing.

A written brief means every agency is answering the same questions. That makes the pitches easier to compare and, in our experience,  a lot better too.

Be open about budget as well, even if it's a ballpark or a maximum. It tells agencies what level to pitch at, so nobody designs a programme you can't use. If the budget isn't agreed internally yet, wait until it is. It saves everyone time, yours included.

2. Build a longlist of potential agencies

Ask colleagues and peers who they've worked with and rated. Ask journalists you know which agencies they enjoy hearing from, because they see more pitches than anyone. Look at industry awards and league tables, and you can even ask AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini which agencies they'd recommend for your sector.

Think about what kind of agency suits you. A boutique or specialist tech PR agency can bring deeper knowledge of your sector. A larger agency can offer wider reach and a wider range of services. Neither is right for everyone, so it's worth deciding which matters more to you before you start.

Then spend some time on their websites. Do you like what you see? Have they worked in your sector? Does their work feel like something you'd be proud to have your name attached to?

3. Have a short intro call with each one

A 30-minute call with each agency on your longlist is time well spent. Ask them to share their credentials, tell them a little about what you're looking for and get a feel for how they think. You'll learn a lot from the questions they ask you.

From there, narrow your list down to your favourite three to five.

4. Give your shortlist a written brief and time to respond

Send each shortlisted agency the brief you agreed internally and give them two to three weeks to put a pitch together. A realistic timeframe and a clear written brief give agencies room to research your market, test ideas and come back with creative thinking built around your objectives. Rush it, and you're more likely to see ideas that could have been written for anyone.

Make yourself available for questions while they're working on it. The agencies that take you up on that are usually the ones that will bring you the most thoughtful pitches.

At Wildfire, we typically spend two weeks developing a proposal. A big part of that is interrogating the brief and working with you to understand what you really need. We'll come back with questions, ask for more context and get to know your business before putting ideas on paper.

And the more you can share, the better. Existing messaging decks, tone of voice guidelines or even a chance to speak with key stakeholders and final decision-makers can make a real difference. It helps us get under the skin of your brand and put together a proposal that's genuinely relevant to your business, rather than just a collection of clever ideas.

5. Look for an agency that listens and challenges you

In the pitch itself, notice how much time the agency spends asking about your business compared with pitching themselves to you. The best pitches feel like a conversation. A good agency will dig into your sales process, ask who your buyers are and push back on assumptions that don't hold up.

Don't be surprised if they tell you that something you see as big news won't interest a journalist. That's useful. Product spec sheets and technical white papers rarely make a story on their own, and part of an agency's job is to find the angle that will. Often, that means turning a product update into a broader perspective on where your market is heading.

6. Does the agency have the relevant sector experience for you?

Sector experience counts for a lot. An agency that already works in your space will know the publications your buyers read, the conversations happening in your market and the journalists covering it.

Even so, every agency needs time to learn your business and what makes you different, and for highly technical products that time is well spent. For highly technical products, ask how the agency will get up to speed. They should have a plan for interviewing spokespeople to understand the technology and position it accurately.

To get value early, ask each agency for a plan for the first 90 days. How will they get some tactical wins on the board while they're building their knowledge and developing the bigger campaign ideas?

7. Ask to see the work behind the logos

A slide of client logos is a good starting point, but the detail is where you'll learn the most. Ask the agency to walk you through a few campaigns for clients with challenges like yours. Where did they start, what did they do, what coverage came out of it and what did it mean for the client's business?

If you can, ask to speak to one of their current clients. Most agencies will be happy to set that up.

8. Who in the PR agency will you be working with day-to-day?

Ask who'll be on your team day-to-day and try to meet them before you decide. Good agencies give clients a dedicated team. They'll also be honest that the best teams adapt as an account grows, and if someone isn't the right fit for your business, they'll make a change.

If journalist relationships matter to you, ask to speak to the agency's media specialists. In many agencies, ours included, media relations for tech companies is one specialism among several, so the content or strategy lead in the room may not have a list of journalists to hand. The media team will. Ask them which journalists in your space they work with and what those writers are interested in right now.

9. Agree what success looks like

The right measures depend on your objectives, so expect each agency to propose a framework built around your brief. Depending on what you're trying to achieve, that might include share of voice against your competitors, how often your key messages appear in coverage, coverage in the titles your buyers read, referral traffic and search visibility, and enquiries from people who saw you in the media.

Not every programme needs all of those. Ask each agency how they would measure the objectives in your brief and what their regular reporting would look like. A good measurement framework might include share of voice, message pull-through, website performance, search visibility and commercial metrics. The agency should recommend a mix that directly relates to your objectives.

10. Be clear on scope and pricing together

A clear view of what's in scope helps both sides. Ask what the fee covers in terms of services, deliverables, and team time. Ask how things like a major product launch or a crisis would be handled, and how third-party costs such as media monitoring, wire distribution and travel are charged.

Agreeing this at the start means everyone knows what to expect, and it makes it easy to have open conversations later about what's being delivered. It protects the relationship as much as the budget.

11. Will you enjoy working with your chosen PR team?

Don’t underestimate the importance of cultural fit. You'll be in touch with your agency most days on Slack, email, and calls. You'll work to tight deadlines together and lean on them when a launch or a crisis lands. The best agency relationships feel like an extension of your marketing team, and that only happens when there's trust in both directions.

An agency can tick every box on paper, but if you don't get on with the team, trust takes longer to build and everything slows down. So pay attention to how the meetings feel. Would you be happy putting these people in a room with your CEO? Did you come away with more energy than you went in with?

Questions worth asking at the pitch

These questions tend to lead to the most useful conversations:

1. Who will we be working with day to day, and how does the wider team fit around them?

2. Can you walk us through a campaign for a client with a similar challenge to ours?

3. What would the first 90 days look like?

4. What do you do when a story doesn't land the first time?

5. How would you measure success against the objectives in our brief?

6. Could we speak to a couple of your current clients?

7. What's the most interesting thing about our story to a journalist, and what's missing?
   

How we approach it at Wildfire

At Wildfire, we think the pitch process should give you a proper taste of what working with us will be like. We typically spend two weeks getting to know your business, asking questions and developing a proposal that's built around your objectives.

We've specialised in B2B tech PR for over 30 years, and our approach is built around our Think.Bold methodology. We start with insight, finding out what makes your brand interesting and what your buyers actually care about. Then we turn that thinking into bold, creative ideas with a clear plan for delivering measurable results.

We don't believe in making things more complicated than they need to be. You'll meet the people you'd actually work with, see the thinking behind our recommendations and leave with a clear idea of what we could achieve together.

If you're considering an agency review, get in touch. We'd love to hear what you're looking to achieve.

FAQs

• How many agencies should we invite to pitch?

  Three to four is usually about right. Start with a longlist of around six, have a short intro call with each, then invite your favourites to pitch against a written brief. Any more than five makes the pitches harder to compare and the process harder to give proper time to.

• How long should we give agencies to prepare a pitch?

  Two to three weeks. That gives agencies time to research your market, ask you questions and build ideas around your objectives. A shorter window usually means less tailored thinking.

• How much does a B2B tech PR agency cost?

  Most B2B tech PR agencies work on a monthly retainer, which typically covers media relations, content, messaging, and ongoing advice. The fee depends on your objectives, how many markets you're working in and how much activity you need. Project fees are also common for one-off moments such as a funding announcement or a brand relaunch. Sharing your budget, or a ballpark, in your brief helps agencies show you what's possible at that level. 

• What is the difference between a monthly retainer and project-based pricing?

  A retainer gives you a dedicated team working continuously on media relations, thought leadership, strategy, and content. It suits brands that want to build a steady presence and share of voice over time, and it helps journalists get to know your spokespeople as reliable sources. This ongoing activity is a core part of many B2B content marketing strategies. It can also be the most cost-effective way to work long-term. 

  Project-based pricing is a fixed fee for a defined set of deliverables over a set period. It works well for a single moment with a clear timeline, such as a product launch, a funding announcement or a research report.

• How long does it take to see results from B2B tech PR?

  It depends on your objectives and the scope of the work. Early activities, such as reactive commentary and the first pieces of coverage, often begin within the first few weeks.. Bigger outcomes, such as share of voice, search visibility and influence on your sales pipeline, build over a longer period. A good agency will agree milestones with you at the start so you both know what to look for and when.

• Should we choose a specialist tech PR agency or a generalist?

  For a B2B tech brand, a specialist usually brings more relevant experience, closer relationships with tech and trade journalists, and confidence with technical subjects. Any agency will still need time with your experts to understand your product and what makes it different. A generalist may suit you better if your audience is mostly consumers or you need a very broad mix of services.

• Can a UK-based PR agency run international campaigns?

  Yes. Independent agencies often do this through international networks. We've been delivering international PR for tech companies for more than 20 years, and through our partnership with the PROI Worldwide network, we work with more than 9,000 PR experts across all key global markets.

  You get one central team running strategy, quality, and budget, with local partners who know the regional journalists, understand the local details and speak the language.

• How should we measure the performance of our PR agency?

  Start with your objectives and agree measures that connect to them. Common examples include share of voice against competitors, key message pull-through in coverage, coverage in your target titles, referral traffic and search visibility from that coverage, and enquiries from buyers who mention seeing you in the media. Your agency should recommend a framework that fits your goals and report against it regularly.

• How much time will our team need to give the agency?

  It varies, and it's often little and often. Many questions get answered in a quick message, and you'll usually be in touch most days. Beyond your marketing lead, your spokespeople and subject matter experts will need time for briefings, interviews and the occasional messaging workshop. The more available they are when a news story breaks, the more commentary opportunities you'll be able to take.

• Can a PR agency guarantee coverage?

  No. Earned coverage is determined by editors, influencers and journalists and depends on the news agenda and the strength of the story. What a good agency will commit to is a strong story, a clear plan, and well-targeted, persistent pitching to the right media.

  Great PR is also about much more than just media coverage. A good agency should also help you develop compelling messaging, create standout content and build campaigns that get your brand noticed by the people who matter to your business. Ultimately, success should be measured by the impact on your reputation and business objectives, not just the number of articles published.

• Why do some tech stories struggle to get coverage?

  Usually because the story is about a product feature, and journalists are looking for news. Journalists at top-tier and trade titles are more interested in industry trends, original research, and sharp opinions on the challenges their readers face than in software updates or routine announcements. A good PR team will help you turn internal news into a bigger story about your market and find the timing that gives it the best chance of landing.