How Founders Should Brief a PR Agency Before the First Pitch

Founders often walk into a first agency call with a product, a deadline, and very little else. That is normal. A good brief does not need to be long, it needs to be honest.

Start with the outcome, not the activity. "We want press" is an activity. "We want procurement teams at mid-size banks to take our demo calls seriously" is an outcome. The second one tells your agency which publications matter, which proof points to lead with, and which stories to leave alone.

Next, gather your proof. Customer numbers, a named client willing to be quoted, a data point from your own platform. Without proof, a pitch is a press release, and press releases rarely travel far. Our guide on getting journalists to reply covers what makes a pitch land.

• What you can never say publicly (regulatory, legal, investor constraints)
• Who signs off on quotes, and how fast
• Which competitors you refuse to be compared with
• Your real timeline, not the hopeful one

If you want coverage in a specific market, point your agency at a proper directory rather than a scraped list. We maintain our own media outreach maps for exactly this reason, and the Nigeria media map is a good example of how beats and outlets differ inside one country.

Earned coverage is powerful but slow. Most launches pair it with digital advertising so the story has reach while journalists decide. If the goal is authority rather than announcements, PR article publishing gives you control over the narrative in outlets that accept contributed pieces.

Brief well once, and every campaign after it gets cheaper.

Propagandr runs online branding, influencer partnerships, and digital advertising for founders who want the work done, not just advised on.

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