The Best PR Agencies in CANADA 2024

PR – or Public Relations – is an important aspect of running your business or brand, as when done well, it can positively raise your company’s profile while ensuring that you reach the right audience. It is often confused with marketing and while it is a part of marketing, PR relates to unpaid activities, rather than paid for marketing campaigns. Some people are naturally born with the ability to persuade and sell, without having any real PR training but mostly, for a successful PR campaign you’d need to consider hiring one of the best PR agencies in Canada. When you’re paying for a service, you obviously want quality and a PR team who greatly understand your industry sector – but what else should you look for when choosing a PR agency to promote your business or brand? Read on for our top tips.

Before you dive in looking for the best PR agencies in Canada, set your objectives because without knowing what it is you want to achieve, you won’t know what you’re looking for! Start by pinpointing what it is you want your PR agency to do for you. Of course, you want them to get your brand in front of the right people, but what else do you want? Greater sales? A bigger slice of social media? Do you want to run a PR campaign to draw in the press, so they write positively about your brand? Perhaps you want to navigate negative information that’s online or offline? Define your objectives before you begin your search for the best PR companies in Canada. Bear in mind that any objective or goal you set should be specific, measurable, attainable and time-bound.

Once you’ve set your goals and objectives, think about the type of PR agency that’s right for you because many are specific to certain industry sectors. If you’re in fashion, for example, you’ll want a fashion PR team, if you’re in fitness, then choose one with relevant fitness experience and so on. There are also PR agencies that specialize in social media and those that deal with local news such as radio and newspapers – do some research and come up with a shortlist of approximately three best PR agencies in Canada that you think could be a good fit. If you speak to them and decide they’re not the right fit, go back and draw up a second shortlist.

Before you get on the phone, organise a Zoom or even send an email it’s important to set your budget. How much do you want to spend on PR? Do you also want to run marketing alongside your PR? If so, what are you allocating for that too? What can you realistically afford? Do you want to pay monthly or for a one-off PR exercise? If you don’t want to spend a vast sum of money, you might have to make some compromises, whether it’s on the size of agency you want or perhaps you might be able to find a freelancer to help you on an ad hoc basis. There are lots of routes you could explore if you can’t afford one of the best PR companies in Canada.

It might be worth exploring if anyone in your existing team could take on your business’ PR – especially if you have a tight budget. Perhaps you already have a person working for you who’s great with their own social media? If there’s no one in your team who can take on the role, then your PR agency of choice should have relevant experience to what it is you want to do. Ask to see examples of what they’ve done before, if they’re genuinely one of the best PR companies in Canada, they’ll have plenty to show you. If you want podcasts, social media, news articles, blogging etc. then check they can do that and that it’s in your niche area. See tangible examples of how their PR campaigns have worked for their existing clients. If they can’t show you anything, don’t use them!

When you’ve got your final two or three best PR agencies in Canada to choose from, go through their qualifications and credentials, especially if you’re struggling to make your final selection. Do the team members have relevant qualifications like degrees in PR, journalism, media, marketing or similar? Where else have they worked? How long have they worked in PR? What relationships do they have with local and national journalists? You’re looking for extensive knowledge so these are all the questions you need to ask, and one other essential question is how they navigate their clients through problematic scenarios. For example, negative press. A quality PR agency in Canada will be able to reverse negativity and spin a story! Ask to see examples.

Public Relations is about communication so if you feel you’re struggling to communicate with any of your shortlisted best PR companies in Canada, they won’t be right for you! A PR agency should have exemplary written and verbal skills and remember, they’re working on your behalf, so they’ll be representing you. It’s essential that you are satisfied with their communication, especially if they’re taking on your social media, blogging, interviews, podcasts, videos, news and more.

We’ve already mentioned that it’s best to choose a PR agency with relevant industry experience. Make sure your final selection does know your business area and has the right connections too. It will be their job to build your brand and get you noticed. Ask to see examples of what they’ve done in your industry, whether it’s events, journalism, press releases, social media, articles and anything else relevant.

Today, the business world thrives in a completely digital environment and that’s only going to get bigger. Does your PR agency have the right digital capabilities to respond to help you succeed? Ask for examples, such as SEO (search engine optimization), link-building, online presence, content generation, websites, social media and more. For the best PR companies in Canada that specialize in social media, look at the accounts they manage, check the engagement, request to see their analytical reports because there’s nothing better than genuine proof!

Finally, before you make your decision and when you’ve negotiated a budget that suits you, ask your shortlisted best PR agencies in Canada to create an example plan for your business over a period of 3 months. The plan should show what they propose to do for you plus the goals attached to each activity. For example, it might be to grow your followers on your social media channels, or to expose your brand to the press through interesting articles. It could be you want to run an event, either on a local, national or even international level. What is it that they propose and are you excited to work with them? If you feel that they’re a great fit – then you should instinctively know they’re right for you. If in doubt, look again.