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Public Relations Pr Agency Guide
Writing Down How Your Business Runs
Master the core concepts of writing down how your business runs tailored specifically for the Public Relations Pr Agency industry.
💡 Core Concepts & Executive Briefing
Understanding Brain-Dumping and SOPs
In a PR agency, your value shows up in repeatable craft: pitch angles, journalist targeting, follow-up timing, briefing questions, media list hygiene, approval steps, and how you handle “we saw it online” crises. If those steps live only in your head, your agency will always feel like you’re the bottleneck.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are the playbook for how your agency consistently delivers outcomes. Think of them as the exact steps your account team and PR manager follow to move a story from “idea” to “published” (or at least to “learned something useful” fast).
A strong SOP goal is simple: a new hire should be about 80% effective on day one by following it. That means they can draft a proper pitch email, gather sources, submit the correct items for approval, and log the right details—without guessing.
The Importance of Brain-Dumping
Brain-dumping is the process of pulling your know-how out of your head and turning it into something your team can use. In PR, you might “know” how to:
- spot the strongest angle in a chaotic client briefing,
- choose journalists who actually cover that kind of news,
- write a pitch that feels tailored (not templated),
- decide when to follow up and when to stop,
- and package proof so the client approves quickly.
If you don’t document these, your agency can’t scale because delivery depends on your personal attention. You also lose consistency: every pitch becomes a different style, every account runs a little differently, and performance becomes hard to measure.
Creating Effective SOPs (PR Edition)
Your SOPs should be written using a straightforward format:
1. Why (Purpose): Start with why the task matters.
- Example: “Why we write a 6-sentence pitch: journalists decide within minutes whether it’s relevant, credible, and timely.”
2. What (Steps): List the exact steps to complete the job.
- Example (Pitch research SOP):
- Pull the client’s approved facts + latest proof points.
- Choose one story angle that matches the target outlet’s typical coverage.
- Confirm journalist activity (recent articles, beat alignment).
- Draft the pitch and tailor the first line to the journalist’s recent work.
- Add a clear call-to-action (interview request with timing).
3. Outcome (What “good” looks like): Describe the standard you expect.
- Example: “A good pitch has one clear angle, no jargon, includes 1–2 credible proof points, and requests an interview with a specific availability window.”
This outcome section is what makes training consistent. Without it, you get “I think it’s good” instead of “it meets the bar.”
Organizing Your SOPs (Make Them Findable Under Pressure)
PR doesn’t pause for onboarding. In the middle of a pitching sprint, someone needs answers fast—especially around approvals, source gathering, and journalist communications.
Store SOPs in a centralized location your team can access instantly (a single “PR SOP vault”). Organize by workflow stage, not by vague categories.
Example SOP vault structure:
- Client Intake & Briefing
- Media Targeting
- Pitch Writing
- Follow-Up & Logging
- Client Approvals
- Press Release / Statement Drafting
- Crisis & Rumor Response
- Reporting & Proof Packets
When a team member asks, “How do we handle journalist requests for comment?” you want them to go to one place every time.
The Loom-First Approach (Fast PR Training)
Instead of writing long documents that people won’t read, use Loom to record yourself performing the work.
In PR agencies, the highest-leverage SOP videos are usually the “where mistakes happen” tasks:
- building a media list in your tool,
- writing a pitch template and then personalizing the first line,
- using your tracking sheet/CRM fields correctly,
- assembling a proof packet for client review,
- running the approval checklist (what must be approved before sending).
Record short sessions (5–15 minutes). Name each video by the SOP title (so search works). Then pair the video with a concise checklist the team can skim.
Building a Culture of Self-Reliance (So You’re Not the Help Desk)
To make SOPs real, you have to change team behavior.
Set an expectation: before asking you, the team checks the PR SOP vault. You’re not building a dependency—you’re building speed and consistency.
In PR terms, that means:
- If someone is unsure how to log journalist replies, they check the “Logging Replies SOP” first.
- If a client is slow to approve, the team uses the “Approval Push Workflow SOP” (reminders, escalation timing, what to include in the update) instead of rewriting the message from scratch.
Over time, SOPs become part of your agency’s identity: the team moves fast, quality stays steady, and you can focus on client strategy, new business, and expanding delivery capacity.
⚠️ The Industry Trap
### The “I’ll Just Tell Them” Delusion
PR owners often rely on verbal instructions because it feels faster—until a new account starts or you take a call during a pitching sprint. Picture this: your team drafts a pitch, and instead of following a documented “pitch approval + send” checklist, they wait for your quick response. You’re busy, so the pitch goes out late—or it goes out with one wrong fact. Now a journalist questions credibility, the client loses confidence, and your whole week gets dragged into cleanup.
Without SOPs for the core steps (briefing, pitch creation, proof packaging, approvals, and follow-up logging), you don’t just risk mistakes—you create founder dependence. Every pause in your availability becomes an operational event.
PR owners often rely on verbal instructions because it feels faster—until a new account starts or you take a call during a pitching sprint. Picture this: your team drafts a pitch, and instead of following a documented “pitch approval + send” checklist, they wait for your quick response. You’re busy, so the pitch goes out late—or it goes out with one wrong fact. Now a journalist questions credibility, the client loses confidence, and your whole week gets dragged into cleanup.
Without SOPs for the core steps (briefing, pitch creation, proof packaging, approvals, and follow-up logging), you don’t just risk mistakes—you create founder dependence. Every pause in your availability becomes an operational event.
📊 The Core KPI
PR Pitch Process Checklist Done: Number of completed PR pitch process checklists submitted for approval during the month. Benchmark: 25+ completed checklists per month for teams running a weekly pitching cycle.
🛑 The Bottleneck
### Execution Level: Senior Editor Bottleneck
In many PR agencies, the bottleneck isn’t sales or strategy—it’s execution-level decision-making that only the founder can do.
A common scenario: your account manager drafts a media list and a pitch angle, but they’re unsure about “is this journalist the right beat?” or “does this proof support the claim?” So they keep messaging you for fast judgment calls. That turns pitching into a waiting game, and response times slip right when journalists are most likely to engage.
The real constraint is that your standards live in your head. When you document the decision rules—journalist selection, angle fit, proof minimums, approval steps—you can delegate confidently. Then pitching becomes a repeatable workflow instead of a founder triage line.
In many PR agencies, the bottleneck isn’t sales or strategy—it’s execution-level decision-making that only the founder can do.
A common scenario: your account manager drafts a media list and a pitch angle, but they’re unsure about “is this journalist the right beat?” or “does this proof support the claim?” So they keep messaging you for fast judgment calls. That turns pitching into a waiting game, and response times slip right when journalists are most likely to engage.
The real constraint is that your standards live in your head. When you document the decision rules—journalist selection, angle fit, proof minimums, approval steps—you can delegate confidently. Then pitching becomes a repeatable workflow instead of a founder triage line.
✅ Action Items
### Steps to Implement SOPs
1. **Brain-dump your PR workflow into steps (start with one campaign).**
- Choose a recent wins-or-learnings story (e.g., a client announcement pitch that got partial interest). List every step from intake to follow-up and reporting.
2. **Record Loom videos for the highest-risk tasks.**
- Record: “How I build a beat-aligned media list,” “How I write the first line,” and “How I assemble the proof packet for approval.”
3. **Turn videos into short SOPs with checklists.**
- For each SOP, add a 7–12 item checklist (what must be done before sending an email to a journalist or submitting for client approval).
4. **Create a single PR SOP vault and folder by workflow stage.**
- Example folders: Pitch Writing SOPs, Approvals SOPs, Follow-Up SOPs, Reporting SOPs.
5. **Require teams to use SOPs before asking you.**
- Add a simple form field in your project tool: “SOP consulted (link/title).” If they can’t find it, that becomes your cue to improve the SOP, not to answer from scratch.
1. **Brain-dump your PR workflow into steps (start with one campaign).**
- Choose a recent wins-or-learnings story (e.g., a client announcement pitch that got partial interest). List every step from intake to follow-up and reporting.
2. **Record Loom videos for the highest-risk tasks.**
- Record: “How I build a beat-aligned media list,” “How I write the first line,” and “How I assemble the proof packet for approval.”
3. **Turn videos into short SOPs with checklists.**
- For each SOP, add a 7–12 item checklist (what must be done before sending an email to a journalist or submitting for client approval).
4. **Create a single PR SOP vault and folder by workflow stage.**
- Example folders: Pitch Writing SOPs, Approvals SOPs, Follow-Up SOPs, Reporting SOPs.
5. **Require teams to use SOPs before asking you.**
- Add a simple form field in your project tool: “SOP consulted (link/title).” If they can’t find it, that becomes your cue to improve the SOP, not to answer from scratch.
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