How to write a good PR brief

A PR pitch and eventual communications programme are only as good as the PR brief you provide.

Here are some quick tips on how to write a good PR brief.

Vision and objectives: state what your vision and key objectives are. What is it that you want to achieve, where, when and why?

Target audiences: identify who you want to reach.

Background: provide background information on your organisation, this could for example, be a company profile explaining what you do and your products and services. Explain what issues and challenges your organisation is facing and any key selling messages and unique selling points you have (e.g. why do people choose your organisation / products / services?).

The PR brief:

• Identify and highlight the areas you want the PR agency to tackle and what resources, including any additional agency or in-house PR or marketing communications support.


• Budget: be clear on how much you want to spend as your PR strategy and programme will need to be built around your budget.


• Deadlines: state your project delivery deadlines.


• Useful website references: include these and any other resources which will help the PR agency learn more about your organisation.


• Provide high quality business information: PR professionals are business advisers and strategists, so a good brief will provide scope for consultants to give their perspective and insight on the issues you need to address and strategies. This will also give you an insight into the agency’s creative and strategic thinking capabilities.


• Account management: ask the PR agency to provide details on how they will manage the account and work on a day to day basis with you, your organisation and management team.


• Confidentiality: include a statement on confidentiality and intellectual property.


• Submission date: advise when your submission deadline is.

Experience / references

• Ask for examples of work and project successes so the PR consultancy or agency can highlight their skills and capabilities and request references too.