A practical guide to evaluate expertise, partner relationships, coordination and costs.
As a marketing leader, you may be tasked with building awareness for your company across multiple international markets. You need media coverage, analyst attention and customer stories across several countries, but you don’t have the budget for a large multinational agency.
Hiring a PR firm in each market may seem like the next best option. But that can mean managing six contracts, six onboarding processes, six versions of your messaging and six invoices across multiple currencies. Keeping every agency aligned and every market on the same calendar can quickly become a job of its own .
Fortunately, there is another option. A boutique firm can serve as your lead agency and coordinate with established partners in other markets. The key is to find one with the right expertise, strong partner relationships, and a clear strategy for managing the work within your budget.
Below are some tips for approaching your search.
Start with your objectives, priority markets and budget
It’s important to determine what you are trying to accomplish market by market. Communications goals tied to global expansion should support your business objectives by building awareness and helping drive growth in priority regions. In our experience, and depending on the market, that could mean reaching potential customers, supporting sales with credible third-party coverage and case studies, recruiting channel partners, or positioning executives as industry authorities.
Once you have clarity on your objectives and priority markets, decide which markets need sustained support and which could benefit from a more focused program around a launch, event or other milestone. Your budget should help determine not just which agency you hire, but how broadly and intensively you pursue each market.
Consider your options
There are three common ways to approach international work. Each option has different pros and cons:
- A multinational agency with its own international offices: These firms often offer strong capabilities and broad geographic reach, but typically require fixed-fee retainers for international support.
- Local agencies you hire and manage directly: This approach can offer strong local expertise, but vetting and managing multiple firms on a market-by-market basis can be time-consuming and challenging.
- An independent lead agency that coordinates network partners: This model can provide centralized management with local market expertise. The key is finding agencies with a proven track record of working together and a shared commitment to delivering consistent results.
Communiqué PR, for instance, is a member of the Public Relations Network, a global collective of independent, owner-led agencies across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The network is governed by an elected board, on which our co-founder, Colleen Alderman, holds the U.S. seat. Members also meet in person twice a year, helping build the relationships and working processes needed to coordinate client programs across markets.
Verify the expertise in each priority market
Network membership is a starting point, but it should not be the sole basis for evaluation. Ask who would do the work in each market, what experience those people have in your industry and which programs the proposed partners have delivered together. Request an example that shows how they divided responsibilities, adapted the approach locally and measured results against the client’s objective.
Determine who will lead
To make your workload more manageable, consider having the firm based in your largest market serve as the lead agency. That firm can coordinate the shared strategy, core content, approvals and reporting, while local partners help determine which messages, stories and tactics will work in their markets. Depending on the agreement, the lead agency can also manage partner contracts and consolidate billing. For an internal marketing lead, that means one primary point of contact and a coordinated process, rather than managing separate agency relationships.
For one B2B software client, we coordinated support from network partners in Australia, France, Germany, India and Japan, engaging them as the client’s needs expanded. We solicited bids and managed the work, allowing the client to maintain one lead-agency relationship. The result was significant in-country market awareness with more than 245 articles worldwide, which led to double-digit revenue growth.
What this typically costs
Costs will vary by market and the level of support you need. In some markets, a focused PR program may range from $3,500 to $5,000 per month. However, if you need more sustained support, including a steady cadence of announcements, contributed content and media engagement, costs may range from $10,000 to $15,000 or more per month. Another option is to concentrate your investment around two or three priority moments each year.
If you are working with a lead agency, its fee will typically be the largest line item because that team is responsible for the overall strategy, core content, approvals and partner coordination and consolidated reporting.
One of the benefits of this model is flexibility. You can prioritize the markets most important to your business and add or adjust support as launches, campaigns or business needs arise. When evaluating agencies, ask the lead agency to price each market separately so you can clearly see where the budget is going and adjust the scope over time.
Understand the economics before you sign
Cross-border work introduces billing questions that domestic work does not. Ask whether partner-market fees are passed through at cost or marked up, whether you sign one contract or several, and how results will be measured.
Also ask how currency fluctuations are handled. If partner fees are set in euros or yen and billed to you in dollars, an exchange-rate swing moves your costs. Find out whether rates are fixed for the contract year or float, and who absorbs the difference.
Find the right structure for your global PR program
Global reach is more than a list of offices or network affiliations. The right agency should be able to show you who will do the work in your priority markets, how those teams will work together and how the program will be managed and measured.
The right structure should make international PR more manageable, giving you access to local expertise, without adding another set of relationships for you to manage.