Date
Sep 25, 2025
Read Time
min read
Do I need a PR agency, or would a freelance PR be better for my business? It’s a question we sometimes get asked.
Those asking are typically companies with smaller PR budgets. They aren’t sure that their proposed spend will stretch to a PR agency, and feel that a freelancer may be a better option for them.
In many cases they’re right.
The key differentiator: your budget
If the PR budget for your project is less than £5,000 or your annual spend for ongoing support is going to be less than £25,000 p.a., a good freelance PR will be the way to go. You simply won’t be buying enough of a good PR agency’s time to make a difference, with budgets like this.
But we should say, lack of budget is the only reason you should go the freelance route. If you can afford a good PR agency, they should be your first choice – every time. Here’s why:
| (Good) PR agency | Freelance PR | |
|---|---|---|
| Breadth of experience | A whole team’s expertise, ideas, contacts and experience inputting into your business | Just one person’s know-how to draw on |
| Creative talent | Pool of creative talent | Limited creativity |
| The solution | Multiple services mean a PR campaign that’s tailored to your business and needs | A campaign that’s limited by the freelancer’s skillset |
| Able to advise | Will likely have more sway with senior leadership | May be limited by business’s hierarchical structure |
| Futureproofed | Mix of services and manpower which can be flexed and changed as your needs change – a future proofed solution | Not likely to be a long term solution |
| Knowledge | Bandwidth to keep ahead of latest trends | Limited capacity to stay ahead |
| Tools | £30k-£40k of critical PR tools for you to draw on | Minimal tools – unless you buy them in, inflating your PR costs by £30k-£40k |
| Disruption | No slowing of activity if someone’s ill or on holiday | Disruption is likely if the freelancer is away or ill |
Breadth of experience
With a PR agency you are tapping into a team of people – with a diversity of experience, connections and ideas. Between them they could have hundreds of years of know-how and buckets of creativity and fresh thinking to draw on.
A freelancer may well have some good knowledge of your industry, but even the most seasoned practitioner will only have a limited set of experience, expertise, contacts and ideas.
Creative talent
With an agency you will be working with talent that simply won’t be found working freelance. That’s because the most creative people want to work with and spark off other creative people. They want to experience, stretch and challenge that comes from working in a vibrant agency.
In a PR agency you’ll get those creative, experienced, talented minds focused on your communications challenges, coming up with ideas that give your brand cut through.
A solution that’s right for you
A good agency will have a range of services for you to draw on. Media relations, digital PR, events, audience insights and analysis, messaging, internal communications, stunts, content creation, onsite content, podcasts, broadcast media, speaker opportunities, influencer campaigns, crisis and issues, media training – you get the gist.
A freelance PR will simply not have this breadth of capabilities. Your campaign will be limited to their skills. If the freelancer only knows how to do trade media relations that’s probably the only thing they’ll suggest you do – even if your business needs something completely different!
Futureproofed
Who knows what you’ll need in the future? It’s hard to say. But what we can say is that, due to their limited service set and capacity, the freelancer’s PR activity won’t be able to easily flex-up and change as your needs change.
Constantly updating knowledge
Google changes, shifting social media habits, the rise of AI, the influence of podcasts, moves in regional and local radio, changing PR measurement – the world of PR is changing constantly and fast. As a one-man band, a freelancer won’t have time to keep abreast of all this – the latest communications tools, techniques technologies and trends. That means your account won’t have this latest thinking applied to it either.
Tools
A good agency will have £30k-£40k worth of best of breed tools for things like social listening, media monitoring, AI monitoring and audience analysis, plus global media databases to draw on. Most freelancers will have only a small fraction of this tech stack at their (and your) disposal.
Disruption
We all get ill or go on holiday, that’s life. But if you’re relying on a freelancer, those moments equal disruption to your PR. Whenever they’re not working, your PR activity will suffer.
Whereas an agency’s team structure ensures continuity of supply – no matter what happens to individual team members.
So if your budget is very small, by all means go the freelance route until you can afford a good PR agency. But as soon as your budget is big enough you should move to a good agency.
If that’s you, get in touch with us at susannah@energypr.co.uk to find out how we could help.
Reviews
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I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services
Energy PR is a brilliant agency to work with. The team are proactive and knowledgeable, with good contacts and expertise across the media and PR landscape. They’re like an extension of our team. They provide us with reinforcements when needed, with fresh and impartial perspective. The team are responsive, passionate and meticulous about their work and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services.
- Alan Cowie | PR, Partnership and Communications Lead
Increased our prospect engagement while significantly reducing CPA
- Lee Probert | Marketing Director
Our website has seen its biggest growth to date
Our domain rating, backlinks and organic traffic volume have all increased significantly. This is such an incredible win for us and so a huge thank you to the Energy team for all of your work to date, it’s fantastic to see this pay off in growing both our SEO and brand footprint. Our Leadership Team is super impressed, and we’re really excited for what else is to come.
- Hannah Wiltshire | Head of Marketing
By far the best thing we’ve done
It’s taken our practice in the sector to a whole other level and prompted concrete business opportunities. So many people I speak to have seen the report. We’re now automatically recognised and come to as specialists in this area – which is fantastic.
- Liz Sparrow | Partner, Science and Tech Lead
Energy PR have already increased our traffic, in a very competitive market, by 20%
We turned to Energy PR as we wanted to broaden our brand awareness and organic traffic so that we’d lessen our dependency on Google ads for our web traffic. To say they’ve delivered is an understatement. Just one year on and Energy PR have already increased our traffic, in a very competitive market, by 20%. It’s a fantastic result.
- Ellen Dean | Head of Marketing
My Nametags has worked with Energy PR for years, and they keep delivering excellent PR work for us
They do a great job in coming up with good ideas and executing them. My Nametags is trying to reach parents and consumers, and we have had articles and coverage on BBC, ITV, Sky, BBC Radio, Sun, Express and Mirror to mention some.
- Lars B Andersen | CEO
I have been blown away
Since Energy PR has been managing our socials, the level of interaction, from quality leads, has been unbelievable. Being able to build my personal presence online, whilst also generating new business leads has been eye opening. I am more excited than ever to see what magic Team Energy can sprinkle over my account, and the Crossflow company account, as we move forward.
- Rebecca White | Commercial Director
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