What a PR agency actually does
A PR agency manages relationships with journalists on your behalf. Its main missions include:
- Building and maintaining a media list : identifying relevant journalists in your sector, tracking their career moves, and understanding their areas of expertise.
- Proactive pitching : proposing article angles to journalists at the right time, tailored to their editorial focus.
- Writing press releases : formalizing your news in a format that meets editorial expectations.
- Managing inbound requests : responding quickly when a journalist is looking for an expert source in your sector.
- Tracking and reporting coverage : measuring the reach and quality of the coverage secured.
For a complete overview of the role: what does a public relations agency do?
PR agency vs. communications agency: the difference that matters
A generalist communications agency covers a broad scope: visual identity, social media, events, press relations, and public affairs. They do a little bit of everything.
A PR agency is focused on a single goal: securing media coverage. This specialization has a concrete consequence: its consultants have established relationships with journalists, understand editorial deadlines, and know which topics will land and which won't.
For a tech startup, this difference is decisive. A journalist from Maddyness or L'Usine Digitale will respond to a consultant they have known for three years. They will not respond to a generic email from an agency they don't know.
Detailed comparison: PR agency vs. communications agency.
How to choose your PR agency as a tech startup
Three criteria are non-negotiable:
- Sector specialization : the agency must have references in B2B tech, not just in B2C or sectors far removed from yours.
- Journalist contact list : ask them to name the tech journalists they work with regularly. If the names don't ring a bell, that's a red flag.
- Working style : a dedicated point of contact or a constant rotation of juniors? The continuity of the journalist relationship depends on stability on the agency side.
Complete guide: how to choose a press relations agency in 2026.
What we see with our clients
Startups that choose a generalist agency often lose 3 to 6 months training the agency on their sector: which journalists to target, which angles work in B2B tech, and the specific nuances of the market. This lost time has a direct cost: months without coverage, a fundraising round without media buzz, or a product launch that goes unnoticed.
A specialized tech agency comes with this knowledge already in place. They can pitch a relevant journalist in the first month, not the sixth.
