Storytelling: How does a PR Agency Work?
Have you ever thought about how brands end up in newspapers, podcasts, or popular online publications?
The answer is usually a PR agency. Dedicated to helping businesses, organisations and individuals communicate their message, PR agencies play a critical role in shaping how brands are perceived by the public. From startups looking to build credibility to established organisations protecting reputation, PR agencies help curate the perception of people, companies, products and ideas in order to reach new audiences and achieve defined business objectives.
A changing landscape
So how does a PR agency work to shape your success? Traditionally, PR agencies acted as connectors between brands and the media. Success was largely driven by relationships with who you knew, which journalist covered your sector, and how compelling your story was on a given day. Agencies would identify newsworthy moments such as funding announcements, partnerships, leadership changes, product launches or research findings, and pitch those stories to journalists in the hope of securing earned media coverage. While this approach is still relevant, the media landscape has changed dramatically.
The steady decline in newsroom resources has fundamentally reshaped how stories are commissioned, written and published. Journalists are covering broader beats, publishing at greater speed and working under increased commercial pressure. As a result, securing earned media has become more competitive, more selective and often less predictable. In response, many PR agencies have evolved their approach to ensure clients continue to see impact, expanding beyond traditional media relations into paid and owned channels. This includes sponsored content, events, influencer partnerships, in-house blogs, newsletters and long-term social media audience building.
With so many channels active at once, PR is no longer about “getting coverage” in isolation. Instead, it’s about orchestrating a coherent communications strategy or ‘story’ across multiple platforms. So how does a PR agency take your objectives and turn them into measurable success?
The process of ‘storytelling’
The answer lies in a structured blend of strategy, editorial content, distribution and measurement. A modern PR agency begins by working closely with a client to define clear objectives. These might include increasing brand awareness, strengthening trust, supporting sales activity, attracting investment, influencing public opinion or protecting reputation during sensitive periods. Without this clarity, PR activity risks becoming reactive, fragmented or driven by short-term wins rather than long-term value.
From these objectives, agencies develop clear key messages and a narrative framework that guides all communications. This narrative acts as a foundation of the story you want told, ensuring consistency across press coverage, digital content, social media and stakeholder engagement. It helps determine not only what is said, but also what is intentionally not said, a crucial discipline in a crowded and often noisy media environment.
Once the narrative is established, PR agencies translate business activity into stories that media and audiences care about. Press releases (Check out or Press Release Academy) remain a central tool, but their role has evolved too. Today, press releases are written not just for journalists, but for multiple audiences at once. They must be editorially relevant, clearly structured, searchable online and adaptable for social and digital use. A well-crafted press release can act as the anchor for a wider communications campaign rather than a single outreach exercise.
Understanding the role of press release distribution can be an important factor in any editorial strategy. Rather than relying on generic media lists, modern PR agencies use targeted distribution to reach the most relevant journalists, publications and sectors. This data led methodology increases the likelihood of meaningful engagement from outlets and reduces the risk of messages being ignored or misinterpreted. Distribution is often timed strategically to align with news cycles, industry events or wider public conversations and is no longer fixed to one channel.
PR agencies can now present several options with respect to story activation across earned, owned and paid channels to maximise reach and longevity. Earned media includes traditional press coverage and broadcast mentions. Owned media encompasses blogs, newsletters, websites and brand social channels that allow organisations to tell their story directly. Paid media can support amplification through sponsored articles, promoted posts or influencer collaborations.
Tracking impact
With multiple channels live simultaneously, monitoring and insight become essential. PR agencies use media monitoring to track how and where brands are mentioned across print, online and broadcast media. This includes measuring coverage volume, sentiment, prominence, share of voice and whether key messages are being reflected accurately. Media monitoring turns PR from a purely creative discipline into an evidence-based one, allowing agencies to demonstrate impact and learn from performance.
Alongside this, social media monitoring provides real-time visibility into public and stakeholder conversation, the ‘chatter factor’. Tracking social chatter allows agencies to see how campaigns are landing, how audiences are reacting and where misinformation or emerging issues may arise. It also enables rapid response, helping brands engage constructively, correct inaccuracies or de-escalate potential risks before they become larger reputational problems.
Beyond measuring visibility, leading PR agencies apply narrative analysis to understand how a brand is being framed over time. Rather than simply counting mentions, narrative analysis examines themes, tone, language and context to assess whether intended messages are shaping perception. It can reveal whether a brand is associated with leadership, innovation, trust or controversy and how those associations change across different audiences or periods.
This deeper insight allows agencies to refine strategy continuously. Messaging can be adjusted, spokespeople repositioned, and channels prioritised based on what the data reveals. Narrative analysis also helps PR teams advise senior leaders with confidence, grounding recommendations in evidence rather than instinct alone.
Ultimately, a PR agency turns objectives into success by connecting strategy, storytelling, distribution and intelligence into a single, coherent approach. Modern PR is not about chasing headlines for their own sake. It is about shaping and sustaining the conversation around a brand ensuring that what is said, where it appears and how it is received all work together to deliver meaningful, long-term impact.