What Executive Media Coverage Actually Costs

How Much Do Retainer PR Agencies Cost?

Traditional PR retainers pay for relationship-building and pitching, not guaranteed outcomes. You're paying for effort and access, and a placement in month one isn't promised , sometimes it takes six months of retainer before the first hit lands.

How Much Do Pay-to-Play Contributor Networks Cost?

Cheaper, faster, but often on sites without real editorial standards, the credibility signal is weaker because everyone knows (or can find out) that anyone can buy in. These can still be useful for SEO, just don't expect them to do the trust-building work a real outlet does.

How Much Do Done-For-You Media Packages Cost?

The middle ground is a package priced once, with the placements, timeline, and deliverables defined upfront. You know exactly what you're getting and when, without committing to an open-ended monthly retainer.

The right comparison isn't "which is cheapest", it's cost per guaranteed outcome. A fixed package that guarantees specific placements is often cheaper than three months of a retainer with no guarantee attached.

How Should You Calculate the Real ROI?

Don't measure media coverage against a single closed deal, that's rarely how it works. Measure it against the specific, avoidable cost of not having it: a slower fundraise, a due-diligence delay, a candidate who hesitates on an offer. Those costs are real even when they don't show up on an invoice.

A useful gut check: if credible coverage shaves even a few weeks off one fundraise or removes one point of hesitation from one enterprise deal, it has already paid for itself several times over, regardless of which pricing tier you chose.