Talk to anyone who knows about PR and they’ll have their own opinion on the pros and cons of both.  Here are five of the most significant benefits you’ll receive and benefit from when you choose to work with a boutique PR firm: 

• Access.
  Boutique firms are small by design. The people on your first call are usually those who will be working on your account — or at the very least will be contacts you can reach out to if you have questions or concerns. Large firms have less discretion, and may end with so many clients that you feel as though you’re at the back of the line. Boutique firms do not keep their CEOs walled off from clients; they are usually in the trenches with everyone else.
• Transparency.
  The personal touch of boutique firms means that it’s much easier to get a peek behind the curtain, and get honest, clear explanations as to why something is being done and the reasons behind it. Instead of hoping you’ll simply just trust the process, like a lot of established larger firms, boutique PR firms will make an effort to build trust through openness, even if that means delivering unvarnished truth or gently pushing back on a client’s PR strategies at times in favor of another that will yield bigger ROI. 
• Accountability.
  A large firm usually means a corporate hierarchy where the account managers you work with have bosses, who also have bosses, etc. When something goes wrong, or you’re unhappy with how your account is being handled, this can lead to a lot of finger pointing and passing of the buck. After all, as the old saying goes, success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. They may also be so inundated with clients they don’t care if you’re unhappy. If you, as a client, want to make sure that your firm has skin in the game and prioritizes as much as everyone else, boutique PR is the way to go. 
• Agility.
  Think of a large PR firm like a big container ship. It is built to handle a lot, but when it needs to change direction, that can take a long time. Sometimes too long for your needs, especially those late-night fire drills that happen more often than you’d like. Boutique firms are smaller, faster and more nimble. Larger firms may be able to do some heavy-lifting in certain scenarios, but boutique firms can (and often do) turn on a dime when you need them to do so.
• Budget
  It’s no secret that budget is what a lot of decisions about PR are built around. The fact of the matter is that large agencies cost more. They work with bigger clients, have more overhead costs, and are out of range for a lot of the startups and scale-ups below a certain size. No firm is going to provide satisfactory PR on the cheap, but the difference is in how each firm defines “affordable.” Boutique firms function on smaller budgets and have sympathy for companies who need to scale, but with more modest cash flow. Larger firms may seem worth the expense, but boutique agencies can make your money — as well as your results — go a lot further.

Looking for help with PR strategy and to break through the noise? Mercury Global Partners is an award-winning PR firm focused on emerging tech. Get in touch with us at hello@wearemgp.com. 

Talk to anyone who knows about PR and they’ll have their own opinion on the pros and cons of both.  Here are five of the most significant benefits you’ll receive and benefit from when you choose to work with a boutique PR firm: 

• Access.
  Boutique firms are small by design. The people on your first call are usually those who will be working on your account — or at the very least will be contacts you can reach out to if you have questions or concerns. Large firms have less discretion, and may end with so many clients that you feel as though you’re at the back of the line. Boutique firms do not keep their CEOs walled off from clients; they are usually in the trenches with everyone else.
• Transparency.
  The personal touch of boutique firms means that it’s much easier to get a peek behind the curtain, and get honest, clear explanations as to why something is being done and the reasons behind it. Instead of hoping you’ll simply just trust the process, like a lot of established larger firms, boutique PR firms will make an effort to build trust through openness, even if that means delivering unvarnished truth or gently pushing back on a client’s PR strategies at times in favor of another that will yield bigger ROI. 
• Accountability.
  A large firm usually means a corporate hierarchy where the account managers you work with have bosses, who also have bosses, etc. When something goes wrong, or you’re unhappy with how your account is being handled, this can lead to a lot of finger pointing and passing of the buck. After all, as the old saying goes, success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. They may also be so inundated with clients they don’t care if you’re unhappy. If you, as a client, want to make sure that your firm has skin in the game and prioritizes as much as everyone else, boutique PR is the way to go. 
• Agility.
  Think of a large PR firm like a big container ship. It is built to handle a lot, but when it needs to change direction, that can take a long time. Sometimes too long for your needs, especially those late-night fire drills that happen more often than you’d like. Boutique firms are smaller, faster and more nimble. Larger firms may be able to do some heavy-lifting in certain scenarios, but boutique firms can (and often do) turn on a dime when you need them to do so.
• Budget
  It’s no secret that budget is what a lot of decisions about PR are built around. The fact of the matter is that large agencies cost more. They work with bigger clients, have more overhead costs, and are out of range for a lot of the startups and scale-ups below a certain size. No firm is going to provide satisfactory PR on the cheap, but the difference is in how each firm defines “affordable.” Boutique firms function on smaller budgets and have sympathy for companies who need to scale, but with more modest cash flow. Larger firms may seem worth the expense, but boutique agencies can make your money — as well as your results — go a lot further.

Looking for help with PR strategy and to break through the noise? Mercury Global Partners is an award-winning PR firm focused on emerging tech. Get in touch with us at hello@wearemgp.com.