White-Label PR for Agencies

Clients ask their agency for press because the agency already knows the brand, the message and the goals. Saying no sends them elsewhere. Saying yes without the capability to deliver is worse.

White-label PR is one way to close that gap. Here is how it works, and what to settle before you sell it.

What white-label PR actually is

A PR partner does the work — story development, writing, outreach and placement — and the agency presents it to the client under its own brand. The client relationship, the pricing and the reporting stay with the agency.

It is different from a referral, where you pass the client to a PR firm and step back, and from a subcontract where the partner deals with your client directly. In a white-label arrangement, the client's point of contact is you.

That makes you responsible for what is promised. The partner does the work, but your name sits behind every claim made about it.

Deciding whether to offer it

Press suits some agencies far better than others. It tends to fit if:

• Your clients already ask for it. Branding, web and content agencies hear the request often, usually around a launch or a rebrand.
• Your clients have stories. Founders, experts and businesses with something genuine to say. Press is much harder to deliver for a commodity product with no angle.
• You can manage expectations. A client expecting a guaranteed national headline next month will be disappointed by honest PR, whoever delivers it.

If most of your clients are not in that position, a simple referral arrangement may suit you better than reselling.

What to agree before you start

Most problems in white-label work come from things nobody wrote down. Settle these for each engagement, in writing:

• Confidentiality. Whether the partner may be named to the client, and whether it may reference the work anywhere else. Do not assume either way.
• Branding. Whose name appears on briefs, drafts and reports, and whether the partner ever speaks to the client in its own name.
• Approvals. Who signs off copy, and how client revisions flow back. Nothing should publish without the end client's approval.
• Routes and disclosure. Which placements are earned, contributor or paid, and how each will be described to the client.
• Commercial terms. What the partner charges you, what is included, and what happens if a pitch does not land. Your own margin is yours to set.
• Journalist contact. What happens when a writer wants to speak to the client directly, which is common and should be welcomed.

Digital Networking Agency agrees these terms with each agency individually rather than working from a fixed reseller contract, because the right answer depends on how you run your client relationships. We do not promise particular confidentiality terms or margins in advance of that conversation.

Selling press honestly to your clients

This is where agencies either build trust or lose it.

Earned editorial is a journalist or editor choosing to cover the client. Nobody can guarantee it, including your partner, so do not sell it as a fixed deliverable.

Contributor and agency-placed features are articles placed in publications that accept them. They can be scoped more predictably and are genuinely useful, but they are not the same as a journalist deciding to write about someone.

Sponsored content is paid placement, normally carrying a label. Legitimate, and it should be described that way.

Sell the work, not the outcome: angle development, writing, a target list and outreach, with the route for each placement stated plainly. If your client's customers discover that "featured in" meant something different from what they assumed, it is your agency's credibility that takes the hit.

Choosing a white-label partner

Ask the questions you would want your own clients to ask you.

• Can they show live links to recent placements, rather than screenshots or a wall of logos?
• Do they tell you which route each placement uses before work starts?
• Do they guarantee top-tier editorial? If so, walk away. They are either mislabelling a paid route or promising something they cannot control.
• Can they write in your client's voice and handle revisions without friction?
• Will they tell you when a story is not ready, rather than taking the brief anyway?

We place stories for agency clients across publications including MSN, Yahoo Finance, CEO Weekly and Digital Journal, and the wider list is on our publications page. For how we work with agencies, see PR for agencies.

Frequently asked questions

Is white-label PR the same as reselling press releases?

No. Release distribution sends an announcement out through a wire service. White-label PR covers the wider work of finding a story, writing it for a specific publication and managing placement.

Can we tell clients placements are guaranteed?

Only for routes where placement is genuinely confirmed in advance, such as paid or contributor placements, and only if you name the route. Earned editorial should never be sold as guaranteed.

Who owns the relationship with the journalist?

That depends on the terms agreed for the engagement. Settle it up front, especially if your client may want to work with the same writer again later.