What a Real Tech PR Agency Onboarding Process Looks Like

The tech PR agency onboarding process is the most consequential 30 days of the engagement. Done well, it sets up the next 12 months. Done poorly, it burns retainer on workshops and "alignment" with nothing to show for it. Here's what good actually looks like.

Week 1 — discovery + audit

Kickoff call (90 minutes). Stakeholders, success criteria, business context, competitive landscape, news pipeline for the next 6 months.

Materials handoff. Brand guidelines, prior coverage, customer references, current pitch decks, product roadmap, exec bios, anything sensitive that affects PR.

Audit deliverables. Coverage audit (last 12 months yours + top 5 competitors), share-of-voice baseline, AI citation baseline (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Gemini), analyst-mention baseline, narrative landscape.

Output of week 1: a written audit document and three sharp questions for the founder/CMO.

Week 2 — narrative + message house

Narrative workshop (90 minutes). Anchor the company's story in the category context. Identify three priority narratives.

Message house draft. Master narrative, three pillar messages, supporting proof points per pillar, language guardrails.

Spokesperson plan. Who speaks on what topics, prep needs, media training gaps.

Output of week 2: approved message house, prioritized narratives, spokesperson plan.

Week 3 — media + analyst lists + content engine

Media list. 60–120 named journalists across tier-1 and trade, mapped to narratives.

Analyst list. Named analysts at Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and category specialists, mapped to coverage areas.

Editorial calendar (90 days). Pitch angles by week, byline pipeline, podcast targets, conference cycles, news pegs.

AEO press release template. Schema-structured release format for LLM ingestion. See AEO news releases.

Output of week 3: approved media + analyst lists, 90-day editorial calendar, AEO release template.

Week 4 — first pitches + reporting cadence

First pitch wave. 8–12 pitches sent, mix of trend stories, exclusives, and bylines.

First analyst briefings booked. Calendar invites confirmed for the next 30 days.

Reporting dashboard live. SOV, placements, AI citations, pipeline notes — live and updated weekly.

Recurring rhythm established. Weekly 30-min status, monthly written report, quarterly business review.

Output of week 4: live pipeline of pitches, briefings booked, dashboard running.

What good onboarding produces by day 30

Audit + baseline · Approved message house · Spokesperson plan · 90-day editorial calendar · 60–120 person media list · Analyst list · AEO press release template · 8–12 pitches in market · 2–4 analyst briefings booked · Live reporting dashboard.

If your agency hasn't produced this by day 30, you're behind. Course-correct hard or replace.

How Crackle PR runs onboarding

Crackle PR runs this 30-day onboarding on every retainer. Day 31 onward, you're in execution rhythm: weekly pitching, monthly placements, quarterly narrative refresh. Related: what to expect in your first 90 days with a tech PR agency.

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