Pitching For Multiple Agency Clients: How To Do It Ethically and Successfully

Working with multiple agency clients at once is no big deal for PR pros…but working with a bunch of clients in the same niche? Now THAT can get tricky. How do you balance pitching them out for opportunities at the same outlets that they’d all be perfect for? 

Taking on multiple clients in the same niche (whether they just have similar offerings or are downright competitors) is a natural part of agency growth. You need to know how to navigate this like an expert so you can set yourself and all of your clients up for success. 

How to Pitch for Multiple Agency Clients in the Same Niche

Epic press doesn’t happen without stellar, well-written pitches. But it can be difficult to put your pitching skills to good use when you’re juggling multiple agency clients in the same niche! To get a handle on the situation, you need to focus on ethics, communication, and PR pro skills. Here are my four best strategies for pitching multiple clients in the same niche to the same publications. 

Focus On Storytelling and Improving Your Pitch-Writing Skills 

The best pitches tell a story. But when you’re pitching multiple agency clients to an editor, your regular storytelling strategies won’t be as effective. 

You need to make the editor understand the differences between each client’s brand, product, or expert. You also have to convince them why each would be a great fit for the feature. 

Before writing up a pitch draft, think about what’s unique about each client. They’re similar, not the same — it’s up to YOU to find and highlight the little details that make your clients stand out from each other and the rest of their niche. 

The best way to do this is to work on honing your pitch-writing skills. In The Pitch Lab, we go over how to perfectly tailor your pitches and land more press opportunities no matter how similar your agency clients may be. 

Create Gift/Product Guides that Feature All of Your Agency Clients 

Gift guide placements are some of the most powerful, influential features you can land as a PR pro. But why not create a gift guide of your own to enhance your pitches? 

Create a product guide that features the best of the best from all of your agency clients, including those in the same niche. Make sure to update your guide for each gifting season, like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and the end-of-year holidays. 

When you pitch for gift guide placements, call out a few items or clients (2-3 is enough) that you want the journalist to focus on, then link to your complete gift guide in your email. Editors often work on multiple gift guides at once and could pull a client from your product guide for a feature unrelated to your original pitch. Who knows what placements you could land with a single link?

Related: How to Pitch Products for Gift Guides and Boost Your Clients’ Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Always Inform Your Agency Clients About Potential Conflicts of Interest 

Communication is key in all of PR, but especially in a sticky situation like this. Always inform your existing agency clients about any potential conflicts of interest when you’re considering taking on a similar client. No one wants to feel like they’ve been duped!

Your clients may consider you a hidden PR gem, but if they found you, so can their competitors. It’s always a good idea to talk to your existing client about any of their competitors that are trying to work with you before you seal the deal. Discuss which services you’d be providing your potential client with, how they compare to your original client’s services, and answer any questions they may have. 

Your agency clients are trusting you to deliver impeccable service and bring them results month after month —  that’s why you’re on retainer with them! Make sure they know that the quality of your service will not change when you take on a new, similar client and that all of their information and strategies will remain confidential. 

Consider Offering Exclusivity Packages

Your agency clients will appreciate you being open and honest about potential conflicts of interest, but they may want to nip any issues in the bud before they happen. If they want to be the only company in their (very) specific niche that you work with, an exclusivity package may be the best path forward. 

In an exclusivity package, you agree to only work with that one company in their specific niche. And in exchange for that exclusivity, the client will pay a higher retainer fee every month. By turning down potential clients within their niche, you’re missing out on a ton of revenue — with an exclusivity package, your existing client is essentially covering a portion of those lost payments. 

Be prepared for your client to turn down the exclusivity package: PR is expensive as-is, and they may not have the budget to cover the extra fee. If this happens, they’ll just have to come to terms with the situation and accept that you’ll be working with other brands in their industry. It’s just a part of business, and you deserve to share your skills, talents, and expertise with as many agency clients as you want!

Pitching multiple agency clients in the same niche is a tough situation for any PR pro. The most important thing is to focus on communication and do what’s best for your clients and your agency. Figure out your strategy and get right to pitching and landing killer press!