What Is Performance-Based PR?
You've probably heard of performance marketing. You pay when something happens: a lead comes in, a sale closes, someone clicks. You're not paying for effort or hours. You're paying for results.
PR has traditionally worked the opposite way. You hire a firm, pay a retainer, and hope something gets placed.
The old joke (usually credited to John Wanamaker) is:
"Half my advertising spend is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."
Traditional PR can feel even worse than that, because at least with advertising you know the ad ran.
Performance-based PR tries to fix this. Here's how I define it:
PR services where the client knows what they're getting, what it costs, and when it will happen. If it doesn't happen, they don't pay.
That's it. Simple concept. Harder to execute than it sounds.
The Marketing Predictability Spectrum
All marketing and PR efforts can be placed on a spectrum of predictability. On one end, you have highly-predictable marketing like digital ads. Somewhere towards the opposite end, you have PR.
You may feel tempted to argue exactly where outdoor vs. TV vs. social media should be, but that’s not the point. The point is that digital advertising is more predictable than PR, and this makes it difficult to create “performance PR.”
However, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to try.
What is Performance PR?
Performance PR or performance-based PR is, as I define it:
PR services that are highly predictable in terms of deliverables, cost, and timing.
Got a better definition of performance-based PR? I’d love to hear it, then I can quote you instead of myself, since quoting oneself is awkward.
Performance PR, therefore, would tell a client:
What they’re going to get
How much it’s going to cost
When they’re going to get it
However, this is easier said than done. Mark Macias of Macias PR writes in Forbes that, “Contrary to what some people believe, publicists don’t just call a reporter and say, ‘Hey, I have a story idea for you.’ And the journalist responds with, ‘That’s great. I have a three-minute segment block open tomorrow morning. Can your client come to our studio?’”
But what if a PR firm could do exactly that?
How Performance-Based PR Works at Canvas PR
I got into PR after writing for Forbes and other publications. I was motivated to jump in because I was receiving several hundred pitches every month from PR firms, and 99.9999% of them were terrible. I mean, they were really, really bad.
That experience taught me something: the PR firms charging the most weren't necessarily doing the best work. They had impressive client lists and Manhattan addresses, but the pitches were generic and the relationships were shallow.
When I built Canvas, I built it around deep relationships with writers and editors at specific publications. Not "we know someone at Forbes." More like: we've worked with this particular writer at Forbes a dozen times, we know what they want, and we know before we approach them whether they'll say yes.
Here’s how we do it:
A client tells us they want to be in Forbes (or Inc., USA Today, Entrepreneur, or any of the 200-plus publications we work with).
We review their background to make sure it's a good fit.
The client pays a flat fee for the placement.
We work with the client to develop article angles and headlines.
We bring a headline to a writer we already have a relationship with. One we know will say yes before we ask.
Once the writer confirms interest, we draft the article and get client approval.
The writer reviews, edits, and publishes.
Average turnaround is 6 to 8 weeks. Sometimes it's faster.
the guarantee
If we don't get the article published, the client gets a full refund or we keep working at no additional charge. That's the deal. We deliver or you don't pay.
We charge upfront rather than after publication, because we've had situations where we delivered and then chased payment. But no client has ever been denied a refund when we didn't come through.
Why this matters more now
Getting into Forbes used to be mostly about credibility with humans: clients, investors, speaking bureaus, journalists doing background checks. That still matters.
But there's a newer reason to care about earned media: AI search. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity "who's a good PR firm for entrepreneurs" or "how do I get featured in Forbes," those tools pull from what's been written about you. A feature in a credible publication is one of the strongest signals you can send to an AI search engine. A paid placement or Forbes Council post doesn't carry the same weight. Full editorial does.
Is it right for you?
Canvas works with entrepreneurs, executives, authors, and public speakers who want to build authority through earned media. If you're looking to get into a top-tier publication and want to know exactly what you're paying and what you're getting, that's what we do.
You can browse the publications we work with and get started here.
