When choosing a PR agency, the size can have a large impact on how far that agency can be trusted to do your necessary work. These five reasons justify why going with a smaller agency should inspire confidence in fulfilling your needs:

1. You know who you’re working with: In a large agency, whilst the Director of PR might claim personal involvement in the project, there’s no guarantee that the people you meet initially will be the ones working for you later. PR firms pitch with their best staff (senior members), then assign the day-to-day work to lower-level (junior, cheaper) employees. With a small agency, where every employee has a specified role, you know exactly who you are working with, and should immediately be aware of the role that each member of staff will have in your project, and how each member of staff has contributed to past successes.

2. Personal touch: When you know who you’re working for, you can build relationships, and trust your information and reputation to people, instead of just to a brand. You can be confident that your message is understood on a personal level.

3. Speed without bureaucracy: The smaller the company, the faster decisions can be made. With a small agency there is no need to wait for approval of absent staff members, as responsibility for decisions lies with the people you work with. The co-ordination of staff in larger companies, involving communication across different departments, rolling absences and meetings or management of other clients, can make up 40% of an entire project. This not only wastes time, but can affect the smooth functioning of the overall operation.

4. Pure professionalism: To be successful, as a rule, small agencies must be founded by industry professionals with the experience, connections and reputation to survive in the market. Their independence is proof of their drive and creativity: without Big Brand backing, they have to fight for every single project.

5. Cost: Large agencies must account for more man-hours, larger and expensive offices and the additional overheads that go into establishing and maintaining a famous name. Small agencies, without extensive co-ordination and excessive branding, have small costs.