Contract length, lock-in, and notice periods: what to accept
A fair PR contract runs month-to-month or on a short initial term, 90 days at most, with 30 days notice to cancel and no automatic renewal. The trap is the reverse: a 12-month minimum, auto-renewal, and a 60 or 90-day exit window that keeps billing you long after the value stops.
PR takes a runway to work, so a short ramp is reasonable. The first 60 to 90 days build the media list, the story, and the reporter relationships; placements land after that. A 90-day initial term is honest. A 12-month lock dressed up as "PR needs time" removes your only real leverage, which is the ability to leave. Agencies push long terms because retainer churn is their biggest business risk. That risk belongs to the agency, and the honest way to manage it is to deliver results.
The three clauses that decide whether you can leave, fair version against the trap:
| Term | Fair | Trap |
|---|---|---|
| Initial term | Month-to-month, or 90 days max | 12-month minimum |
| Renewal | Renews only if you opt in | Auto-renews unless you cancel in a tight window |
| Notice to cancel | 30 days, effective in any month | 60 to 90 days, or tied to the anniversary |
Auto-renewal is the one that bites quietly. A contract that re-ups for another year unless you cancel 90 days before the anniversary is engineered to catch you asleep. Strike it, or convert it to opt-in.
Exit math should be simple: you pay through the notice period and nothing more. Refuse early-termination fees and "wind-down" charges; the notice period is the wind-down. The one fair exception: if you do accept an initial term, a defined kill fee that caps a mid-term exit beats owing the balance. Confirm in the same clause that media lists, coverage, and work product transfer to you on exit. The what-you-keep page covers what you actually own when the contract ends, and the negotiating-the-agreement page covers how to trade these clauses against price.
A confident agency does not need a lock, because the results renew the contract. Industry research puts average client-agency tenure at roughly seven years, up from about three a decade ago. Those relationships last on results, and a lock only signals an agency that expects to lose you. PressFriendly prices month-to-month at every tier, so you can leave at any time without penalty; the pricing-models page covers the tiers themselves.