Hiring a PR firm usually starts with a shortlist and ends with a pitch. In between, a company gathers whatever it can find: agency websites, portfolios, client lists, a few case studies, maybe a referral from a peer. Then it makes a decision that can shape its public profile for months or years.
Marketing Crunch is launching to add something to that process. The new platform reviews PR firms and individual marketers, and it describes itself as the “Rotten Tomatoes of tech marketing,” a place where companies can research the people and firms behind marketing before they hire.
The Hardest Service To Preview
Marketing services are difficult to evaluate before they are purchased. A portfolio shows finished campaigns. A client list shows who a firm has worked with. A testimonial shows how one client felt at one moment.
None of those materials fully answers the question most buyers are really asking: what will it be like to work with this firm or this person? Communication style, responsiveness, strategic thinking, and consistency tend to reveal themselves only after a contract is signed.
Reviews speak directly to that experience. They capture what past clients observed over the course of a relationship, which is exactly the perspective a prospective client wants before committing.
Individuals, Not Just Agencies
One detail matters a great deal for buyers: Marketing Crunch reviews individual marketers alongside firms.
That is a meaningful difference from agency directories, which typically list companies. In practice, many engagements are defined by specific people. A startup might hire a solo consultant to run a launch. A larger company might sign with an agency because of one senior strategist. Being able to look up the individual as well as the firm gives buyers a more complete view of who they are actually hiring.
Hiring In A Tighter Budget Climate
The buyer’s perspective is sharpened by the current spending environment. Forrester’s 2026 B2B Brand and Communications Survey found that 93% of respondents use agencies in some capacity, while the share expecting agency budgets to grow fell 13 percentage points from 2025. Nearly half expect spending to remain flat.
For a company working within a fixed budget, choosing the right partner the first time has real value. Every additional input that improves that choice is worth having.
Knowing What You Are Paying For
Buyers are also navigating a market where tools are widely shared. Forrester reported in June 2026 that nine in 10 U.S. marketing agencies use generative AI and half use agentic AI for marketing execution, applying it across creative, strategy, media, and reporting.
When many providers have access to similar technology, what a company is really paying for is expertise: the judgment to set the right strategy, the creativity to stand out, and the relationships that open doors. Reviews help buyers see which providers bring those qualities consistently.
Outcomes On The Checklist
Results are another item near the top of every buyer’s list. The 2026 State of PR report from Meltwater and We. Communications, drawn from more than 1,100 PR and communications professionals worldwide, found that proving ROI ranks among the leading issues for PR teams, and more than one-third of respondents said aligning measurement with business goals is a top priority.
Companies hiring PR support are asking the same questions from the other side of the table. They want partners who can show results tied to business goals, and a review platform gives them another way to find those partners.
A New Line On The Shortlist
The hiring process for marketing help is not going to look entirely different overnight. Companies will still review portfolios, take calls, and check references. What Marketing Crunch adds is a dedicated stop in that process, one focused entirely on the reputations of PR firms and marketers.
For the next company building a shortlist, the research now has a new starting point.
