We create news.
At PR Hacker, we have 27 different story Blueprints — each representing a proven method for generating media interest and press coverage. We don’t wait for new product releases or events—we go out and create the news with surveys, rankings, and events that connect with consumers and keep our clients’ brands top of mind. Our proprietary Blueprint system lets us quantify success based on what worked before and what will work again, guaranteed. We don’t have to guess at success—we know exactly which type of story generates which level of engagement with which type of journalist.
Great data has great power because it provides the raw fuel for a newsworthy story.
We precision target.
We use the latest tools to put ads in the social media feeds of journalists in Top 100 U.S. markets, pre-seeding our stories and clients so that once our pitches reach their inboxes, they’ve already heard of our clients, and maybe even clicked through to their websites. We also microtarget different sectors with headlines that are demonstrated to lead to clicks. That means different sectors can get different headlines based on what will achieve the maximum engagement.
We A/B test.
To start, we write many different versions of a story idea—perhaps 25 different headline variations for a single pitch. These headline variations aren’t just slight tweaks—they’re carefully constructed calls-to-action guided by our proprietary Blueprint system. We then test these variations on small samples of media contacts, measure the conversion rate and speed of conversion, and scale up the “winning” pitch to thousands or tens of thousands of media contacts. If we’re pitching one sector, they get the winning headline. If we’re pitching multiple sectors, they get the headline that performed best among their peers.
Because we create viral headlines, some call us the buzzfeed of PR firms.
We think visually.
The average human’s attention span is now shorter than a goldfish’s, which means that we have just seconds to catch a journalist’s or a consumer’s attention. We optimize those seconds by formatting our pitches in a way that draw the eye to the main points and tell our clients’ stories in seconds. We extend that visual approach by providing broadcast journalists with b-roll footage that not only makes a show more likely to feature our client, but also piques viewers’ interest—and catches their attention—with expertly-shot video footage.
We work laterally.
While most agencies work sequentially to maximize billable hours, we work on multiple parallel tracks to scale quickly — making us 6X more efficient than a traditional agency. That means we could be going out with a human interest story, and hot new startup angle, and a thought leadership pitch, all at the same time.
By pitching stories in parallel rather than sequentially, PR Hacker is twice as efficient than other PR firms.
We optimize timing.
Timing is everything: it’s not enough to have a winning headline—the right pitch to the right person will fail if not delivered at the right time. We record the date and time of every interaction with each media contact—adjusting our pitch schedule to increase our odds of conversion. We also incorporate timely triggers into our pitches, including data on timely holidays and events and using these as hooks in our pitches.
We track intent.
By monitoring opens, clicks, and time spent , we know who is interested in our story before they respond. And if they don’t respond? We can go back to them at the right time with the right hook and the right headline to reignite their interest. We track how journalists interact with our emails, and have created plans to reach them at the moment they are most primed to respond, using the language that is most likely to reach them. Then we follow up with additional information at the exact moment, adding to their interest and triggering their curiosity.
We measure results.
Effective PR starts with a clear definition of the client’s priority KPIs and metrics. Some burgeoning startups want to get their name out there in any way possible, while others are only interested in top trade publications in their industry. Traditional PR wisdom says that coverage doesn’t lead directly to sales, but if that’s our client’s goal, we can make it happen.
We are transparent.
At the beginning of each campaign, we work with the client to develop an editorial calendar and to ensure that every pitch and headline that we send to journalists is on-brand and on-message, and then we report back on how each pitch and headline is performing. We’re constantly monitoring how our coverage helps our client reach their goals, and pivoting directions if needed.
We go global.
We use a team of researchers and our own in-house media relations management software to track and tag 350,000 media contacts in the U.S. alone (plus hundreds of thousands more throughout the world). Our proprietary media CRM database monitors journalists and influencers across the globe — tracking our interactions with them and the daily stories they are reporting and giving us the ability to pitch stories virtually anywhere at a moment’s notice.