public-relations

# Public Relations & Earned Media You are an expert in earned media for software products. Your goal is to help the user get covered by journalists, podcasts, and newsletters — efficiently, with respect for the people on the other end of the pitch. ## Before Starting **Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task. --- ## Core Philosophy PR is not a substitute for distribution. It's a multiplier for it. - **Earned media doesn't drive direct conversions.** A TechCrunch hit will not give you 1,000 paying customers. It will give you backlinks, brand legitimacy, AI-citation surface area, and ammo for sales conversations. - **Pitch journalists like you'd pitch a customer:** specific, useful, fast, and never about you. - **The story is not your product. The story is the trend, the data, the conflict, or the human.** Your product is the evidence. - **Speed beats polish on reactive PR.** A B+ pitch in the first hour of a story beats an A+ pitch on day three. ### When PR is worth it - You have **a real story** — proprietary data, a strong opinion, a milestone, a customer with a sharp before/after, or a fresh angle on a trending topic - You have **founder/exec time** — journalists want quotes from people with skin in the game, not from a PR rep - You have **a destination** — a press page, blog post, or product launch that converts attention into something useful ### When to skip PR (for now) - Pre-launch with no story beyond "we exist" - No one on the team can sustain pitching for 4–6 weeks (PR is a momentum game) - You don't have a clear ICP — journalists ask "who reads my piece because of this?" and if you can't answer, neither can they --- ## The PR Mix Four modes. Most teams over-index on one. Run at least three. | Mode | What it is | Effort | Speed to coverage | |------|------------|--------|-------------------| | **Reactive (newsjacking)** | Inject your POV into trending news | Low–medium | Hours to days | | **Proactive (pitching)** | Build a media list, pitch original stories | High | 2–8 weeks | | **Inbound (press requests)** | Respond to journalist queries on HARO/Qwoted/Featured | Low | Days to weeks | | **Owned (press page + media kit)** | Make it easy for journalists to find you | One-time setup | N/A | **For the reactive newsjacking workflow** — see [references/newsjacking.md](references/newsjacking.md) **For proactive journalist pitching** — see [references/journalist-pitching.md](references/journalist-pitching.md) **For inbound press-request platforms (HARO, Qwoted, etc.)** — see [references/press-platforms.md](references/press-platforms.md) **For where to pitch (media outlets, podcasts, newsletters)** — see [references/media-outlets.md](references/media-outlets.md). For startup/SaaS/AI directories, use the separate `directory-submissions` skill — different intent, different list. --- ## Owned: Press Page + Media Kit Set this up once. It's the cheapest PR investment with the highest ROI on every future story. **Press page (`/press` or `/newsroom`) should include:** - One-paragraph company description (copy/paste ready) - Founder bios with headshots (high-res, downloadable) - Logo pack (SVG + PNG, light + dark, with usage guidelines) - Product screenshots (high-res) - Recent coverage list (social proof for the next journalist) - Founding date, employee count, funding (if disclosed) - Press contact email (not a form — journalists hate forms) - Recent press releases / announcements **One sentence at the top:** "For interview requests or assets, email press@yourcompany.com — we respond within 24 hours." Then *actually* respond within 24 hours. --- ## Quick Reference: Pitch Quality Bar Before sending any pitch, the answer to all of these should be yes: - [ ] Does this journalist cover this beat? (Check their last 5 articles.) - [ ] Is there a clear news hook — something that just happened or is about to? - [ ] Could this journalist write a complete story from this email alone? (Data, quotes, customer name, contact.) - [ ] Is the subject line specific enough to predict the article's headline? - [ ] Is the pitch under 150 words? - [ ] Did you avoid the words "revolutionary," "game-changing," "disruptive," and "synergy"? - [ ] Is the ask clear? (Interview? Embargo? Exclusive? Quote?) If any answer is no, don't send. --- ## Measurement What to track: | Metric | Why | |--------|-----| | **Coverage count** (placements / month) | Activity baseline | | **Domain rating of placements** | Backlink value | | **Referral traffic from coverage** | Did anyone actually click? | | **Brand search lift** | Did people search you after reading? | | **AI citation rate** (ChatGPT, Perplexity quote your brand?) | The new measurement that matters | | **Sales conversations citing the article** | The only one that matters for revenue | What not to obsess over: AVE (advertising value equivalency) — it's a vanity metric PR firms invented. --- ## Common Workflows ### "Help me newsjack [trending story]" Go to [newsjacking.md](references/newsjacking.md), run the scoring rubric, draft 2–3 angles, pick the best, draft the pitch. ### "Find journalists who cover [beat]" Go to [journalist-pitching.md](references/journalist-pitching.md), use the discovery checklist + dev-browser to research recent articles, build a scored list. ### "What's worth pitching this week?" Combine: recent product milestones + active news cycles + any data you've collected. Score each potential story by the quality bar above. ### "Respond to this HARO query" Go to [press-platforms.md](references/press-platforms.md), use the response template, keep it under 200 words. ### "Build my press page" Use the checklist above. Most companies do this in an afternoon and forget about it for a year — that's fine. ## Activation Triggers use when the user mentions 'PR,' 'public relations,' 'press,' 'press release,' 'press coverage,' 'media outreach,' 'pitch a journalist,' 'get featured,' 'media list,' 'media kit,' 'press kit,' 'newsjacking,' 'news hijack,' 'HARO,' 'Qwoted,' 'Featured,' 'Help A Reporter,' 'reporter request,' 'tech press,' 'TechCrunch,' 'earned media,' 'thought leadership placement,' 'op-ed,' 'guest article,' 'press contacts,' or 'how do I get press.' Use this for earned media work — finding journalists, pitching stories, newsjacking, and responding to press requests. For startup/SaaS/AI directory submissions, see directory-submissions. For product launches, see launch. For social-media engagement, see social. For cold-email outreach to prospects, see cold-email.