Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Reviews

I think for junior staff to learn the very basics, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is helpful. I think it is not a bad thing to check daily, but there are much better and thoughtful ways to get stories for clients. Checking once or twice a day is fine, but wouldn't rely on it to do my job.

I have never used their support team before, so I cannot judge. I assume it would be fine.

Help a Reporter Out is a great way to track what media are planning to report on, and assist organizations in connecting with these reporters when a request matches your organization's expertise.

It is not a great way to try and do PR or get out your specific message -- you are there to assist reporters with specific requests rather than try and get reporters to cover work you are doing.

Especially good for building confidence in reaching out to reporters, journalists, etc. These folks are looking for stories and you are providing them with a direct link to the brands you represent. It's a win-win for both parties if your pitch is considered and accepted.

Be sure to do your diligence to confirm that the outlet is the caliber your client is looking for.

HARO has been a tremendous success for Velo IT Group! We have been included in numerous articles, which is a powerful marketing tool in that it augments our SEO efforts and increases brand awareness. These opportunities have provided great social media content which has garnered high levels of engagement and helped our leadership team establish credibility in their areas of expertise. We’ve landed mentions in Forbes, Inc, Digital Guardian, USA Today, ABC News and CMS Wire to name a few, and have built up enough content to create an ‘In the News’ page on our website: https://www.velomethod.com/in-the-news/

HARO is great for reactive pitching, can get you some quick press when done right, and can be used to monitor trends for your proactive pitching, as well. It's not meant to be used as a vehicle to sway reporters off of a story idea, though -- I hear many people saying they send pitches that aren't exactly what the reporter asked for, and this is not the place to do that.

I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to find great sources, or for someone looking to generate earned media.

When you have a specific topic you want to discuss (e.g. internet of things) and you know who you want to talk to (e.g. c-level and V.P.-level IT executives). Media professionals who respond to my HARO queries are much more relevant than the unsolicited queries I receive via email.

[It's] Well suited to obtain interviews with A-list sources that you may not have access to. Their representatives can reach out to you. Also good to find new contacts in industries to get information on trends. Less appropriate to find specific people or companies. You'll get responses you can cull through however and determine what's best to follow up on. Good for posting a topic but not the publication if it confidential yet.

I think it's really meant as a supplement for traditional media pitching like I said before. It's definitely not something that could serve as a primary resource to gain media coverage because it can be very hit or miss. In my experience the odds that you find something relevant to you (especially as a company in a very niche industry) is quite slim and even if I do find something I still have to assess whether it's the right outlet and sometimes there is a super short deadline. You have to check HARO very frequently to make the most out of it.