Item: Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued
Rating: 5
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Connecting our clients and their stories to reporters seeking sources for stories they're actively developing is a critical process that leads to important results. We use Help a Reporter Out (HARO) (and similar tools) to learn about these opportunities. When we find a suitable match between a reporter and the experts we have to offer, we make the pitch and hopefully turn it into coverage.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Identify active opportunities for coverage with reporters that need qualified sources
Create more opportunities for clients to earn coverage in a wide range of media outlets
Provide an ongoing source for leads that can help us meet our goals.

Cons

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) was recently acquired by Cision, which drove it straight into the ground.
Cision's idea to turn Help a Reporter Out (HARO) into a subscription service was a death knell. Making these opportunities available as a resource for journalists and PR practitioners alike, without having to pay for it, was what made it so great.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) founder Peter Shankman revived the idea and launched HERO, which essentially captures everything that was great about HARO.

Return on Investment

As a free resource, the ROI was off the charts. As a subscription service, not so much.
When we can bring clients wins, regardless of how they were sourced, that keeps them happy and helps us maintain strong long-term agency/client relationships. In that regard, subscribing to a free resource like HARO (or now HERO) is a no-brainer.
It's unlikely that we'll subscribe to a service that doesn't do as good a job as it used to, especially when we pay so much for other services that are required to do business effectively.

Key Insights

Do you think Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued delivers good value for the price?

Are you happy with Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued's feature set?

Did Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued again?

Likelihood to Recommend

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) was (and today, HERO is) an incredibly valuable tool that effectively bridges the gap between journalists and PR practitioners, and it filled a need on both ends. A perfect solution to an ongoing industry problem.

When I have a client that needs media coverage, and a lead is shared in the daily email that fits the client's expertise, it creates an opportunity that we may never have otherwise been able to identify.

Comments

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Help a Reporter Out (HARO) was great until it was acquired. Today, HERO is the real hero.