How a long-term PR strategy attracts journalists from WSJ, Forbes, and Bloomberg

TABS Analytics is a US based firm that conducts in-depth market studies of industries across the US. This year, they released reports on the Cosmetics, Baby Care, Household Products, Candy, and Grocery industries. Like many of our clients, TABS Analytics was sitting on a gold mine of proprietary data but was unsure of how to transform this information into a pitchable piece of content that would appeal to readers. Robert Baldwin, VP of Marketing for TABS Analytics, worked with us to develop his PR strategy based on his business and PR goals. Over the course of several months, outreach to the press that focused on relationship building and being a valuable source for journalists writing about retail analytics proved to be an effective outreach tactic for gaining more recognition with top tier publications and their writers. Robert leaned on JustReachOut services to stay on top of trending news, keeping him in the loop on possible story and pitch angles, and to provide the necessary PR research and outreach resources.

As with many companies looking to build authority and credibility in an industry, this type of engagement is suitable for the long-term. These are exactly the types of PR opportunities that JustReachOut loves working on because they require building relationships with journalists. Offering data is sometimes a newsworthy and quick route to getting your name out there but oftentimes following the trends and discussions of what’s happening in the news and offering value beyond what people are talking about can prove useful to journalists covering the topic. Finding the right angle that will accelerate the most relevant journalist’s pulse is an experimental process.

A few years ago, when Albertsons and Rite Aid announced plans for a merger, Kurt Jetta, CEO of TABS Analytics wrote a LinkedIn post predicting this merger would not be successful.

When the news broke that the merger was off, JustReachOut team got right to pitching journalists who we knew would be writing about this story and shared Jetta’s 2 year old LinkedIn post. The Wall Street Journal writer, along with a few others, responded with interest. This Wall Street Journal writer chatted with Jetta on a call about how he predicted this to all happen, and then quoted him in the article. For a journalist, connecting with the CEO of a company privy to insights and proprietary data is not just useful for a single press mention but forging such relationships can turn you into a repeatable source of valuable information in the future.

Landing mentions or an article in a top tier publication is no small feat. The dreams of big PR wins reflecting longingly in many a customers’ eyes are often dashed after trying out a tactic or two for a month. Dismayed by the jolting rejection and lack of wins they expected to flow in every week, they quit the game until they catch the PR bug again in a few months. We’ve seen this a thousand times, but not with TABS Analytics. Baldwin was well aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Similarly, Baldwin knew that structuring a PR strategy aiming to build long-lasting coverage on the path to becoming a veritable thought leader would take considerable time and effort.

After pitching a Bloomberg writer in December 2017, the writer showed interest in what TABS was doing. Jetta hopped on a call with the writer and, seemingly, hit it off. More than 6 months later, that writer quoted and used TABS’ research in an article posted on Bloomberg.

The platform’s search capabilities refine the execution process through keyword searches. Recently, the Outreach Strategist working with TABS Analytics found a Forbes writer interested in the work TABS was doing. He sent a simple pitch and asked the writer if he would be interested in seeing more information. A week later, there was a feature article published on Forbes about TABS Analytics’ recent study on the Alcoholic Beverages Industry.

Knowing what’s in the news and knowing how to find the proper writers using the JustReachOut platform allowed for this quick turnover of making a study into a pitch and further developing the story for a major publication.

TABS and the Outreach team did not find success right away. It actually took months for their first win to come about. JustReachOut team knew TABS had some incredible information that readers would be eager to learn about. It was a matter of finding what data was most compelling and how to best present it to journalists. For the TABS Analytics strategy to prove worthy of press, the news angle within needed to be honed. Rather than just having a page of stats for a journalist to pour over we drew actual conclusions about how they related to the influence it would have on a market, society, or a segment of the population. Connecting the dots in this way needed to be conveyed in a real life application for a story to emerge.