domains / marketing / pr-earned-media / public-relations

public-relations

Skill card

combined

The three copies overlap on the goal of helping with PR and earned media, but they are not interchangeable. coreyhaines31/marketingskills is a broad earned-media strategy skill covering the PR mix, story angles, newsjacking, journalist pitching, press platforms, podcast prep, and crisis communications. kostja94/marketing-skills is a narrower press-release and media-relations skill with a concrete press-release structure, lead/quote guidance, and AP-style writing rules. sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills is a mirror of the coreyhaines31 skill, but it is truncated and adds metadata rather than new procedure. Because the coreyhaines31 copy lacks the press-release structure and the kostja94 copy lacks the broader PR-mix and crisis workflow, crowning one would hide a real alternative.

Repositories

Other copies

Combined skill

---
name: public-relations
description: "When the user wants help with public relations, earned media, press coverage, journalist outreach, media strategy, press releases, or crisis communications (not pull requests)."
metadata:
  version: 1.3.0
---

# 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.

If `contextus.md` exists at the project root, read it and load only the modules relevant to this task. Without a context file, use available project material or user-provided facts and ask for missing information; do not create a parallel context system.

## 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. Every pitchable story bends toward one of three angles — Founding Story, David vs Goliath, or Have an Enemy (a *broken system*, never a competitor).
- **Chase press for the compound effect, not the traffic bump.** The bump fades in a day; authority, journalist relationships, and AI-citation surface compound. Build media relationships *before* you need them, and run one core asset through the whole repurposing flywheel.
- **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 story angle taxonomy (Founding Story / David vs Goliath / Have an Enemy), data stories, media relationship-building, and the PR repurposing flywheel** — see [references/story-angles.md](references/story-angles.md)

**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.

**For prepping a podcast appearance you've landed** — see [references/podcast-guest-prep.md](references/podcast-guest-prep.md). Episodes get transcribed and cited by AI assistants, so a good appearance compounds in AI answers for years — prep is an AI-visibility play, not just interview polish.

## Press Release Structure

Journalists use ~3% of releases they receive; proper structure is critical. Use this structure when writing press releases, planning product announcements, or building media relations.

| Section | Guideline |
|---------|-----------|
| **Header** | Logo; contact (name, title, email, phone); "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" or embargo |
| **Headline** | Under 100 chars; strong action verbs; "Why should I care?" |
| **Subheadline** | Optional; additional context |
| **Dateline** | City, state, date |
| **Lead** | 50–75 words; all 5 W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why) |
| **Body** | 1–2 paragraphs; inverted pyramid; most newsworthy first |
| **Quote** | Executive/stakeholder; perspective, not fact repetition |
| **Boilerplate** | 2–3 sentence company description |
| **Media contact** | Name, email, phone |

### Lead Paragraph

Journalist should understand the full story from the lead alone. Specific details, not vague language ("important update" → what changed and impact).

### Quote Quality

- Add perspective or emotion
- Avoid generic corporate-speak
- Don't repeat facts already stated

### Writing Style

- AP style
- Short paragraphs (one idea each)
- Clear language for easy journalist adaptation
- Data and context to support claims

### Output Format

- **Headline** and subheadline
- **Lead** paragraph
- **Body** copy
- **Quote** suggestion
- **Boilerplate**

## 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.

## When Something Goes Wrong

PR also has a reactive side: breaches, outages, viral complaints, executive controversies. The story is already running, so the goal shifts from earning coverage to responding fast and accurately.

Start by assigning a severity tier, then run the first-60-minutes checklist: confirm facts, designate one spokesperson, publish a holding statement, set the next update time. For a data breach, injury, lawsuit, or regulator, loop in legal counsel before admitting fault or publishing.

**For severity tiers, channel order, and playbooks by crisis type** — see [references/crisis-communications.md](references/crisis-communications.md)

**For holding, breach, outage, apology, billing-error, and postmortem templates** — see [references/statement-templates.md](references/statement-templates.md)

## 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.

## Related Skills

- **media-kit-page-generator**: Media kit for press (assets)
- **press-coverage-page-generator**: Aggregation of coverage; outcome of PR; "As Seen In"
- **branding**: Brand voice for PR copy
- **cold-start-strategy**: Product Hunt, launch channels
- **product-launch**: GTM; PR as launch channel
- **directory-submissions**: Startup/SaaS/AI directory submissions
- **social**: Social-media engagement
- **cold-email**: Cold-email outreach to prospects