Profile pitching

Good PR goes beyond the product. To establish your company and founder(s) as industry leaders, it's crucial to position them as respected experts. This can be achieved through thought leadership pieces and discussions on your owned channels, as well as securing profile press through earned media. Whether it's through written interviews, speaking opportunities, expert podcasts, or opinion pieces, profile press builds trust and emotional connection.


This section covers:

Profile press in 3 minutes

Strategy framework

Our framework to support you in establishing pitch angles that get noticed by the press.

Password: 'stratchat'

Foundations of profile press

Profile press angles examples

  • Meet the maker

    Millie Bridget Henry | Country Homes & Interiors

    Focus: Founder perspective & experience (business)

  • Economy effecting business

    Prior Shop | B24/7

    Focus: Brand news & opinion (business)

    Brand news & opinion

  • Mental health

    Rosie Davies-Smith | Hello Magazine

    Focus: Founder perspective & experience (personal)

  • B2B

    Moshulu | VisualSoft

    Focus: How the brand uses or has benefited from a business service (business)

    Click Here

  • Interview

    Rixo | The London Magazine

    Focus: A day in the life, get to know the founder style piece (personal)

    Click Here

  • Interview

    PR Dispatch | Xero

    Focus: Discussing relevant or newsworthy topics within the industry (business)

    Click Here
MORE PR STRATEGY

Pitching a founder

When pitching to profile press on behalf of someone else, it can be challenging to determine the right topics to pitch or find talking points. Our Founder questionnaire provides a comprehensive range of discussion topics, covering everything from business growth to the founder's interests.

Establishing talking points is equally vital as understanding what the founder prefers not to discuss in the press. We encourage you to have the founder spend 30 minutes giving detailed responses via the questionnaire.

This will serve as a great foundation for your profile pitches and we recommend you add, remove and tailor questions as the business evolves.

When & how: Press
release

This succinct 1-pager gives the press the up-to-date, time-sensitive information and facts they need to write a feature.  

A catchy press release has:

  • relevant times, dates or locations
    relevant images

  • 3-4 short paragraphs of information

  • a newsworthy ‘hook’ and facts and figures to back the story up. 

  • 2 quotes from the brand / founder

A great press release is: 

  • one page

  • designed in-line with brand guidelines

  • exported and attached to pitch emails as an interactive PDF with hyperlinks

Find more on when your pitch may need a press release here. Hint, it’s not as often as you think.

Profile pitch

1. Research

Make sure you understand the publication's target audience and the content or angles they usually feature. Then tailor your pitch accordingly.  

2. Make it clear and concise 

Your pitch should be very clear on what the story is and why it’s relevant to publication readers, current events or trends. 

3. Follow up

Send one follow-up email 5-7 days after your initial pitch. Find our guidance here

INCREASE BRAND CREDIBILITY

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INCREASE BRAND CREDIBILITY •

Expert profile pitching advice

  • 1. Find your angle

    Establish three strong angles each quarter using our framework here. Expertise, insights, and opinions will always win, but don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.

  • 2. Do the research

    Understand how your angle is relevant to the publication’s readers, and see if they have featured anything similar recently. If they have, find another angle to maximise your chances of being featured.

  • 3. Ask yourself this question

    Are you, or the person you are pitching, the expert on this subject? Pitching as an expert means you have to walk the walk and talk the talk, so be honest with yourself on whether you’re the expert voice for the topic.

  • 4. Give a little not a lot

    You need to share enough in your pitch to hook the journalist in, but you don’t want to give the whole story away. How can you share just enough to get them interested in your angle, and want to read your pitch?

  • 5. Get creative with your imagery

    Use different imagery depending on your angle. And if you’re pitching to more than one publication, use different images so the features don’t look too similar if they all get picked up.

  • 6. Reuse and recycle

    Pitch more than once, and don’t be afraid to rework angles and hooks to get that feature. Refresh your angles every quarter, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

HANDLING PROFILE RESPONSES

  1. Only send what they have requested Profile press is much broader than product so requests can range from a short comment to answering interview questions and supplying supporting imagery.

  2. Audio preparation For podcast or audio, ask for the questions in advance so there’s time to prepare. 

  3. Ask for a deadline For written features, make sure you know the deadline for responses and supporting imagery.

  4. Maximise opportunity for backlinks. For a phone, Zoom or in-person interview, follow up afterwards by email with key links to the business. 

Confirm or track potential coverage here