About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Guides and advice, Opinion

My take on getting B2B brands covered in the national media

The national media has long been seen as the holy grail of many a PR programme but often a thorn in the side for B2B PR agencies like us! While logic says that B2B audiences are best reached through highly targeted trade or professional publications, emotion screams “but I want to be in the papers!”

And why not? At the end of the day the national media is read by a cross section of people and you could argue that more of your niche audience will be picking up The Times or The Guardian than Plastics and Rubber Weekly! More to the point, gaining a link to your business website in a high domain authority online news site can do wonders for your SEO as well as your brand.

However, national media coverage is hard to come by – but even harder for obscure B2B brands that have little direct relevance back to the issues of the day. A good B2B PR agency will be able to help you achieve this goal – but they will also require your help, patience and willingness to step beyond the comforts of your core B2B PR programme.

Here are the five golden rules I’ve used over the years to gain national media coverage for my B2B clients.

  1. Think consumer – a large amount of what goes into national newspapers is about consumer trends and affairs. Even though you may be a B2B business, how does your product impact your customer’s customer – which could well be the man in the street? Make the link!
  2. Never give up – selling a story to the nationals can take time and far more effort than other B2B stories do. For one former client I persuaded them to analyse a massive volume of data so that we could sell it exclusively to one national publication. It took several months and about the same again to go from pitch to publication. However it resulted in a full page feature on page six of The Observer. Keep the faith!
  3. Work backwards – Don’t start with what you want to say as a business; start with where you want to gain coverage, then work out what it will take to create the right story. There are usually quite rigid boundaries to be followed to get a national journalist to bite on your story so there’s no point trying to shoehorn something created for a different job. Be bespoke.
  4. Focus on you – Unless they’re very exciting, innovative or truly disruptive, most B2B products and services aren’t going to interest a national media journalist. However, your own business challenges may well be interesting, especially for small business, enterprise or entrepreneurial sections and columns. There are many topical issues that get featured and if one of them is something you face as a business, then you could be a contender for coverage. Think problems.
  5. Look, listen and read – The national media agenda is shaped by what happens each day, so you need to know what’s happening each day. My personal ‘go to’ is Radio 4 on the way to work. It’s amazing how quickly you can train yourself to make lateral connections to your clients. When a big cyber breach happens, the media needs security experts. When a high street chain goes bust they need retail experts. When the government introduces new tax rules they need tax experts. You get the idea…

About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Guides and advice, Opinion

Five tech trends B2B marketers need to be aware of in 2025

The top five FinTech publications your business should know about

Browse more blog posts

A visual image showcases tech trends for B2B marketers. The graphic displays icons signaling tech trends such as AI.
Posted on
byJames Weaver
Things change quickly in the world of B2B marketing. With every ‘eureka!’ moment for new and disruptive technologies that herald to change the game, staying ahead of the curve is vitally important. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been used by businesses for decades, today the technology is plastered across the news agenda. There’s also a swathe of other transformative technologies...
An image of a woman reading a business, financial and fintech newspaper
Posted on
byIsobelle Yoxall
It’s a new year for your FinTech business, and there’s big news on the horizon: a new product launch, exciting partnerships, or innovative features to announce. This makes for the perfect time to share your story with the media. Or perhaps you are just seeking fresh opportunities to make a new impact. Whatever the reason, there’s no better time to...
Fintech megatrends featured image - 2025
Posted on
byRob Skinner
Woah fintech, slow down! Of course, that is never really going to happen – so PR and marketing professionals, how are you going to keep up? The fintech landscape is evolving at lightning speed, driven by groundbreaking innovations and shifting consumer expectations. Projections show that the market could reach a size of £1.2 trillion by 2030. To put that into...
A graphic displaying five stars with a finger pointing to the brightest star, reflecting the ambition to be a premium brand
Posted on
byClaire Lamb
Building a premium brand doesn’t require a limitless marketing budget. In fact, some of the world’s most respected B2B brands have built their reputations through strategic, cost-effective marketing and PR, rather than block busting spend.   What do I mean by quality brand? I’m referring to brands that position themselves as delivering a high quality product or service, which is often...
An image of the Skout team at the 2024 Christmas party
Posted on
byRob Skinner
It’s common to hear people say, “Hasn’t this year gone quickly?” But this time, when I reached into the loft, it seemed like the fairy lights were still warm in their box! 2024 has been a busy year for me personally, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it has flown by. Between my wife and me becoming empty nesters, moving to...
A collection of headlines showing influential people who influenced the news agenda throughout 2024
Posted on
byRebecca Brown
2024 has certainly been a big year for the news agenda. From a change of government in the UK to the US presidential election race. CrowdStrike causing a mass IT outage due to a faulty update. Climate disasters such as Hurricane Milton and the flooding in Valencia. The return of Celine Dion at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. And...
Measuring tool being used by person to measure words on image
Posted on
byClaire James
Have you ever been asked to demonstrate the value of your marketing budget to leaders within your business? You’re not alone. According to LinkedIn’s B2B Benchmark report, 76% of B2B marketers feel under pressure to prove return-on-investment in the short term while nearly half cite ROI as the most important metric when reporting to the CEO, CFO and other board...
A laptop showing imagery associated with market trends reports
Posted on
byHonor Williamson
Staying ahead of trends and understanding which stories are resonating with target audiences is integral to great PR. Given the volume of noise in today’s media, making use of tools can help reveal patterns, highlight relevant topics, and guide your content strategy. This is where the market trends report can be a real game-changer. Market trends reports provide insights into...
X The Guardian
Posted on
byClaire Lamb
The Guardian announced last week that it will stop posting on X. According to the newspaper, the “benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives.” It went onto say that “this is something we have been considering for a while given the often-disturbing content promoted or found on the platform.”  It’s clear that X has become a...
Tape / measurement visual
Posted on
byJack Snell
In today’s fast-paced business environment, every penny counts, especially whilst businesses are under immense pressure to justify every line of their balance sheets. This is where the important of measuring your PR activities comes into play. At Skout, we believe that effective measurement is the key to demonstrating a tangible return on investment in your PR efforts. We recently launched...

Get in touch

Skout
11 Market Place
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK10 1EB
Send us a message
Name(Required)

Send us a message