Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued Reviews & Insights

Score5 out of 10

19 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Helpful in connecting journalists with renowned experts: Users have found the product helpful in connecting journalists with renowned experts, providing access to people who are looking for media coverage.

Pushes PR opportunities directly to the user's desktop: Reviewers appreciate that the product pushes public relations opportunities directly to their desktop multiple times a day, offering media opportunities for various industries and topics.

Easy way to contact reporters with relevant information: The product offers an easy way for users to contact reporters with relevant information. Several reviewers have mentioned that they appreciate this feature and find it convenient for their PR efforts. The product also provides insight into what reporters are interested in discussing and gives visibility into the process of story creation, helping users stay updated with industry conversations and establish relationships between their organization and reporters.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO), discontinued Reviews

12 Reviews

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

Rating: 5 out of 10

Incentivized

May 1, 2024

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

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.

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.

Verified User

Executive (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Great press appearance source for free (but with some effort)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 5, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it to find media appearance opportunities for our company so we can send our pitches and get any coverage for our startup. This helps us get brand awareness in general and exposure to prospective clients and ventura capital funds without having to invest money in a PR agency.

Pros

Bring media appearance opportunities
Send daily updates
Simplify communication with reporters

Cons

Control of which reporter you communicate with
Help you track responses and query statuses
Better vet different types/categories of press oportunities

Likelihood to Recommend

I believe I explained the main scenarios. Haro is a simple tool that pretty much gives you feedback on media opportunities you can pitch for and allows you to get in touch with the reporter, so you can get exposure and they can find people for their news. It's better suited for b2c or smb-focused companies for sure.

Verified User

C-Level Executive in Marketing (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Good, but not worth the monthly charge

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

August 5, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is being used to monitor traffic and conversation around the topics of my industry, primarily credit unions. It is used to listen in on possible topics where the organization can be inserted into. It solves the issue of not knowing what kind of financial news is being reported on and what possible angle reporters are trying to carve out.

Pros

Offer insight into what reporters are wanting to talk about
See the process on story creation
Keep up with the industry conversation

Cons

It is owned by a media company
Once you sign up for it, Cision will bombard you trying to get you to upgrade

Likelihood to Recommend

This tool is great to get you into the conversations that are being reported on in your industry. It does the heavier and time-consuming work of finding which reporter to reach out to with your expertise, they come to you instead. It is one of the tools that are always there to allow you to jump into the conversation if needed or able.

Chandler Elmore

Community Development & Engagement Lead in Marketing at Blue Federal Credit Union (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

View profile

HARO is an easy to use resource for both journalists and PR professionals

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 2, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

HARO is used at our agency across members of the public relations (PR) team. As we look for opportunities to place our agency experts as resources, and/or our clients, HARO helps to save time by offering up opportunities to pitch from our inbox vs. proactively finding reporters to pitch. Primary areas we use it for are across sports and PR/marketing opportunities.

Pros

It's a great resource for journalist seeking sources
It's a great resource for sources seeking opportunities to comment on
It's a daily/digestible newsletter format (morning, afternoon, evening)

Cons

Better vetting of sources/journalists
Lack of feedback/responses from journalists
Ability for journalists/others to remain anonymous

Likelihood to Recommend

Best suited for resources interested in opportunities to comment and/or for journalists in need of a source without a previous relationship and/or having to do a ton of desktop research on their own to find a resource.

Dan Lobring

Vice President, Marketing Communications in Marketing at rEvolution (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

View profile

Excellent resource to connect experts to reporters

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

January 14, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use HARO daily. From checking to see what reporters and outlets are planning to work on, to connecting experts from my non-profit to reporters, Help a Reporter Out is perhaps the best way to stay ahead of the media cycle.

With its easy to use email format and straightforward structure to reply, the service is easy and results in excellent stories as well as great opportunities for our organization to gain media exposure by helping reporters when they need a specific quote.

I highly recommend signing up and tracking this service.

Pros

Connects reporters to experts
Allows organization to gain media exposure by helping reporters with specific requests and questions
Updates regularly, with three daily emails
Establishes relationships between members of your organization and reporters

Cons

Make the emails easier to navigate and more friendly to different email servers
Allow for forwarding and direct emails, even when someone hasn't signed up for the service

Likelihood to Recommend

Help a Reporter Out is a great way to track what media are planning to report on, and assist organizations in connecting with these reporters when a request matches your organization's expertise.

It is not a great way to try and do PR or get out your specific message -- you are there to assist reporters with specific requests rather than try and get reporters to cover work you are doing.

Jessica Herrera

Media Specialist in Marketing at Center for Biological Diversity (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

Catch a Rising Star or Industry Expert

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a contributing editor and freelance writer, I am often given assignments which use my research skills to flush out the desired synopsis assigned by the publisher of a variety of magazines. HARO has been invaluable in helping me find qualified sources in a variety of industries that I may not have personal contacts in. The responses to my requests for interviews and source material has been extremely fast. I've used HARO to obtain quirky pieces of info that make my stories unique, to requests for specific examples to illustrate a larger trend.

Pros

Obtain interviews with A-list known experts and celebrities.
Find sources of data to identify trends.
Obtain contacts in new industries.

Cons

Since the request for info is so open to response, there are always people sending replies that have little to do with the posted topic.

Likelihood to Recommend

[It's] Well suited to obtain interviews with A-list sources that you may not have access to. Their representatives can reach out to you. Also good to find new contacts in industries to get information on trends. Less appropriate to find specific people or companies. You'll get responses you can cull through however and determine what's best to follow up on. Good for posting a topic but not the publication if it confidential yet.

Verified User

Contributor in Professional Services (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

I landed an AP piece using HARO!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use HARO almost every day looking for opportunities to spread the word about brands in my portfolio. One brand, SD Strong Distilling, is a true startup and working very hard to get the word out. With HARO I know I am contacting people who are looking for content that will be published quickly.

Pros

Clear concise format
Gives user tips for achieving the best results
Love the 3 times per day..keeps my creative energy working.

Cons

When someone responds to my inquiry, it would be helpful to have the original query from the reporter included. As I am working several brands at one time, this would help keep everything clear and concise.

Likelihood to Recommend

Especially good for building confidence in reaching out to reporters, journalists, etc. These folks are looking for stories and you are providing them with a direct link to the brands you represent. It's a win-win for both parties if your pitch is considered and accepted.

Be sure to do your diligence to confirm that the outlet is the caliber your client is looking for.

Lisa Strong

CEO and President in Marketing at Strong Marketing, Inc (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

HARO – A Powerful Marketing Tool to Increase Brand Awareness

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use HARO at Velo IT Group to seek out opportunities to be cited in articles, which is instrumental for generating brand awareness and boosting SEO efforts. It is managed by myself (Marketing) and I frequently request quotes from team members in different departments. These opportunities have provided great social media content which has garnered high levels of engagement and helped our leadership team establish credibility in their areas of expertise.

Pros

Provides opportunities for exposure online on highly reputable sites, boosting SEO.
Helps our leadership team establish credibility in their areas of expertise.
Provides great social media content which has garnered high levels of engagement.

Cons

Better follow-up from reporters. The majority of reporters do not take the time to let you know that your quote was used.
Better approval/disapproval tracking. I've only had two submissions "rejected" yet only a small percentage of submissions are used.

Likelihood to Recommend

HARO has been a tremendous success for Velo IT Group! We have been included in numerous articles, which is a powerful marketing tool in that it augments our SEO efforts and increases brand awareness. These opportunities have provided great social media content which has garnered high levels of engagement and helped our leadership team establish credibility in their areas of expertise. We’ve landed mentions in Forbes, Inc, Digital Guardian, USA Today, ABC News and CMS Wire to name a few, and have built up enough content to create an ‘In the News’ page on our website: https://www.velomethod.com/in-the-news/

Crystal McFerran

VP Marketing in Marketing at Velo IT Group (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

Quickest way to get press

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use HARO not only to find PR opportunities for myself, my clients, and students, but also to monitor trending media topics and to gain media insight. It's by far the quickest and easiest way to get PR.

Pros

Pushes PR opportunities right to your desktop several times a day
Provides media opportunities for just about every industry and if you monitor it regularly, on just about every topic you can think of
Provides an easy way to contact reporters with relevant information
Media outlets are verified for you

Cons

It would be great if there was a way of knowing if a reporter had read your email, so the user would have immediate feedback on the types of pitches that are successful, or not.

Likelihood to Recommend

HARO is great for reactive pitching, can get you some quick press when done right, and can be used to monitor trends for your proactive pitching, as well. It's not meant to be used as a vehicle to sway reporters off of a story idea, though -- I hear many people saying they send pitches that aren't exactly what the reporter asked for, and this is not the place to do that.

Melanie Downey

Course Creator and Coach/Mentor, The Publicity Workshop in Marketing at Melanie Downey Brand PR (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

View profile

HARO has helped me build a network of IT, PR, and corporate communications professionals.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As the research analyst for DZone, I use HARO to find IT professionals to interview for our 16 research guides that cover different subsectors of the IT landscape from AI/ML, big data to performance, security, and web development. HARO has helped me connect with more than 400 PR and corporate communications professionals and more than 800 IT professionals.

Pros

Connects me with senior level IT executives who share their insights on the current and future state of the industry.
Helps me build relationships with more than 800 IT professionals.
Helps me build relationships with more than 300 PR and corporate communications professionals.

Cons

I cannot think of any. I think they do a great job of helping me find the people I need to speak with for the articles I am writing.

Likelihood to Recommend

When you have a specific topic you want to discuss (e.g. internet of things) and you know who you want to talk to (e.g. c-level and V.P.-level IT executives). Media professionals who respond to my HARO queries are much more relevant than the unsolicited queries I receive via email.

Tom Smith

Research Analyst | Marketing Strategist in Marketing at DZone, Inc. (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

View profile