Stop leaving coverage on the table: Why PR needs to go inbound

For most of us who’ve worked in PR for a while, the playbook hasn’t really changed: you research, you pitch, you follow up, and you cross your fingers. Outbound has always been the core of the job.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: journalists aren’t waiting around for your pitch anymore. They’re googling. They’re scrolling social. They’re pulling stories from company sites and newsrooms. In many cases, they’re finding what they need without even opening their inbox.

If your brand (or your client’s brand) isn’t there to be found, that’s a missed opportunity.

Most agencies and comms teams are still geared 90% toward outbound. Which means even the best coverage opportunities slip by, simply because there’s nothing for journalists to discover.

That’s where inbound PR comes in. It borrows from inbound marketing – the idea that you don’t just push messages out, you also make yourself easy to find and worth following. That means things like:

• A newsroom that ranks in search
• Press releases that show up in Google results (and inboxes)
• Stories that journalists can reference, link to, and build on
• Content that builds authority over time instead of expiring after one pitch cycle

Inbound PR doesn’t replace pitching. It makes pitching work harder. When a journalist checks you out after receiving an email, what they see will either back up your story or kill it.

The industry’s shifted. We live in a search-first, social-fed, AI-curated world. If you’re still running PR as if inboxes are the only channel, you’re leaving coverage – and value – on the table.

The agencies leaning into inbound are seeing stronger pickup rates, faster turnarounds, and more sustainable visibility. They’re not chasing every story. They’re setting the stage so that coverage comes to them.

The good news is you don’t need to reinvent your agency model. You just need to add a few building blocks: a newsroom that works, smarter SEO, and a way to link outbound and inbound together.

That’s what our new Inbound PR Playbook is all about. It’s a free, practical guide with frameworks, checklists, and a 30-day plan to help agencies and in-house teams get inbound PR up and running.

Download the guide here and start making your work more discoverable, scalable, and effective.

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