You have a great product. A solid team. Maybe even a marketing person who “also does PR.” You’ve sent dozens of press releases, pitched a few journalists, and the result is… nothing. No coverage. No links. No calls back.
You’re not alone. Most companies that try PR in-house get zero meaningful coverage in their first year, and it’s rarely because the product is bad. It’s because in-house PR almost always makes the same five mistakes.
I made every single one of them running marketing for two ecommerce brands before starting Presslei. A year of pitching journalists ourselves got us three mentions in blogs nobody reads and a lot of wasted afternoons.
These are the five mistakes, and what I’d tell any company about to try this in-house.
Mistake 1: Leading With Your Product Instead of a Story
Almost every in-house PR attempt starts the same way: “We just launched X, and we think journalists should write about it.”
The uncomfortable truth: journalists do not care about your product. They care about stories their readers want to read. Your product launch is news to you. To a journalist getting 300 pitches a day, it’s noise.
Stop asking “how do we get press for our product?” Start asking “what story would a journalist want to cover, where our brand happens to be relevant?”
That means data. Trends. Original research. A surprising finding that a journalist can build a story around.
Mistake 2: Pitching the Wrong Journalists
Most in-house teams build their media list by Googling “journalists who cover [industry]” and sending the same pitch to everyone on it. That’s like sending your CV to every company on LinkedIn and wondering why nobody responds.
Generic mass pitches get under 3 percent response. Targeted pitches to journalists already covering your topic get 15 to 25 percent.
The difference isn’t the template. It’s the targeting. Before you pitch anyone, know:
- What has this specific journalist written about in the last 30 days?
- What kind of sources do they typically use?
- Are they actively looking for data on this topic right now?
Building this intelligence takes time. Most in-house teams skip it and pay the price in silence.
Mistake 3: Writing Press Releases Nobody Asked For
Press releases made sense in 1995. Today, they’re the PR equivalent of a fax machine. Journalists aren’t waiting for your press release to land in their inbox. They’re drowning in them.
A senior tech journalist once told me she automatically deletes any email with “press release” in the subject line. Without reading it.
What works instead: a short, personalized email. Under 150 words. One clear data point or angle. A reason why this matters to their specific audience right now. No attachments. No corporate jargon. No “we are excited to announce.”
Mistake 4: No Follow-Up System
In-house teams typically send a pitch, hear nothing, and assume the journalist isn’t interested. In reality, most journalists simply never saw your email. Their inboxes are chaos.
A well-timed follow-up 3 to 5 days later can double your response rate. Most in-house teams either never follow up, or follow up so aggressively they get blocked.
The sweet spot: one short, friendly follow-up that adds something new. A fresh data point. A related news angle. Not “bumping this to the top of your inbox.”
Mistake 5: Measuring the Wrong Things (Or Nothing at All)
Ask most in-house teams what their PR results are, and you get one of two answers:
- “We got a mention in [outlet nobody has heard of]”
- “We don’t really track it”
Neither one tells you if it’s working. The metrics that actually matter for digital PR are specific and measurable:
| Metric | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Domain Rating of placement | A DR 70+ link is worth 10x more than a DR 20 link for SEO |
| Referral traffic | Real visitors from the article, not vanity impressions |
| Link type | Dofollow editorial link vs. nofollow mention vs. brand mention with no link |
| Branded search lift | Are more people Googling your brand name after coverage? |
If you’re not tracking these, you have no idea whether your PR is working or wasting your time.
The Honest Assessment: Can You Really Do PR In-House?
Yes, but it takes more than most companies expect. Doing it properly requires:
- 20+ hours per week of dedicated time (not “when I have a spare moment”)
- A journalist database you actively maintain and research
- The ability to create original data or find unique angles quickly
- Monitoring tools to spot trending stories in real time
- Thick skin and patience — even good pitches get ignored most of the time
If someone can commit to this full-time, in-house PR can work. If PR is one of seventeen things on someone’s plate, you’ll spend a year sending pitches into the void.
Where to Start If You Want to Try
If you’re going to do PR in-house, start here:
- Pick one topic area where you have genuine expertise or data
- Build a list of 20 journalists who actively cover that topic (read their recent articles first)
- Create one piece of original data: a survey, an analysis, a trend report
- Write a 100-word pitch that leads with the data, not your brand
- Send it to your 20 journalists and follow up once after 4 days
Zero responses? The issue is likely your angle or targeting. Responses but no placements? You’re close. Your follow-through needs work.
And if the 20+ hours a week just isn’t realistic for your team? That’s exactly why reactive PR agencies exist. Not to replace your knowledge of your own business, but to handle the infrastructure, the journalist relationships, and the speed that consistent coverage demands.
Want to see what reactive PR could do for your brand? We deliver 8 to 14 earned placements in 30 to 45 days. No retainers. No fluff. Just data-driven stories that journalists want to publish.
About the Author
Salvador Jovells
Founder of Presslei. 12+ years in ecommerce SEO across international markets. After a decade of link buying for Hockerty and Sumissura, I reverse-engineered 5,272 earned media placements and founded a reactive PR agency that builds authority through data-driven stories journalists actually want to publish. Based in Zurich.
