MENUMENU
  • Services
    • Services
      • Search Engine Optimization
      • International Search Marketing
      • Local Search Marketing
      • Pay Per Click Advertising
      • Social Media Marketing
      • Email Marketing
      • Conversion Rate Optimization
      • Public Relations
      • Website Design & Development
      • Reporting & Analytics
      • Amazon Marketing Services
      • Digital Marketing Strategy
      • Franchise Marketing
  • Case Studies
  • About Us
    • About Ignite Visibility
      • Our Story
      • Clients
      • Our Values
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Our Team
      • UCSD Extension Courses
      • Careers
  • Thought Leadership
      • Our Blog
      • Podcast
      • SEO: The Movie
      • Social Media Marketing: The Movie
      • Book: The Forecaster Method
      • Attend Our Next Digital Marketing Event
  • Contact
  • 619.752.1955
Home / Digital PR / How to Respond to a HARO Query: Craft a Great Pitch Quickly

How to Respond to a HARO Query: Craft a Great Pitch Quickly

August 19, 2021 By Carolyn Krokus

How to Respond to a HARO Query: Craft a Great Pitch QuicklyWhat is HARO — help a reporter out?

How are brands and journalists using this strategy to strengthen their reputations, build connections, and increase their coverage?

More importantly — how can you use them to your advantage to boost your brand awareness and increase your SEO rankings?

The answers to these questions, and more, are in the article below. Let’s get started.

What is HARO?

HARO or Help a Reporter Out is an online database provided by Cision in an effort to build a rapport between journalists and subject matter experts. It connects experts with writers and builds the relationships between the two, making it easier for writers to produce well-rounded and well-researched articles.

The platform has over 1 Million sources and 75,000+ journalists and bloggers. It is used by mainstream media giants such as Reuters, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, ABC, and more.

Journalists and bloggers can submit queries, or requests, to HARO to get assistance with their research tasks. Cision then posts the queries for their network of brands, experts, and content sources.

The queries are posted three times a day: 5:35 a.m., 12:35 p.m., and 5:35 p.m. Brands and subject matter experts can then reply to these queries.

This encourages journalists and bloggers to utilize more well-rounded research while also helping brands and experts get well-earned media coverage.

HARO - Help a Reporter Out

HARO – Help a Reporter Out

What is in a HARO Query?

Each HARO query details exactly what a journalist is looking for. The post will usually contain the topic the article will cover, what the journalist needs from you, and the requirements they are looking for in the person who responds.

When drafting your response to a HARO, it’s important to pay particular attention to the requirements section and only reply to queries that fit your expertise.

Journalists who post HAROs are often doing so because they need information quickly. They will also probably get a lot of pitches. Don’t waste their time (or yours!) by responding to requests that you aren’t familiar with or can’t add value to. Doing this will earn you a reputation that you don’t want.

What Do I Include in My HARO?

What Do I Include in My HARO?

How To Respond to a HARO Query Effectively

Now that you have the basics of what a  HARO— help a reporter out — is, let’s talk about how to respond to a HARO query.

In addition to paying attention to the requesters’ requirements, pay attention to their audience. Who is the article for? Who are they trying to reach? What message are they trying to portray? Write in persuasive rhetoric that will grab the attention of the journalist who submitted the query but also resonates with their proposed audience.

A good way to break this down is to use the modes of persuasion — ethos, logos, and pathos —  when writing your pitch. Persuade the journalist to pick your pitch by showing them how your information will persuade their audience to trust in their piece in return.

Personally, I like to incorporate all three modes of persuasion in order to make each HARO response as compelling as possible.

Ethos

Ethos refers to ethics and is used to establish credibility.

In this case, you’ll use ethos to establish your own credibility. Why should the pitcher trust your expertise? How did you learn what you learned and why should they listen to you over the other pitches in their inbox? You can establish this in a variety of ways including industry status, professionalism, and brand awareness.

Because audiences are more likely to believe statements and facts from credible sources, it is important to establish ethos on the platform. Respond to various opportunities to help establish your credibility and thought leadership within your niche.

If you are responding on behalf of a client or other presenter, use their authority to an advantage. Always use quotes in your responses. Sending press releases or other self-promoting content does not establish credibility and is prohibited by the platform’s rules.

If you are relatively new in your field and still building your brand awareness, you can use evidence to support your response. If the evidence is on your side, your credibility is harder to challenge.

Logos

Logos correlates to the speaker’s logic or reason behind their argument.

This portion of your persuasive pitch is the most important part because it is the actual content — the meat and potatoes of your piece. Craft your content in a way that answers the query while also showing that your words can be trusted.

Providing evidence or proof to support your claims is crucial when you’re responding to a HARO. Journalists’ and writers’ reputations are on the line and they do not want to make unsubstantiated claims. You need to provide them with easily digestible and researchable information that they can use in their article to support the information in their writing.

Providing evidence is also important from a reader audience standpoint. When you’re writing out your logic, you don’t just want to respond to the query. Prove your logic to your audience and help them realize why this information is important to them. As you write out your response, be sure to leave the audience with research that is relevant to or resonates with them.

In short, layout your logic in a way that is supported by evidence, easily researchable, and relatable to your audience.

Pathos

The last mode of persuasion to consider is pathos. This is where the emotions of your audience come into play. Emotions are important to both the journalist who submitted the query and their end reader.

Most queries get a lot of responses and you’ll want your audience to connect to you and your response, to increase the odds that they will reach out to you. It is important to realize how much text and copy actually matter and just how much they can play into one’s emotions.

Harness the power of a good quote to capture and hold your audience’s attention. Doing so increases the likelihood that your brand and message will be added to a potential article. Providing quick quotes, or soundbites draws the attention of the journalist by giving them content they can use.

Tips & Best Practices

Responding to HAROs, or Help a Reporter Out, are one of the best ways to build credibility for your brand. Being quoted in an article, especially one featured on a mainstream media platform, will bring your brand a reputation of trustworthiness that money can’t buy.

While you’re diving into the world of HAROs, keep in mind that, while this is an easy and free way to build your reputation, it is also a long game.

This level of visibility is unmatched but it can also be crowded. It could take a while to build your authority, get noticed and eventually be selected to be featured in the articles attached to the queries you’re responding to.

In conclusion, remember these aspects when you’re responding to a HARO:

  • Start with a catchy title! You will only have a few seconds to grab your reader’s attention.
  • Remember your audience — both of your pitch and of the journalist’s piece.
  • Time is of the essence so submit your pitch quickly.
  • Don’t submit sloppy work! Be sure to proofread and edit, even within an expedited time frame.
  • Stay on topic and don’t submit fluff pieces. Off-topic and unsolicited submissions can actually get you banned from the platform as they go against HARO’s rules.
  • Get to the point quickly. At most, your pitches should be 300 words.
  • Attachments are automatically rejected in an effort to protect journalists from viruses and malware, so remember to submit your pitch as a Google doc or a Dropbox link.
  • Make it easy to get in contact with you and include all forms of communication from your phone number and email address to your website and social media handles.
  • No one likes to be spammed! Use this as a way to build actual relationships with the media sources that are looking for responses.
  • Reuse your content! Just because your HARO doesn’t get accepted by the query you submitted doesn’t mean you can’t use it as content on your own social media, blog, or website. Just make sure you wait a month or so to really ensure that you won’t be selected for or quoted in an upcoming article.

Wrapping Up

Becoming a trusted voice in your industry all depends on how visible you are.

We’re big believers in using HARO and often utilize HARO pitches for our clients. We have personally seen how being selected for an article through HAROs will build brand awareness and credibility and improve backlink profiles exponentially.

If you want to start to benefit from the free exposure that HAROs can bring you and your brand but the process seems overwhelming, reach out to one of our experienced marketing professionals.

Together, we can find queries that match your brand’s area of expertise, and craft pitches that will grab the attention of your audience to increase your odds of being featured in an article.

About Carolyn Krokus

Carolyn Krokus is a Digital PR Manager at Ignite Visibility. She earned her degree from Providence College in Global Studies and Business with a concentration in Mandarin. She has a variety of SEMRush certifications as well. When she is not busy creating Digital PR campaigns for her clients, Carolyn can be found traveling the world and exploring outside whenever possible. Please reach out if you need any great places to visit in Hong Kong!

You may also like:

  • Building Ecommerce Links with Testimonials & Product Reviews
    Building Ecommerce Links With Testimonials & Product Reviews

  • How to Implement a Digital PR Campaign
  • How to Find (And Win) The Top Industry Awards
    Industry Awards: How to Find (And Win) The Top Awards…
  • The Essential Search Operators to Know For Link Building
    The Essential Search Operators to Know for Link Building

Search Here

NEWSLETTER // SIGN UP NOW

About The Editor

John E Lincoln, CEO

John Lincoln is CEO of Ignite Visibility, one of the top digital marketing agencies in the nation and a 6x Inc. 5,000 company. Lincoln is consistently named one of the top marketing experts in the industry. He has been recipient of the Search Engine Land "Search Marketer of the Year" award, named the #1 SEO consultant in the USA by Clutch.co, most admired CEO and 40 under 40. Lincoln has written two books (The Forecaster Method and Digital Influencer) and made two movies (SEO: The Movie and Social Media Marketing: The Movie) on digital marketing. He is a digital marketing strategy adviser to some of the biggest names in business. John Lincoln is the editor of the Ignite Visibility blog. While he is a major contributor, he does not write all of the articles.

LEARN MORE ABOUT JOHN

Contact Us. Let’s Chat!

  • Hidden

Marketing Guides

SEO In 2020: How To Prepare For Major Disruption

"SEO: The Movie" - Have You Seen Our Film? Watch Now

"Social Media Marketing: The Movie" - Have You Seen Our Film? Watch Now

Amazon Seller Central vs Vendor Central

Listen To The Podcast Featuring The Best Minds In Marketing

John Lincoln Interviews Global Director of Digital Marketing & Strategy at Qualcomm, Jessica Jensen

Check Out 227 Free Online Marketing Classes

The 2020 Guide To Dominating SEO With Advanced Schema

Learn More About Our Digital Marketing Agency

Learn More About Our SEO Services

Learn More About Our Paid Media Services

SELECT CATEGORY

Become A Contributor

Interested in writing for Ignite Visibility?

APPLY NOW

Services

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Pay Per Click Management
  • Conversion Rate Optimization
  • Website Design & Development
  • Social Media Company
  • Public Relations
  • Amazon Marketing Services
  • Franchise Marketing
  • International Services
  • Digital Marketing Agency Services

About

  • Our Team
  • Our Values
  • Clients
  • Reviews
  • UCSD Extension Courses
  • Careers
  • Tools & Resources
  • Sitemap

Contact

4250 Executive Square, Suite 100
La Jolla, California 92037

619.752.1955

Join The Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest from Ignite Visibility.

google parther logo

©2023 Ignite Visibility. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy