13 Important Lessons from 14 Press Wins in EMEA

Over a four month period, we secured 14+ media placements and content agreements across EMEA — specifically Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, and Ghana. Some came from news sites, a few from interviews, and others from contributed op-eds. This case study is a breakdown of how we got them, what we learned along the way, and what you can take from our playbook.

If you’re a founder trying to get your name out there, or a comms lead tired of sending press releases that go nowhere, this is for you.

Media Markets Behave Differently

One of the first reminders we got was that media markets aren’t universal. In Nigeria, for instance, many pitches happen on WhatsApp. Journalists will ask for your pitch, your press release, your headshot, even your rate card — all over chat. If you email them, you might wait forever.

Meanwhile, in places like South Africa or the UK, where I live, email is still the norm. Some publications even use portals to manage incoming stories. Some outlets will request one thing on their Contributors page but react differently in reality. You simply have to shoot your shot and see.

Once you align your approach to each market’s habits, things move faster. The key is to research not just the outlet but also the channel. Who’s pitching how, and where? It sounds basic, but skipping this step can cost you weeks of delay early on.

Study the Outlet, Don’t Just Pitch

You can tell a lot about a publication just by looking at their homepage. If most stories are political, they likely care about national issues. If it’s celebrity-heavy, they’re chasing clicks.

We learned this the hard way when one of our early pitches missed the mark — a thoughtful op-ed about tech policy sent to a lifestyle-heavy outlet. It didn’t land. Not because it wasn’t strong or relevant (they had opinion and business sections on their website), but because the editor likely looked at it and thought, “Not right now.” It was a good reminder to pause and scan the homepage first — a quick look would’ve saved time. Keep an eye on outreach efforts to align your team or external PR partners.

We also studied rate cards. These are documents that outline how much an outlet charges for ads, inserts, and editorial slots. If a publication charges top dollar for politics or health coverage, that’s likely where their audience and ad value sit. It’s a clue to what they take seriously. Even when you’re going for earned media, understanding those price tags helps you know what you’re walking into — and how to frame your story.

Know what matters to the outlet before you ask them to care about what matters to you.

The LinkedIn Backdoor

We know LinkedIn can be a powerful PR tool — and it quickly became one of our secret weapons. Editors and journalists are just like the rest of us: overwhelmed inboxes, constant noise, too many emails. LinkedIn helped us bypass all that.

Instead of cold emailing pitches, we looked up the journalist or editor on LinkedIn and connected directly. Sometimes they responded faster there. And when we posted the coverage after publication and tagged them, they often reshared it. It helps to add members of the media to your LinkedIn network as a habit. That way, you can build relationships ahead of time. 

It’s easy to forget, but journalists are building personal brands too. Visibility helps them just as much as it helps you. That small act of tagging them after publication led to a few DMs, follow-ups, and booked calls for us. It built social capital without feeling transactional. And when your name starts to ring a bell for the right reasons, your next pitch gets a warmer read.

The Unspoken Cost of Visibility

Appreciation looks different depending on where you’re playing. In more developed media markets, the assumption is that journalists are salaried and don’t expect anything beyond a good story and a clean pitch. In developing markets, things can get a bit murkier.

There’s an unspoken expectation in some places that goes beyond the pitch. It’s not framed as payment, but there’s a culture of ‘appreciation’ — call it transport money, a token, airtime credit — whatever the local euphemism is. In some cases, we hit a wall with stories that were objectively strong, but we hadn’t accounted for those expectations.

Over time, we learned to read between the lines and understand when a lack of follow-through was tied to that silent culture. In media systems where wages are low and job security is shaky, these gestures matter.

Understanding this dynamic early can save you time. It also helps you build more honest relationships, especially if you have someone local who can advise on how things really work — not just what’s written on the website.

Data Unlocks Doors

One thing became clear very quickly: data makes the pitch easier. Our Nigeria Financial Habits Report drove half of our media coverage during the period. That one asset alone landed us seven different placements. Why? Partially because editors could see it was based on real insight, not just opinion.

The new framing helped. When you pitch an op-ed, especially from a founder, editors often assume it’s a soft ad — especially in markets where brand trust is still developing. But when you anchor your story in data, it shifts the perception. Now it’s news, not just narrative.

We ran into this with a few other pieces that leaned more opinion-driven — like our writeup on founders as policymakers or the piece on LinkedIn thought leadership. Both were solid ideas but were slightly harder to place, though we eventually landed tier 1 coverage for both. The same editors who welcomed our data report were slower to respond to those. And in some cases, they asked outright for payment (we declined many of those requests).

The takeaway? If you’re building media momentum, lead with your strongest data-backed content. Use it as the entry point. Once the outlet sees your name in print — attached to something credible — other stories are easier to float later.

The Value of Local Partners

I’ve lived in many countries and am used to how things work in SADC and parts of Europe. So when we first started pitching stories in Nigeria, I assumed the process would be similar. It wasn’t. Our assumptions got in the way, and it slowed us down.

That’s where our local PR partner came in. They understood how Nigerian media really works — who to talk to, what to avoid, when to push, and when to wait. They knew when a story was strong enough to land on its own and when a little nudge was needed. Their advice often saved us from missteps.

If you’re working in a market you’re not fully familiar with, find someone local. It doesn’t have to be a full PR agency. It could be a comms consultant, a journalist, or even a press officer. Just someone who knows the terrain.

Also — and this is key — set aside a local media engagement fund. It gives your local partner room to maneuver. It also signals respect for the realities of the market you’re trying to enter.

ROI, Not Ego

Not every media placement is worth chasing. It’s easy to get excited about seeing your name in print, but you have to ask yourself: what’s the actual return?

Say you land a guest spot on a niche health podcast with a focused, loyal audience. Smaller, but more engaged. You might get direct messages, email signups, or even sales conversations from that one appearance. Compare that to an op-ed in a big-name outlet that looks great in a media kit but generate no clicks or inquiries. That’s just noise.

This forces you to rethink how you measure impact. Instead of aiming for big logos, start asking, “What’s going to move the needle?” Sometimes it’s a radio show, or a webinar. Other times it’s earned media, or a paid placement with clear tracking.

The most impressive logo isn’t always the most effective channel. Media spend is flexible — go where the attention converts. 

Squeeze Every Drop From Each Asset

Once you land coverage, don’t let it die in someone else’s archive. That article is now a company asset and should be treated like one.

We’ve taken published stories of ours and our clients and turned them into LinkedIn posts, newsletters, pitch decks, video talking points, and webinar topics. And because the article comes from a third-party outlet, it carries more credibility than a branded blog post. People take it more seriously.

Something that’s worked well for us is looping the journalist back into the visibility loop. After publication, we’d tag them in a reshared post or invite them to join a public conversation — say a webinar or panel on the report. Most times, they appreciate it. It boosts their profile and gives them content to share, too.

The more you extend the life of each piece of media, the more it gives back. One report should give you six months of fuel, if you’re intentional about it.

Keep the Momentum Going

Most people stop at the article. We try to start there. When a story or campaign goes live, it becomes a launchpad for deeper engagement — if you plan for it.

A local event convener approached us for sponsorship. In exchange, we covered a portion of their event costs and received anonymized survey data from attendees. We turned that data into a branded report, which we then pitched to the press. That single asset got us Tier 1 coverage in Business Day.

We didn’t stop there — we also wrote a blog post about the insights, created LinkedIn content around it, and used the press win to spark follow-up conversations with stakeholders. One move turned into a multi-channel campaign.

Such moves can create new angles for media outreach. Now, instead of one report, you’ve got a story, a campaign, a follow-up pitch, maybe even a Twitter Space or a panel discussion. Perhaps a small fund from your CSR budget. One asset becomes multiple opportunities, all connected and reinforcing the original message.

If you treat each report or placement as the beginning of a chain reaction instead of a trophy, you’ll start to see real momentum.

Track Like a Hawk

When you start getting media hits, it’s tempting to celebrate and move on. But we quickly realized the value of tracking everything — and I mean everything. Press clippings, URLs, screenshots, airtime schedules for survey respondents, physical copies — whatever you can get your hands on.

We set up a simple spreadsheet to log each placement, including the outlet, headline, link, publication date, type of media, and a quick note on how it came about. We also saved a copy of every article to archive.ph for future reference. That system ended up being a goldmine.

Later, when we needed proof of impact, client-facing updates, or content for case studies like this one — all the assets were already there. We didn’t have to scramble.

If you’re running media campaigns, build a clipping system early. Even a simple Google Sheet/Slide and a shared folder will do the trick. The goal is to make sure nothing gets lost in the noise. Because once momentum starts to build, you’ll want receipts.

Media Is a Team Sport

Good media doesn’t come from one person typing away in a Google Doc. It takes a team. We needed writers to help frame ideas clearly. Editors to clean it up and shape the angle. Designers to turn reports into visual stories. Researchers to dig into the data and back up our claims. And someone to manage the whole pipeline from pitch to publication.

Over time, we’ve built a mini media pipeline inside our team. It’s not fancy, but it works. Once a pitch is approved, it follows a flow: research, writing, editing, design, sign-off, then distribution. That system makes everything smoother. It also makes it easier to bring in freelancers or hand off parts of the process without losing steam.

Most startups underinvest in this part of their media strategy. They’ll write a good article, but it stalls at the design stage. Or they get coverage and don’t have anyone to help turn it into follow-on content. That’s a bottleneck — and an opportunity. The more you treat media like a real pipeline, the more consistent your results will be.

Don’t Forget Paid Media

If something is working organically — a media hit, a LinkedIn post, a launch update — you can use paid media to help it go further. A small budget can help you reach more of the right people faster. You don’t need to spend a lot — even modest paid promotion can make a noticeable difference.

Paid media also works before a launch. You can run ads to a waitlist form, warming up the audience ahead of time. After the launch, you might promote your earned media pieces, run recap ads, or drive traffic to a follow-up webinar.

If you’re operating in non-Western markets, all of this tends to be cheaper. Cost per click is often lower, which means you get more reach for the same budget. It’s not about boosting for vanity but using paid media to double down on what’s already working.

Practice Active PR

Traditional PR tends to rely on reacting to the news — finding a trending story and inserting your brand into it through commentary or coverage. There’s value in that, but it’s limiting. Newsjacking works, but it depends on timing and relevance you can’t control.

That’s why we push for what we call active PR. Instead of waiting for something newsworthy to happen, you create the news yourself. We tell PR partners that our bias is toward action. Rather than wait around for headlines to form, we often go ahead with a survey, analyze the data, build a short report, and then shape the pitch based on what the data shows. That proactive habit has opened the door to more placements than waiting ever did.

Active PR means more control — over narrative, timing, and output. It doesn’t just keep your media pipeline flowing. It builds your brand in ways that reactive PR can’t. In most markets, especially developing ones, waiting is rarely rewarded. Especially when you’re trying to enter or build a new category from scratch. If you’re running an astronomy startup in Mozambique or Mallorca, there’s not a lot of news around that in those places. You’ll need to create the news you want to see.

So go out and create. Run a poll and pitch around your findings. Host an event. Publish something small and timely. Mail items to targeted audiences and screenshot the reactions online. Collaborate with local influencers. Analyze a recently tabled policy. Build content around any one of these 56 formats. Do something. You’ll be surprised how often it turns into news.

Conclusion

Media work teaches you more than any comms playbook can. It forces you to get practical, local, and intentional. What worked for us: grounded stories, backed by data, shaped by context, and distributed with care. What didn’t: Generic pitches, assumptions, and playing it safe.

We’ve already baked these lessons into our client work: Better targeting, smarter spend, stronger pipelines, and more room for repurposing each win. If you’re thinking about doing the same — whether you’re an NGO, a startup, or a research group — you don’t have to start from scratch. We’re happy to chat.

Drop a message if you want to explore how media can work harder for you.