Press Hook Makes Getting Press Coverage Easier For Your Brand

Even though securing strategic press coverage is critical for brands to succeed, according to the Chamber of Commerce 70% of the 33 million small- to medium-sized businesses in the U.S. lack the resources to pursue a PR strategy. As entrepreneurs and leaders, we strive to get our stories and products in front of the right audience, yet the task can prove daunting. In the past, most of us have had to rely on expensive PR agencies. Press Hook offers an innovative solution.

Harnessing generative AI, Press Hook has created a platform for brands, company founders and experts to create digital press kits and discover journalists looking for stories in order to secure press coverage. Likewise, Press Hook connects journalists with valuable sources for their stories. With thousands of brands, products, and expert profiles listed, Press Hook has published them in more than 10,000 articles in 1,000 top publications, generating over 100 billion online impressions.

Within six months of joining Press Hook’s platform, a new food subscription service was mentioned in 116 press articles, reaching 1.6 billion readers. A designer glassware startup received 72 sample requests, was mentioned in 101 press articles, and reached 1.4 billion readers with 15K engagements – which boosted sales by 30 percent.

CEO Michelle Songy founded Press Hook based on a market need she recognized when attempting to secure press coverage for her first start-up, Cake. Songy cofounded Cake, a mobile payments platform, with her good friend when they were both in their 20s. Not only were they inexperienced young women operating in the crowded, competitive, traditionally male-dominated fintech space, but also they were Americans in London, facing an unfamiliar media landscape. Songy had to work long hours in order to generate press leads for her startup, and found herself becoming increasingly fascinated with the idea of simplifying the PR process.

“We didn’t realize what we were getting into with Cake,” Songy said in an exclusive interview with me. “We didn't know how big of a technology we had to build, or understand the complexities of starting a business while living abroad and working across countries with different financial systems.”

In addition, Songy and her cofounder faced sexism from venture capitalists they approached for funding. Companies founded solely by women only secure 2% of available capital, and Cake was no exception. “They didn’t take us seriously,” Songy says. “Our male counterparts with less traction were getting considerably more funding. If there was even one other man in the room with us, a junior employee, the VCs would speak to him rather than us. We had to show more results with less money. We really had to hustle.”

Following several years of hard work, persistence and grit, however, Songy managed to build Cake into such a successful business that it sold to American Express. After two years working there, Songy was free to pursue her vision of building a better press platform, and she began creating Press Hook.

“With Cake, I had experienced trying to get press attention personally, trying to get people to notice us in order to gain credibility and awareness,” Songy explains. “I had found that process extremely labor-intensive, time-consuming, and requiring a network of contacts and relationships with the media that we didn't have. I wondered, ‘How can we get to journalists? How can we find out what they’re writing about next? How do they discover new brands? How do we pitch them and when?’”

The more she explored the world of PR, the more Songy realized it was an inefficient, archaic system depending on close relationships and calling in favors, or paying an agency a ton of money to do it for you. Furthermore, coming from the fintech world, she was surprised by the lack of technological innovation in PR and journalism. It was still a manual, email-based, research-heavy process.

Songy founded Press Hook in 2020, and a few months later, the world shut down due to the COVID pandemic. But that didn’t stop businesses from looking for press, nor did it hinder journalists looking for stories. On the contrary, it may have helped Press Hook grow so quickly, as people no longer were able to network at in-person events like brand launch parties, trade shows and conferences. With Press Hook, publicists and companies can promote their products and services virtually, and journalists can request product samples and research experts for their stories.

With Press Hook, Songy is driven by her mission to support women-owned and minority-backed businesses by helping them gain the media exposure they deserve. “We really want to help these businesses get press attention, find followers, and even secure investments. People need to know about them in order to support them.”

Sadly, the greatest challenge she has faced in running Press Hook were unfounded allegations made about her and her company by a person seeking to damage her reputation and credibility. “This not only harms me and my employees, but also has a ripple effect, negatively impacting the women and minority-backed businesses we work to support,” Songy says.

That said, Songy remains passionate about supporting other female and minority entrepreneurs. “It feels good disrupting existing industries by creating a more inclusive system, so that other people will not have to face the same obstacles in the future. It’s exciting.”

Songy offers this advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: Pivot. “So often, when founders talk about why their business failed, they say, ‘It wasn't the right time, right place. Or the market wasn’t what we thought.’ But you can always pivot. You can change direction. You can do something new. Don’t quit. I believe there is always a way forward if you keep believing in yourself. Look for the opportunity that arises out of the crisis and keep moving forward with the times.”