How to approach international outreach for digital PR campaigns

Are you looking to take your digital PR campaign global? Or just dipping your toe into a brand-new market? It can be daunting to start pitching in unfamiliar territories but the secret to effective international outreach is down to knowing how to connect with your audience. 

Gaining international coverage can provide your client with fantastic SEO value, boost global brand awareness, and build authority abroad. But without prior knowledge of how to pitch your stories to journalists in other countries and cultures, the odds of landing coverage are slim to none. 

At Verve Search – with a team with 7 different nationalities speaking 11 different languages – we sure know a thing or two about international cultures. This native expertise has allowed us to build links across over 60 countries and in the process, learn a lot about multi-market best practice.

So, buckle up because these are our tips for how best to tackle international outreach. 

Top tips on expert international outreach

1. Get to grips with the media landscape

It’s crucial to understand the local media landscape where you’re looking to land coverage. Is it America, or Singapore? What about the UK – or down under in Aus? Perhaps you already follow the news abroad and have a good grasp of how the news cycle works. 

It’s key to be aware of the market’s biggest publications and key syndication networks for digital PR campaigns. From German tabloid giant BILD to Le Monde in France, as well as El País in Spain and Italy’s la Repubblica; these are just a few examples. Media coverage also needs to be understood from a regional perspective, where there can be stark differences. What works in one US state might not work in the next.

A market’s susceptibility to digital PR outreach should also be taken into consideration. Journalists in the UK and US are often inundated with pitches on the daily, making it more difficult to cut through the noise, whereas markets further afield such as Singapore or Thailand are less accustomed to receiving digital PR press releases.  

Trends are always developing too. We’ve seen that receptiveness to digital PR campaigns has grown in Germany in recent years and Spanish journalists are welcoming pitches with open arms more and more. In Vietnam, coverage appears to be largely paid for right now, so there’s a stark disparity from market to market.

2. Brush up on your language skills

Never underestimate the value of knowing a country’s native language when launching your campaign. Fluency in the target language comes in handy for outreach-related tasks such as translating and writing copy, drafting press releases, and facilitating communications with journalists.

Some unpopular advice we like to give? Google Translate isn’t enough. 

Involving a native–speaking, digital PR professional will give you the best chance for success – even an individual acting as a translator often won’t be enough.

At Verve, fluent digital PR specialists are key to our service, as we’ve seen through experience: there’s no replacement for the nuance of understanding not only the language, but also the culture, media landscape and news cycle in the market you want to gain coverage in. 

It’s important to be mindful of language variations between countries where the same language is spoken. Many forget to tailor press releases to reflect American English spelling when pitching to US journalists. A Spanish word which may be harmless in Spain could have a rude, offensive, or silly meaning in another Spanish-speaking country.

Fine-tuning these details helps to build trust with journalists abroad and so often means the difference between gaining coverage and not. 

3. Be conscious of cultural differences 

Knowing the language and understanding how the press functions aren’t the only things it takes to break through into a new market. There are cultural sensitivities which you’ll need to be aware of to avoid making a serious faux pas, or worse yet, offending your audience. 

Here are some potential pitfalls to look out for:

• Public holidays: Journalists might be out of office for national bank holidays such as Australia Day on 26th January or Bastille Day in France on 14th July. This can be easy to let slip in your mind when sending out releases.
• Cultural events: Consider that celebrations which form part of a nation’s cultural calendar may dominate the news cycle at this time, like Cannes Film Festival in France or Rio Carnival in Brazil.
• Greetings: In some cultures it could be inappropriate to begin an email with an informal greeting followed by their first name, such as in Germany where a more formal address is expected. Yet in others, such as in many Spanish-speaking countries, a friendlier tone is preferred.
• Story: It’s important to know what kind of story journalists tend to cover to give yourself the best chance of cutting through. Data-led stories with strong onsite content tend to perform well in the German media, while in the UK the demand has been rising for reactive expert commentary. 

4. Know your time zones 

Make sure to research your time zones when you outreach internationally. Chances are if an email is received at 3 am, then it’s likely to go unnoticed. The last thing you want is for your story to disappear into the abyss of a busy inbox and never to be seen again. 

Some countries also have multiple time zones, so take care when outreaching internationally in the US. When it’s 9 am in New York, it’s actually 3 am in Hawaii. 

There are, of course, differing points of view for when the best time is to send out a pitch. Most people tend to agree that the start of the working day is the most effective. But then again, a good story is a good story and should be be covered regardless. 

5. Learn from industry campaigns and your own experience 

See what works and what doesn’t through first-hand experience and reading up on industry examples. As soon as you’re equipped with the knowledge and insights required to share your campaigns overseas, then you can get a feel for the market yourself when diving straight in. 

Ensure to reflect on your wins and losses and learn from these as this will broaden your horizons for the next time. With this in mind, we at Verve wanted to reflect on one of our recent international campaigns…

Case Study: Cuisine Capitals for Preply by Verve Search

In January 2024, we produced ‘Hochburgen der traditionellen Küche‘ or ‘Cuisine Capitals’ for language learning platform Preply to outreach in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The campaign analysed Tripadvisor data to determine the most popular cuisines of these nations, as well as to find out where in the world German, Austrian and Swiss cuisines are the best-rated. 

The campaign performed very well, securing 76 pieces of linked coverage across the three countries, with an average DR of 64. In turn, multiple interlinked pages within the campaign page saw an uplift to key DE search terms while outreaching, and we estimate that the articles written generated nearly 400,000 coverage views. 

But what learnings and takeaways would we keep in mind for next time? 

• In the German-speaking media, scraping a well-known site coupled with simple but solid methodologies can be convincing for journalists. 

• In an often more serious media landscape, fun culture-related campaigns can pay off and are also likely to be taken up by large syndication networks.  

• While some coverage is turned around quickly, as is common in the UK, some publications have content plans and longer lead times. This should be considered when measuring results. Coverage may not convert until weeks or months after a pitch has been received. 

• In smaller countries such as Austria and Switzerland, coverage is more difficult to secure due to a smaller pool of journalists and less exposure to digital PR tactics.

• Regional breakdowns of data are key to maximise outreach potential, particularly across the Austrian and Swiss markets where coverage is more difficult to secure.  

So, what can we take from this? 

Securing international links isn’t something that should be taken lightly: you’ll need a robust strategy, along with language expertise, and persistance. However, once you’ve got your head around time zones and cultural nuances, you’ll be landing those links here, there, and everywhere, feeling like Mr. Worldwide in no time. 

Interested in our content marketing and digital PR services? Get in touch.