Newsquest
Synapse is well used by the SEO team at Newsquest. They’ve been putting the pitch marketplace and request services to great use since we launched back in September 2023.
Making sure the best stories actually make the paper for Newsquest
Emilia Kettle had told us many times that good ideas get lost easily in her inbox; so in stepped Synapse. We made it easier for her to find useful content and work directly with PRs, turning around articles in as little as ten minutes
Q & A
Q: Emilia, please tell us about your first impressions of Synapse.
On first impression I found Synapse really simple to use, including finding pitches that were relevant to me, getting comments or making requests to PRs.
Q: Which parts of the product have you been using?
The pitch marketplace is great for quickly seeing if there is anything that is of interest to me. Good pieces don’t get lost; unlike when I am sent emails by PRs and they can get lost.
Q: How easy was it to use the request service?
The request service is great; I’ve used it three times so far and each time I have had a really quick reply, mostly in under an hour, with the piece sometimes being written in under ten minutes, making it perfect for stories based on trending topics.
Q: How has the platform helped you communicate with PRs?
Typically, PRs have reached out with comments in the messaging system on Synapse, whilst others have sent comments via email. Either way works great and helps get information in no time with very little fuss.
Q: How many pieces of coverage has Synapse helped you produce and do you have more in the pipeline?
Synapse has helped me create three pieces so far. The first two articles were written through requests for expert comment and the last was a request asking for beauty advent calendars for a review piece.
Q: How did using Synapse feel compared to using email, for pitches and to correspond with each other? Do you feel Synapse will help build better relationships?
We’ve been focusing on more evergreen/explainer pieces recently and Synapse has been great for finding original comments on trending topics which in turn helps us with Google’s ranking. I’ve found that using Synapse to communicate with PRs is much easier compared with using email, simply because messages tend to get lost in my inbox. As journalists, we can get hundreds of emails in the space of a couple of hours and it can become hard to find what you need.
Q: Do you feel Synapse is something you’ll use in the future? What does it add to the PR/journalist dynamic?
I will be using Synapse in the future, especially when looking for comments as it just takes away the pain of finding emails and the correct person. Even then, reaching PRs via email still doesn’t guarantee a response.
When I make a request using Synapse, I know that it should reach someone in the field or someone who can help me find an answer.
Our sources say...
It’s exciting to see a professional marketplace being established which allows PRs to pitch stories and establish new relationships with media.
Kate McWilliams
MD, Lotus
Journalists will discover a cornucopia of relevant stories, sources, captivating content and stimulating discussions within its digital realm.
Mark Borkowski
Founder, Borkowski
Seeing what journalists are writing about in real time will be invaluable and will help us tailor our pitches.
Amanda Moorhouse
Founder & Owner of MPR Communications
Synapse offers a new and effective way for PRs and journalists to connect; spelling the end to outdated mass pitching.
Bethan Williams
Senior Account Manager, Folk
We invest significant time tailoring our pitches and content…but we can see the potential for this platform to make that process easier.
Nicola Long, Director (Brand)
Ketchum
If Synapse can help mitigate ‘death by email’, it’ll be a value-add to hacks and flacks alike.
Sandy Downs
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit
A platform that can help us create more meaningful connections with journalists and help create efficiencies.
Imogen Sackey
Associate Director, Fleishman Hillard
Synapse will help us to communicate high-quality, relevant content whilst enabling journalists to easily engage with us.
Charlotte Cavanagh
Charlotte Cavanagh
Synapse strives to strengthen the relationship between PR professionals and journalists by providing a seamless platform to share stories and pitches.
Hayley Bromfield
Director of Sales and Marketing, PHA Group
The answer to all of my prayers!
Sophie Godfrey-Phaure
Account Director, Ketchum
Synapse looks set to do everything I need.
Holly Pither
MD and Founder, Tribe PR
Synapse is a great way of connecting and building mutually beneficial partnerships between PRs and journalists.
Victoria Morton
Head of PR, Journey Further
Being able to visit one site to get a look at all the stories relevant to me really appeals to me.
Anil Dawar
Ex-news editor The Express, AQA
Synapse has been really helpful…I’ve managed to publish stories that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the expert insight.
Katie Collier
SEO Reporter, Newsquest
I often put callouts for experts or look around in 1000s of emails so this is more efficient – definitely recommend.
Rebecca Carey
Deputy Head of Editoral SEO, Newsquest
We see how a marketplace of PR pitches helps deliver relevant ideas to journalists in a more manageable way.
Toby Granville
Editorial Development Director, Newsquest
The idea of only receiving targeted pitches and avoiding those with no relevance to me would save me a lot of time.
Alice Grahns
Deputy Consumer Editor, The Sun
Synapse creates better connections between journalists & PR professionals, helping our trusted brands to deliver quality and highly relevant news.
John Rowe
Executive Director, National World
Synapse will help us hugely by making it easier for the right people to connect on the right topics.
Ben Rankin
National Audience Director, Reach Plc
FAQs
Registration is simple! Click here to here and then fill out your information. Our team hand verify all of our users within 24 hours. Once your account has been approved, you’ll receive an email inviting you to log in.
If you have any questions or problems, get in touch with [email protected]
Our team hand-verify every single one of our users. Synapse is designed for journalists, reporters, editors and those in the media sourcing stories. It’s also designed for PR professionals. We have our own verification process, but if required, we’ll always get in touch with you directly to get some more information on your day-to-day role and to make sure Synapse is right for you.
There are over 3000 amazing people on Synapse; all of whom want to revolutionise the media relations industry. Our PR user base is from across the UK and covers a mix of agency, freelance and in-house professionals. Our journalist user base is similarly broad. There are national publications, trades, regionals and freelancers all using the platform.
No! At the moment, Synapse is completely free to use for all users, so register today and try it out.
We’d love to. But we’re not quite there yet.
Synapse believes that journalists have the right to their own data, and that by giving journalists control over their data, PRs will receive more accurate and timely information that isn’t currently available on any other database.
This means that we need to work with journalists to register them on the platform, rather than adding every UK journalist without permission. This is something our team is working on every single day.
Have a journalist or publication you’d like to see on Synapse? Get in touch and let us know at [email protected]
We launched on 21st September 2023 with over 1800 users already pre-registered. Since then we’ve grown to over 3000 users, onboarded national publications and have more news to come. Watch this space!
Our users are so important to us. You literally keep us going each and every day so we’re always here to help. From solving tech issues, demoing the platform to posting pitches and requests on your behalf when you’re just having one of those weeks, we put our users at the heart of everything we do.
If you want to read more about our users’ experiences, you can check out their stories here or get in touch with [email protected]
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