If you’re still using Muck Rack like a glorified contact database—searching “cybersecurity” journalists, downloading a list, and calling it a day—you’re leaving serious opportunities on the table.
The difference between a pitch that gets opened and one that gets deleted often comes down to targeting precision. And while most PR professionals know they should be using Boolean search, few are actually leveraging Muck Rack’s full capabilities to build media lists that convert.
Here’s what we’ve learned from hundreds of successful pitches—and how to turn Muck Rack from a simple search tool into your competitive advantage.
Precision Targeting with Advanced Boolean Search
A great pitch starts with a great recipient. Your goal is to use Muck Rack to quickly identify and understand the media before you even begin drafting a pitch. Truly maximizing Muck Rack means mastering complex Boolean strings to filter a list of hundreds down to a handful of perfect contacts.
Let’s say your client is launching a Series B funding round for an AI-powered cybersecurity platform but wants to avoid local business journals in New York and San Francisco. Instead of casting a wide net and manually filtering through hundreds of names, build precision into your search from the start.
Here’s how to narrow it down:
(“Series B” OR “funding round” OR “venture capital”) AND (AI OR “machine learning”) AND cybersecurity NOT (“San Francisco Business Times” OR “Crain’s New York” OR “Boston Business Journal”)
This structure instantly generates a highly qualified list of national technology and investment writers who have a documented interest in the intersection of your key targets.
Pitching Smarter and Tracking Engagement
Once you have aligned your contacts and built your media list, Muck Rack offers additional suggestions through its “Recommended Journalist” feature to find similar writers based on beat, topic, and outlet.
Next, in your media list, designate an “owner” for key journalists. This prevents over-pitching and ensures everyone on the team knows who is responsible for that connection.
Custom Reporting for Undeniable ROI
To measure the effectiveness of your outreach, track it relentlessly. This data is your secret weapon. A low open rate signals a bad subject line; a low click-through rate signals an uninteresting pitch. You can optimize your strategy in real-time based on actual media behavior and adjust as needed for additional follow-up.
The greatest value of MuckRack is its ability to tie your work directly to measurable business goals. Stop reporting on “pitches sent” and start reporting on “impact delivered,” which is what actually drives renewals and budget increases.
This is where coverage reports come into play and why tailoring them to your audience is critical. A raw coverage report shows what happened; adding custom fields shows why it matters to your business. While Muck Rack provides excellent default metrics such as “Sentiment” or “Social Shares”, you need to tag coverage with your own internal metrics to prove why this outreach was or was not effective.
These can be custom additions, such as a “Media Tier” (Tier 1, Tier 2, etc.) or the “Client Vertical” (SaaS, Health Tech, Finance, etc.). This moves reporting from a generic “We got 100 clips” to a highly strategic statement like, “We secured 12 Tier 1 placements in the Health Tech vertical, with 90% conveying Key Message A, directly supporting the Q3 product launch goal.”
Turning Data into Deliverables
The takeaway? Your tools are only as good as you know how to use them. We use data-driven strategies every day to secure high-impact, measurable coverage for our clients. Our systematic approach, powered by advanced tools and strategic insights, can help your brand resonate with the right media and deliver clear, quantifiable results.
Want to see how your coverage stacks up? Get in touch, and we’ll share a complimentary competitive media analysis customized for your industry.