What Kind of B2B Stories Do Business and Trade Journalists Want?
By Jordan Baker, Founder of Fair Public Relations and former UK national journalist
Your company announcing something does not automatically make it news. It is one of the most common sources of frustration I see in B2B PR, particularly when a business has spent a lot of time on an announcement that means a great deal internally.
A new director joins. An office opens. A service launches, a partnership is signed or the business wins an award. The team writes a press release explaining how delighted everybody is, sends it to journalists and then wonders why the response is so limited.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating those things. Some of them may well be newsworthy. But from a journalist's perspective, an announcement is only the starting point. The more important question is what the development means to somebody who doesn't work for the company.
When I was a journalist, I wasn't looking for reasons to give businesses free publicity. I was looking for material that would make my articles more interesting, relevant or useful to readers. An unfamiliar company could absolutely give me that material. Equally, a well-established one could send an announcement that offered very little.
The B2B stories most likely to interest business and trade journalists are those that reveal something important beyond the company itself. That might be credible new information, specialist knowledge, a change affecting an industry, an interesting human story or a business development with consequences for other people.
The difficult part is working out which of those things you genuinely have, and where the story belongs.
What do business and trade journalists actually need?
I would start with the publication rather than the press release. A national business journalist, a specialist trade editor and a local reporter can look at the same company and see three completely different stories.
A national business reporter might be interested in what a development says about employment, investment, prices, technology, the wider economy or the direction of a particular market. A journalist covering a specialist trade could be interested in a smaller development that matters enormously to the people working in that industry. A regional publication might see the most useful angle in jobs, local investment or a changing high street.
Consider a fictional recruitment company opening an office in Leeds. The opening alone may not interest a national business desk. But a regional reporter could have a legitimate story if the office creates meaningful local employment. A recruitment trade journalist might be interested if the expansion is connected to a demonstrable change in how employers recruit in a particular sector. A national journalist would probably need a broader implication or exceptional scale.
It is still the same company announcement. What changes is the audience and the reason they should care.
I ask myself three questions before developing a B2B story. Who is the reader? What would that reader learn from this? And what can the company offer that isn't merely a description of its own services? If those answers are weak, writing a longer press release won't solve the problem.
Seven types of B2B story that can interest journalists
There is no reliable formula that guarantees coverage, but certain kinds of material give journalists something more substantial to work with. These are the routes I would look at first.
1. Original and credible information about an industry
New information can be valuable because it gives a journalist something to report rather than simply another opinion to quote. A B2B company might have aggregated insights from its operations, commissioned research or evidence that a problem is appearing more often in the work it does.
A recruitment business, for example, might be able to explain how long certain vacancies are taking to fill in the part of the market it genuinely serves. A technology provider might have useful evidence about recurring difficulties in software implementations. The possible story is not that the company exists. It is what the findings tell us.
The word credible matters. Journalists are entitled to ask how the information was collected, what the sample represents and whether it supports the proposed headline. A handful of conversations with clients may provide a useful observation, but they are not automatically a survey of British businesses. Nor should confidential customer information be turned into publicity without appropriate permission and safeguards.
The stronger approach is to begin with what the evidence can honestly tell you and build the angle from there.
2. First-hand insight into a wider business problem
Sometimes the business has no new research and no major announcement, but its work gives it a useful perspective on something already in the news.
An HR consultancy may repeatedly see managers struggle with a particular workplace problem. An accountant may encounter the same misunderstanding among small-business owners. A software consultancy may find that clients consistently underestimate the work involved in adopting a new system.
Those experiences might make the business a useful source when journalists are exploring the wider issue. The spokesperson can explain what the problem looks like in practice, why it occurs and what people commonly get wrong.
I would be careful about claiming that something is happening everywhere based solely on a company's own customer base. But there is a real difference between saying, "This is what we have seen in our work," and claiming to have established a national trend. The former can be valuable journalism when the distinction is clear.
3. Expert explanation of something that has changed
Regulations, technology, employment practices and commercial conditions can change faster than a generalist reporter can become a specialist in every subject.
That is where genuine B2B expertise can be particularly helpful. An appropriate expert may be able to explain what has changed, who it affects, why it matters and which popular assumptions are misleading.
The best comments tend to go beyond repeating the announcement. If a new industry requirement is introduced, journalists may not need another person telling them it is significant. They may need someone who can explain what businesses will actually have to do differently, which organisations are likely to struggle and what the practical consequences could be.
Professional scope matters. A software founder may know a great deal about implementing technology without being qualified to give legal advice about regulation. A recruitment consultant may understand hiring behaviour without being a representative source for every employment-law question. Useful media expertise is specific, not limitless.
4. Employment and workplace developments
Recruitment, management, pay, working practices and workplace behaviour often sit at the intersection of business reporting and subjects that affect the wider public.
B2B companies working directly with employers can sometimes explain those developments particularly well. The value comes from the quality of the observation and its relevance, not from turning every hiring conversation into a dramatic headline.
For example, a recruitment specialist might have an informed view of why employers lose candidates during lengthy processes. An HR adviser might understand why managers struggle when promoted without suitable support. Both could contribute meaningfully to a journalist exploring those issues, provided their explanations reflect genuine experience.
An article about these subjects is unlikely to need several paragraphs explaining what the consultancy sells. The professional's expertise is what earns them a place in the story.
5. A distinctive founder or executive experience
B2B companies are still run by people, and some of those people have stories that extend beyond the business.
An unusual career change, a genuinely significant failure and recovery, exceptional working conditions or a surprising route into an industry might interest a journalist. So might an executive's first-hand experience of an issue affecting other businesses.
But I would not confuse a senior title with a compelling story. Being a CEO is not newsworthy in itself, just as founding a company is not automatically an interesting personal journey.
I would ask what happened, what makes it distinctive and what somebody who has never heard of this person would take away from reading it. Often the useful detail only appears after several follow-up questions, when the founder stops giving a polished company biography and starts explaining what actually happened.
6. A problem the company's customers repeatedly face
Some of the strongest potential B2B angles are hiding in the questions a business answers every day.
A consultancy may routinely be brought in after clients make the same expensive mistake. A software provider may see organisations misunderstand a particular security or implementation risk. A professional services business may repeatedly encounter a process that causes avoidable delays.
That kind of practical knowledge can be excellent material for service journalism: articles that help readers understand an issue or avoid a mistake.
The business does not need to disclose clients' confidential information to be useful. It can describe the general problem, explain the limits of its observations and offer sensible, experience-based guidance. If a specific client's story is essential, permission and accurate supporting evidence become especially important.
7. Company news with genuine wider consequences
Sometimes the company announcement really is the story. A major investment, consequential acquisition, significant contract, substantial expansion or genuinely important new technology could have wider commercial or industry relevance.
The word consequential is doing a lot of work here. It is not enough to call something groundbreaking or transformational in a press release.
What will actually change? Will jobs be created? Does the development affect an established market? Is there a measurable benefit or a significant new risk? Can those claims be verified? And is the scale meaningful to the readership of the publication you are approaching?
A small development may still be ideal for the right local or specialist outlet. The aim should not be to make every piece of company news sound nationally important. It should be to recognise where it really matters.
Which B2B company announcements do businesses overestimate?
I understand why companies want coverage for milestones. They may have taken years of work, significant investment and real effort. But importance to the people involved is not the same as editorial relevance.
New appointments are a good example. A business hiring a director may have made a hugely important decision. A national journalist is still unlikely to cover the appointment unless there is something exceptional about the individual, organisation or wider circumstances. A relevant trade magazine, on the other hand, may reasonably report leadership changes within its sector.
The same principle applies to office openings. A company opening a second office is not automatically national news, but it might be a legitimate regional story if the opening brings employment, investment or something meaningful to the local economy. The factual significance should lead the pitch.
Awards often work better as evidence of credibility than as standalone national stories. That does not make them worthless. A respected award might help a journalist understand why somebody is qualified to speak, or it might interest a trade publication that follows achievements in the sector. But a press release saying a company is delighted to have won an award still needs a reason for somebody else to read it.
Partnerships and revenue milestones deserve the same scrutiny. Two companies signing an agreement is not necessarily interesting; what becomes possible because of the agreement might be. A revenue figure may be an internal achievement without being remarkable at the scale of a national business story. Context, evidence and consequences are what make the difference.
I would rather have an honest conversation about the right home for an announcement than spend weeks presenting it as something it is not. Sometimes the sensible outcome is a focused trade or local pitch. Sometimes it is a company blog or customer communication instead of earned media.
Why is original B2B data valuable, and what can go wrong?
Research is attractive because it appears to offer an independent story. It is also an area where businesses can damage credibility by being careless.
Imagine a company announces that "80% of businesses are worried about AI". My immediate questions would be: 80% of which businesses, in which country, of what sizes, surveyed when and asked precisely what? Was the sample selected in a way that makes the conclusion defensible? Does "worried" mean concerned about cost, accuracy, security, job losses or something else?
If those questions cannot be answered, a striking statistic may say surprisingly little.
A bigger sample is not automatically representative. An online poll of self-selected respondents can have serious limitations even when lots of people complete it. Equally, carefully described information from a smaller specialist group may be useful to a trade journalist when nobody pretends it represents the entire economy.
There is another distinction I would make between research and operational insight. A business might genuinely know what happened in a thousand transactions on its platform. That can be useful. It cannot necessarily tell us why every business in the country behaves the same way. Anonymisation, sampling, definitions and the limits of the source all need consideration.
I would want the methodology available before approaching journalists: who or what was measured, when, how categories were defined, the relevant sample and any important exclusions or limitations. If a company has commissioned polling, those details should be checked with the research provider rather than reverse-engineered to fit a headline.
The strongest B2B data stories are the ones that survive a journalist asking awkward questions. If an interesting finding disappears as soon as you examine the evidence, it was never a strong foundation for PR.
How can executives contribute to business news without promoting their services?
One of the most useful shifts a B2B company can make is accepting that the company does not need to be the subject of every article.
When I was writing a story, I often needed someone to help explain it. I did not necessarily need to write about their business. If a source gave me a strong, accurate explanation, the comment itself was useful. A promotional paragraph about their services usually was not.
That is the idea behind expert commentary PR. A recruiter might explain an employment issue, a professional adviser might clarify a common business problem, or a genuine technology specialist might challenge a misleading assumption. The publication is interested in the subject. The expert contributes because they know something important about it.
This sometimes requires companies to accept less control than they are comfortable with. An editor may use one sentence rather than the entire answer. A source may be identified by name and job title without a lengthy description of the business. The journalist chooses the material that serves the article.
That is not necessarily a disappointing outcome. Being quoted for real expertise can provide relevant visibility and a public example of what somebody knows, even when the coverage does not read like a company profile.
The relationship also works better when a spokesperson is realistic about what they can discuss. I would rather offer a journalist somebody who knows one part of an issue extremely well than somebody prepared to claim expertise in everything simply to get quoted.
How do you make a highly specialist B2B subject interesting?
The way a subject is described can make it sound far less interesting than it actually is.
A company may work in a technical corner of the market where everybody uses abbreviations, product names and industry jargon. To its customers, that language is normal. To a business journalist or a general reader, it can obscure the actual importance of the story.
I would start by asking who is affected and what changes for them. Does the issue influence costs, jobs, productivity, customers, security, delivery times, investment or ordinary working life? Is there a practical consequence that an unfamiliar reader can understand without knowing the technical terminology?
Consider a hypothetical software consultancy discussing a recurring integration problem. "Enterprise interoperability challenges during system migration" may be accurate but unhelpful as the lead of a general business pitch. Explaining that businesses repeatedly underestimate the disruption caused when their existing systems cannot exchange essential information may make the issue more understandable. The technical detail still belongs in the story, but it now has a reason to be there.
I would handle the same subject differently for a specialist trade title. Its readers may want the precise technical explanation. Oversimplifying could make the article less useful to them.
Good B2B media work is not about dumbing down everything the company knows. It is about understanding what a particular audience needs explained, and at what level.
What is the difference between business, trade and national media?
Broadly, the following comparison shows how the same B2B material might be approached differently:
| Media type | What it often wants | Potential strength | Common reason a pitch fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade media | Detailed sector news, specialist expertise, appointments, products and industry developments | Highly relevant professional audience and sector credibility | Story is too generic, company lacks credibility or there is no genuine industry significance |
| Business media | Wider commercial trends, leadership, investment, employment, company growth and economic relevance | Strong business credibility and broader professional reach | Announcement is too small or too internally focused |
| National media | Stories with broad public, economic, consumer or human interest | Large audience and substantial general visibility | The story matters to the company but not enough to a national audience |
| Regional/local media | Jobs, investment, local people, businesses and developments affecting the area | Strong local relevance and community visibility | Pitch fails to explain why people in that location should care |
These are useful distinctions rather than fixed rules. Trade publications can cover major national developments, national outlets sometimes write deeply about specialist industries, and business stories can become consumer stories when they affect people's lives.
What matters is the readership. A regional business website may legitimately care about an office opening that would not interest a national news desk. A specialist technology publication may give an important development more detailed attention than a general newspaper could.
I would also check what a publication actually publishes before assuming it is a suitable target. A site with an impressive name may focus on paid industry announcements, research, opinion pieces or very specific editorial subjects. The masthead alone does not tell you what sort of story its journalists want.
When is trade coverage more valuable than national coverage?
National coverage can be excellent for a business, but bigger reach does not automatically mean greater value.
If your company sells a highly specialised service to a relatively small number of professional buyers, a respected trade publication may reach people who understand exactly what you do. A national article could be seen by many more readers, most of whom will never need that service.
Trade coverage can help a business become more visible within its actual industry, demonstrate specialist knowledge and appear in places customers or partners may already read. Those are potential benefits, not automatic outcomes.
I would not therefore tell a B2B founder to ignore trade press while chasing a familiar national newspaper name. I would ask who the business needs to reach and which editorial opportunities genuinely fit its expertise.
It is also important to distinguish earned editorial opportunities from advertising and paid placements. Some trade publishers offer sponsorship, advertorials, commercial features or paid profiles. Those may be perfectly legitimate marketing channels, but paying for placement is not the same thing as a journalist independently choosing to cover the business.
Fair PR's work is centred on earned editorial opportunities. If a publication's only available route is a paid placement, that is a separate commercial decision and should be described as such.
What do weak and stronger B2B story angles look like?
I find it useful to put two versions of a possible pitch side by side. These are hypothetical illustrations, not examples of coverage we have secured or angles guaranteed to interest a journalist.
Recruitment
Weak: "Our recruitment company has launched a new hiring service."
Stronger: "A recruitment specialist explains a recurring reason qualified candidates withdraw from recruitment processes and what employers often overlook."
The second angle gives the reader a real problem and a possible explanation. The recruiter would still need relevant first-hand experience, and any claims about how widespread the issue is would require evidence.
Software and technology
Weak: "Our SaaS company has opened its second office."
Stronger: "A software founder explains why a particular implementation problem keeps disrupting growing companies, supported by examples they can discuss accurately."
The new office might be useful background, but it is not automatically the point of the article. Alternatively, a significant regional investment or hiring commitment could make the opening itself a more relevant story for local media.
Human resources
Weak: "Our HR consultancy has won an industry award."
Stronger: "An HR adviser explains the management problem they repeatedly encounter when experienced employees are promoted without preparation."
The award might support the adviser's credentials. The useful advice gives the journalist something to offer readers.
Accountancy
Weak: "Our accountancy practice has launched an advisory package."
Stronger: "An accountant explains a common cash-flow misunderstanding they see among otherwise profitable small businesses, with practical questions owners should ask."
The accountant should stay within their expertise, and the article would need to make clear whether any advice is general or dependent on a business's circumstances.
Industrial or specialist B2B services
Weak: "Our company has developed an innovative process for industrial customers."
Stronger: "A specialist explains a costly operational problem businesses in their sector face, why conventional approaches can fail and what a more effective process needs to consider."
The second direction translates a technical service into a subject that may matter to other businesses. It would still need substantiation and the right publication.
The recurring difference is simple: a stronger editorial angle gives an outsider a reason to pay attention. It does not merely find more sophisticated language for "please promote our company".
What should a B2B business prepare before seeking media coverage?
A useful B2B media campaign does not need an enormous collection of polished materials, but it does need credible people and dependable facts.
I would begin with the potential spokespeople. Who actually understands each subject? What have they done? What are they qualified to explain? Can they make complicated points clearly, answer follow-up questions and distinguish professional judgement from evidence?
A good biography should make relevant experience obvious without inflating it. A clear company website, accurate job title, sensible professional profile and accessible photographs can help journalists establish who they are talking to.
Next, I would look at what the business can substantiate. If a company claims a trend is accelerating, does it have the evidence? If it wants to use customer stories, is there permission? If it is presenting original research, can it explain the method and limitations? If the area is regulated, who checks the accuracy of professional claims?
Then there is responsiveness. A journalist working on an article may need a comment quickly, and an expert who cannot review or approve anything until the following week may miss the opportunity. Equally, speed should never come at the expense of accuracy, confidentiality or professional obligations.
Finally, I would want to understand the media objectives. Is the business trying to become better known within a particular industry, support the credibility of a founder, explain its specialist expertise or generate appropriate national visibility? Those goals may call for very different pitches.
A well-prepared company is not one with the most impressive media kit. It is one that knows what it can offer, can support what it says and makes useful contributions straightforward.
Can a smaller B2B business get national media coverage?
Yes, where the expertise or story has genuine wider relevance. A company does not have to be a household name for a journalist to consider one of its people as a source.
An independent recruitment specialist may have a helpful perspective on an employment issue affecting the country. A small technology consultancy may be able to explain a problem organisations repeatedly encounter. A professional adviser may see a pattern that helps illuminate a wider business story.
But small businesses should not assume that being quoted nationally is the only worthwhile result. A technical publication read by decision-makers in the relevant industry may be more appropriate than a passing mention in a national newspaper.
I also think there is a difference between getting national exposure and being the subject of a national business feature. An expert may contribute two sentences to a story about a wider issue without their company being profiled in depth. That can still be credible earned media, but expectations should be clear from the outset.
Not every company is ready for this. If the business has little it can say beyond promoting its services, it may need to develop clearer expertise, gather usable evidence or wait for a more meaningful story before investing heavily in outreach.
How does Fair Public Relations approach B2B PR?
With B2B clients, I tend to start by looking for the knowledge and experience that somebody outside the company might genuinely need.
That could be insight from a founder or senior executive, a specialist explaining a change in their sector, original business data, a worthwhile company announcement or a useful contribution to an article already being researched. The right mix depends on what the business does and what its people can credibly talk about.
Our work with Spectrum Search, a technology recruitment business, is a relevant example. The documented campaign used specialist recruitment and technology commentary alongside reactive journalist opportunities, with 86 published media opportunities recorded across national, business, technology, finance and recruitment outlets. Those are this client's documented results, not a target or guarantee for another campaign.
What I find useful about that approach is that the company does not need to have a major announcement every month to contribute. Its people can be relevant because they understand subjects journalists are covering.
Our B2B PR work is built around those sorts of earned-media opportunities: expert commentary, founder and executive visibility, useful research or data, business news and relevant trade or national features.
That is different from promising specialist analyst relations, investor relations, corporate lobbying or guaranteed inclusion of B2B products in editorial reviews. Those are not the core of our ongoing Standard PR service.
As with any earned-media campaign, journalists choose whether, when and how to use material. I would much rather give a B2B business an accurate assessment of its potential than claim every press release will result in coverage.
So, what kind of B2B stories do journalists want?
They want stories that serve their readers. That may sound obvious, but it is the part companies most often lose sight of when an announcement feels especially important internally.
A genuinely strong B2B angle might reveal new information, explain an industry change, offer credible professional insight, explore a problem businesses are struggling with or show why a development has consequences beyond the people announcing it.
Sometimes the company itself will be the story. Often its role is simply to provide the expertise or evidence that makes another story better.
I would start there: work out what your company genuinely knows, what it can demonstrate and who might find that useful. Then decide which publication and editorial format make sense. It is a more productive starting point than writing a promotional announcement first and hoping a journalist will find a story inside it.
FAQs
What makes a B2B business story newsworthy?
It needs a reason to matter beyond the business itself. Original evidence, expert insight into a relevant issue, a significant industry development or a genuinely distinctive human story can all create editorial potential. The significance depends on the readership of the publication, and relevance never guarantees publication.
Do trade journalists publish company press releases?
They may report worthwhile company developments, particularly when the news matters to their specialist audience. Others prefer interviews, original reporting or expert insight. Businesses should also distinguish a publisher's independent editorial coverage from advertorials, sponsorship and other paid opportunities.
Can a small B2B company get national media coverage?
Yes. Company size alone does not determine whether a spokesperson can provide useful information. A small firm may have specialist expertise that helps explain a national issue, although a national feature about the company itself would usually require a stronger, broader story.
What kind of data is useful to business journalists?
Useful data is relevant, accurate, clearly described and capable of supporting the proposed conclusion. Journalists may need to understand the sample, method, dates, definitions and limitations. Operational observations can also be useful if they are honestly presented as observations rather than representative research.
Are customer case studies interesting to trade publications?
They can be, especially where the example explains a wider industry problem or a practical solution. The story should offer more than customer praise, and the business needs appropriate permission before disclosing names, confidential details or identifiable results.
Can a founder be quoted even if the company is not featured?
Yes. A journalist may use a founder's comment because they understand a relevant subject. The resulting article might identify the person's role and company without becoming a company profile. That distinction is important when setting realistic PR expectations.
Should B2B businesses target trade or national media?
The best choice depends on the story and the audience the business wants to reach. Specialist trade coverage can be particularly relevant to professional buyers, while a wider issue may justify national reporting. It is better to assess editorial fit than rank publications solely by audience size.
What makes a B2B announcement too promotional?
If its main message is that the company is brilliant, innovative or pleased with itself, without explaining something useful or significant to readers, it probably needs more work. A good test is whether the story would still be interesting to somebody with no intention of buying the company's services.
Could your business expertise make a good media story?
Fair Public Relations' B2B PR helps suitable businesses identify the expertise, information, opinions and company developments that may have genuine editorial value.
Our wider Standard PR service combines story development, content creation, journalist outreach, reactive media opportunities and ongoing account management. We focus on relevant earned-media opportunities rather than treating every announcement as news, and we do not guarantee coverage or particular publications.
Written by Jordan Baker
Founder of Fair Public Relations and former UK national journalist
Jordan Baker is the founder of Fair Public Relations and a former UK national journalist with more than a decade of PR experience. He writes about B2B PR, journalist outreach, expert commentary, founder positioning and earned media.
View Jordan Baker's media expert profile
You might also like these blog posts
How Can Consultants and Professional Services Firms Become Media Experts?
What Is Expert Commentary PR? How Experts Get Quoted in the Media
How to Get Press Coverage for Your Small Business: Advice From a Former National Journalist
How Can Founders Get Featured in the Media Without Being Famous?
The Difference Between PR, Personal Branding and Thought Leadership
