The number one question creative leaders come to us with is this: “We appear in the creative media often. But how do we get into the business media – Fast Company, Forbes, the FT, that type of thing?”
It’s easy to see why. We have a vibrant media in our own industry. Press such as Creative Review, Creative Bloq, Design Week, or It’s Nice That, podcasts like Design Matters or My Life in Design, conferences like AIGA, OFFF, D&AD, The Design Effect, and awards schemes like the DBA Design Effectiveness, D&AD, and the Clios all offer excellent opportunities for creative agencies to reach new people and grow their reputations within the creative industry.
However, the business media has a far greater reach. Fast Company attracts 7.8 million unique visitors every month. Forbes towers over that with 150 million monthly visitors. Even behind a paywall, the Financial Times commands 1.3 million daily readers. The sheer volume ensures you reach a vast, untapped audience.
But the value goes far beyond numbers. Over 70% of Financial Times readers are business decision-makers, boasting an average household income of over $330,000. When we analysed the social media habits of CMOs at the world’s 250 biggest brands, a clear pattern emerged: they follow top-tier business titles like Fast Company, Forbes, and the FT, alongside the leading trade publications in their specific sectors.
Business media delivers the right audience, but its most profound benefit is the credibility it confers. Only genuine authorities and experts get quoted in those pages. Pitch decks featuring logos and article clippings from these outlets perform better. Clients trust agencies whose leaders are recognised by respected journalists.
Consistently appearing in the business media grows an agency’s reputation, fills its talent and client pipeline and, most importantly, drives value into its brand.
Unsurprisingly, getting featured in these publications is tough. Competition is fierce, and journalists receive hundreds of pitches every day. To stand out, you need to master three key areas.
First, you must offer stories that journalists actually want to publish. Winning pitches typically share five qualities:
Second, you need the right contacts. You have to know which journalist covers which beat and how they prefer to receive pitches. As you consistently send high-quality stories, they will start opening your emails. Remember to look beyond the massive mainstream titles. Every industry has a highly respected niche publication. Targeting these sector-specific magazines is often just as valuable as chasing a feature in Forbes.
Third, you must be able to deliver. If a journalist wants to interview you, you need the media training to handle the conversation smoothly. Give them the soundbites they need while seamlessly landing your key messages. If they ask you to write a guest column, you need to know how to structure your argument like a professional business journalist.
As we move further into a new era of search, the rules of visibility are changing. Clients increasingly turn to Large Language Models (LLMs) like Claude or ChatGPT for agency recommendations. To win this new game, we must appeal to machines just as much as humans. These AI systems draw their answers from highly trusted sources like widely read, credible media outlets.
Ultimately, earning your place in the business press creates a powerful flywheel. It delivers the massive reach you need to find new audiences, the unquestionable credibility required to win their trust, and the digital footprint necessary to ensure the next generation of AI search engines can find you. Stop talking exclusively to your peers. Step out of the echo chamber, claim your space in the publications that matter, and watch your agency reach its next level of growth.
