Why you can't shortcut a media relationship
Journalists complain about bad pitches, but spare a thought for the PR under pressure to announce something to…
The method
Build a PR capability you own.
Full Funnel PR builds communications into your business, instead of renting a publicist’s contacts or funding an agency you cannot see into. You develop the assets, relationships and know-how that drive growth, piece by piece, with the resources you already have.
For the leaders who see communications as a growth lever, not a line item.
Nine interlocking pillars
Strategy
Growth StrategyCompany StoryPersonal Brand
Narrative
Audience StoryRadarPR Assets
Activation
PitchesRoadmapMedia CRM
Why it works
Capability you own, not a service you rent.
Most PR gives you one of two things. A specialist publicist, whose value is the contacts in their phone and who may not be very strategic. Or an agency you hand a budget to and hope, with little sight of what it is buying. Neither leaves much behind. Full Funnel PR builds the capability into your own business, so what you invest compounds into something you keep.
Owned, not rented
You build the assets, relationships and know-how in-house. When the engagement ends, the capability stays with you, not in someone else’s contact book.
People as a channel
Growth comes from engaging all the people you need, not just journalists: customers, investors, partners, and the well-connected voices who can introduce you to them.
Built with what you have
It works iteratively with your existing resources and team, so you develop a real communications function without hiring a department.
Start where it matters most
You do not have to fix everything at once. Prioritise the pillar that will move the business most, prove it, then build the rest piece by piece.
Audiences
PR works across your whole business, not just your sales funnel.
Journalists are a very tough crowd. The methods that work to interest them in your business, and then get them to engage, clearly work. So why stop with them? Full Funnel PR starts by asking which audiences actually matter to your business goals right now.
Customers
“We want to sell more to our customers.”
Advocates
“We want people to recommend us.”
Prospects
“We want new people to buy from us.”
Investors
“We want people to invest in us.”
Partners
“We want to develop supply chain relationships.”
Team
“We want to hire the best people.”
The methodology identifies which audiences to prioritise, how many are needed, how many are out there, what might be getting in the way of them acting, and what PR needs to do to move them through the funnel.
How funnel thinking worksThe system
Nine interlocking pillars.
The method covers strategy, messaging, storytelling, pitching, assets, content, and media relationships, providing a complete, benchmarkable framework from first brief to ongoing coverage. Because it is modular, you can start with the pillar that will move the business most, and build the rest over time.
Strategy
Why we are doing this, what the business stands for, and who speaks for it.
01
Growth Strategy
Connects every piece of communications to a business goal you can measure.
A short discovery and a clear plan, so PR always traces back to how the business grows, and to the people you need to reach it.
Read more →
02
Company Story
One clear, consistent story your whole business can tell.
What you stand for, what makes you genuinely different, and the proof behind it.
Read more →
03
Personal Brand
Turns your leaders into credible, sought-after experts.
Develops your spokespeople into recognised voices that journalists and audiences trust.
Read more →
Narrative
Finding the story, the timing, and the material to tell it with.
04
Audience Story
Turns your expertise into stories the media will actually publish.
A repeatable way to shape opinion pieces with a real angle, not a sales pitch in disguise.
Read more →
05
Radar
Keeps your eyes on what is changing in your industry.
Media monitoring built into the business, so you react in time and feed your content and PR.
Read more →
06
PR Assets
Treats every piece of content as an asset worth building and improving.
The discipline of making the materials you use to engage people as strong as they can be.
Read more →
Activation
Getting it published, keeping it going, and building the relationships.
07
Pitches
Makes sure a story is strong before it ever reaches a journalist.
A quality test every pitch passes, so you protect your reputation with the media.
Read more →
08
Roadmap
Keeps your spokespeople visible between the big moments.
An always-on content rhythm that builds an audience and amplifies your coverage.
Read more →
09
Media CRM
Builds the relationships that get you heard, over time.
Treats the people who can reach your audiences, not only journalists, as a channel to nurture.
Read more →
Before you invest
Are you ready to invest in media relations?
Fifteen questions, about three minutes. Score your message, assets and operations, get a clear verdict, and download the brief.
Who made it
Built by someone who has spent 25 years doing the work.
Full Funnel PR is developed by, and delivered by Matt Phillips, a Fractional Director of Communications. He began as an intern at the BPI and became its lead spokesperson, ran corporate communications at the BBC around the iPlayer launch, sat on the leadership team at Propeller PR, and founded and ran the pay-as-you-go agency PPR.
He is writing the method down because PR “doesn’t get the credit it deserves, isn’t valued highly enough and isn’t always used to full effect as it lacks a standard model and methodology.”
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Questions
Full Funnel PR, briefly
What is Full Funnel PR?
Full Funnel PR is a nine-pillar communications methodology built for growth-minded founders and SMEs. It replaces activity-led PR with a structured system that connects every piece of communications work to a defined commercial objective. The method covers strategy, messaging, storytelling, pitching, assets, content, and media relationships, providing a complete, benchmarkable framework from first brief to ongoing coverage.
How is Full Funnel PR different from normal PR?
Most PR programmes are activity-led: a list of things an agency will do, with no clear connection to what the business actually needs. Full Funnel PR builds on the fundamentals of earning media coverage in four ways. It considers all audiences rather than just prospects. It is designed around growth. It is a system of pillars rather than a strapline. And it is optimised for constructive disruptors.
What are the nine pillars of Full Funnel PR?
Growth Strategy, Company Story and Personal Brand form the Strategy phase. Audience Story, Radar and PR Assets form the Narrative phase. Pitches, Roadmap and Media CRM form the Activation phase.
Who is Full Funnel PR for?
Growth-minded founders and SMEs. It is optimised for constructive disruptors: business leaders trying to do something different, with a clear sense of vision.
Who created Full Funnel PR?
Full Funnel PR is developed by, and delivered by, Matt Phillips, a Fractional Director of Communications with more than 25 years in PR. It is also the working title of his forthcoming book.
See what Full Funnel PR would look like for your business.
A short, no-obligation call. We will talk about where you are trying to grow, which audiences matter, and whether the method fits.