The annual report, launched by SquirrelPR, now tracks digital media performance across 13 African countries, up from five markets last year. 

It examines traffic, trust signals, audience behaviour, search influence and platform authority across the continent.

Speaking at the launch of the Ranked 2026 report, Jonah Solomon, co-founder and chief executive officer of SquirrelPR, said the project began after an overseas user asked a question about which Nigerian journalists should receive a press release.

“When we started Ranked report, it was after we launched SquirrelPR, and a user overseas called us and said, I see over 1000 journalists on this platform, but who should I send my release to in Nigeria?”

He said what began as a manual solution later became a structured ranking product first focused on Nigeria before expanding across Africa.

“We started with Nigeria and when we rolled it out, we realised that the publishers themselves found it more valuable than even the PR managers were targeting.”

This year’s edition covered Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tunisia, among others.

Traffic Falling, Influence Shifting

Presenting the keynote address, Keni Akintoye, CEO and lead strategist at KT Communications, said the media industry must stop relying only on traffic numbers to judge success.

“For years, we understood digital media performance through a familiar lens, which is traffic, reach impressions, bounce rates,” he said.

“But today, the signals are different.”

Akintoye said audiences now consume information through search summaries, social feeds, aggregated platforms and algorithmic recommendations, usually without visiting the original publisher’s website.

“The consuming content, forming opinions, doing all they used to do without arriving at the source.”

He added that influence has not disappeared, but moved.

“It is no longer who publishes. It is who is believed.”

According to him, credibility is becoming more valuable than clicks in an era impacted by artificial intelligence and fragmented attention.

“The future of African media will not be defined by who is loudest. It will be defined by who is most intentional.”

What the Data Showed

Solomon said the Ranked 2026 report used 12 months of historical data sourced from Similarweb, Ahrefs, Google Analytics, Google Trends and other tools.

A total of 131 news platforms were tracked. Across Nigeria, combined traffic dropped from more than one billion visits to 769 million visits.

He said the decline should not be seen as newsroom failure.

“It simply means that the audiences have moved upstream, and you need to find out how to reach them.”

He added that domain authority, a measure of how trusted and established a website is in search ecosystems, was stronger and more stable than traffic, making it a more reliable indicator of influence.

“Traffic becomes less reliable, then Domain Authority has emerged as the most consistent indicator of influence.”

The report also found that several major Nigerian publishers now receive a notable share of traffic from outside the country, while entertainment and cultural sites continue to attract stronger local audiences.

Nigeria Category Leaders

In entertainment and lifestyle, leading names included Google, BellaNaija and other established outlets.

In technology media, Techpoint Africa was the traffic leader, followed by TechCabal and emerging platforms such as TechNext and Techeconomy.

In business and finance, Nairametrics led.

For general news and current affairs, Vanguard topped traffic rankings, ahead of Punch, Legit, Sahara Reporters and The Nation.

SquirrelPR 2.0 Unveiled

The event also featured the launch of SquirrelPR 2.0, a rebuilt version of the company’s communications platform.

James Ezechukwu, co-founder and chief technology officer, said the upgraded system now includes an AI press release generator, language translation tools, media discovery, instant journalist messaging, project management functions and client management features for PR agencies.

“Our goal as SquirrelPR is to be the core operating system for PR in Africa,” he said.

The company also introduced a monitoring solution designed to help organisations track media mentions and public conversations in real time.

The event, which was planned for 60 attendees, had guest registrations exceeding 80, showing an increasing interest in data-led communications and media intelligence.

Closing the event, Ezechukwu said: “The reward for good work is more work.”

The report, produced by SquirrelPR, examined how digital news media is performing across 13 African countries, providing insight into audience growth, influence and changing consumption habits.

A panel session titled Winning the Digital Attention War brought experts from media, banking and communications who agreed that the old model of chasing website traffic is under pressure from social media, creators and artificial intelligence.

The session, moderated by Ifeanyi Abraham, PR director, CIG Motors, comprised panellists including Múyiwa Mátuluko, chief executive officer, Techpoint Africa; Rasheed Bolarinwa, head of Brand Marketing and Communications, Polaris Bank; Damilola Bright-Ukwenga, PR and communications professional; and Olufemi Ajasa, online editor, Vanguard Newspaper.

Traffic no longer enough

Mátuluko said media companies should stop trying to be everything to everyone and instead build focused platforms for specific industries.

He said Techpoint is expanding into specialist brands such as finance, energy and agriculture, targeting engaged professional audiences rather than chasing mass numbers.

“We’re taking conversation away from traffic,” he said.

He added that advertisers now care more about credibility and access to the right audience than vanity metrics.

For him, a smaller but trusted niche audience can be more valuable than millions of casual visits.

Brands want conversion, not impressions

Bolarinwa said marketing budgets are now under greater review, with senior executives demanding measurable returns.

He said old benchmarks such as impressions and follower counts are losing importance.

“Nobody’s going to talk about that anymore, conversion, trust and influence.”

He added that brands are already shifting spending toward niche publishers, creators and platforms with stronger communities.

Using Polaris Bank’s digital product launches as an example, he said specialist tech media played a major role in reaching the right market.

Legacy media says journalism still wins

Ajasa defended established publishers, saying strong reporting, community presence and credibility are their biggest strengths.

He said Vanguard still invests in reporters across Nigeria and focuses on solving real audience problems through practical journalism.

He mentioned projects such as flood coverage and cost-of-living reports.

“What we do is journalism, and the fabric of journalism has not changed.”

Ajasa also pushed back against claims that legacy outlets depend on sensational headlines, saying digital operations now combine speed with verification.

“We have built a work system that solves the problem of speed and accuracy, without compromising quality.”

PR industry turns to creators

Bright-Ukwenga said brands now use creators and smaller influencers from the planning stage of campaigns, not as an afterthought.

She said many creators hold stronger trust with followers than larger celebrity influencers.

“The earlier brands begin to look in their direction, the better for that brand, because you would always be in conversations.”

She added that some brands now maintain private circles of trusted creators who can amplify campaigns in a more natural way.

AI changing search, teams and workflows

Artificial intelligence was one of the biggest themes of the session.

Mátuluko said publishers should not panic but adapt quickly.

“AI is not going to replace you. No, it’s basically the person using AI that will replace you.”

He revealed that Techpoint already uses an AI-powered reporter for routine updates, with human editors reviewing output before publication.

Ajasa said AI is also hurting referral traffic from search engines, forcing publishers to build direct audience relationships through newsletters, podcasts and first-party data.

“The search traffic is going down.”

Bolarinwa said AI can improve speed and automate tasks, but originality still matters.

“You can’t compare what I write to what AI will write.”

Warning against dependence on Big Tech

Several speakers warned African media businesses against over-reliance on platforms such as Google, X and TikTok.

Mátuluko said publishers must own direct relationships with audiences through email lists, events, reports, courses and communities.

“We have WhatsApp, we have a newsletter, we have podcasts, but I still want my own audience.”

Bolarinwa added that African companies should begin building stronger home-grown digital platforms.

What RANKED 2027 should track

Panel members at the launch of RANKED 2026 report urged the team to expand future editions to include the creator economy, partnership revenue, events, trust signals and verified analytics.

They also called for stronger measurement of global versus local audiences, warning that percentages alone can distort the scale of a publisher’s reach.

In a fast-changing startup ecosystem where innovation often outpaces visibility, communications strategist Jonah Solomon delivers a timely and practical guide for founders with his latest book, Scrappy Strategies – Public Relations for Startups: How Founders Can Win Customers and Credibility Without Big Budgets.

Released October 20, 2025, this 199-page volume stands out as an essential field manual for early-stage entrepreneurs who must navigate Africa’s competitive business landscape with limited resources.

Drawing from years of hands-on experience, Solomon distills proven principles that help startups craft compelling stories, connect with the right audiences, and build authentic brands that stand out, not by spending more, but by thinking smarter.

Jonah Solomon, a communications strategist passionate about helping startups tell their stories and scale with impact, brings impressive credibility to this work.

He is the Founder of Yadel Media, a PR consultancy focused on the finance and technology sectors, where he has advised some of the continent’s most innovative companies, including a unicorn.

He also co-founded SquirrelPR, Africa’s first PR management software designed to connect organisations with journalists, streamline communications, and combat misinformation.

An award-winning former journalist, Solomon began his career reporting on Africa’s vibrant startup ecosystem before transitioning into public relations.

His storytelling background gives him a rare advantage, a dual understanding of media dynamics and business realities.

He holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, where he honed his craft in strategic communication, narrative building, and brand positioning.

In the foreword, Adegoke Adeniyi, founder and CEO of TechPR Africa, describes Scrappy Strategies as “a playbook every African founder needs to own.”

He notes that the book bridges the gap between creativity and communication discipline, demystifying public relations and showing that effective storytelling and credibility can be achieved without large budgets or big PR agencies.

Across its chapters, Scrappy Strategies explores vital themes such as identifying and owning your brand voice, mastering media relations, leveraging digital storytelling, and building community-driven visibility, all grounded in the realities of lean startup operations.

The book’s greatest strength lies in its actionable strategies, relatable case studies, and practical frameworks that founders can immediately apply to amplify credibility, attract customers, and grow sustainably.

Ultimately, Scrappy Strategies is more than a book, it’s a mindset shift for founders and startup communicators. Solomon’s message is clear: you don’t need millions to make an impact; you just need clarity, consistency, and creativity.

Already receiving positive reviews from early readers, Scrappy Strategies is fast establishing itself as a must-read guide for African entrepreneurs, PR professionals, and anyone committed to building influential brands that matter in today’s digital economy.

The book is available in bookshops across Nigeria, and on Amazon and Selar.

GoBorderless.Africa gives users instant access to a curated, verified marketplace of top media platforms across Africa.

The platform empowers growth teams, founders, and product marketers to place press articles and sponsored content across multiple countries in a seamless, transparent workflow – eliminating long editorial back-and-forths, unclear pricing, or reliance on third-party intermediaries.

“GoBorderless is the infrastructure layer we needed for scalable storytelling across Africa,” said James Ezechukwu, co-founder of SquirrelPR. “It’s the sponsored content experience built for startups – frictionless, fast, and radically transparent.”

Designed for the speed of Africa’s innovation ecosystem, the platform supports multi-country campaigns with a self-serve interface, clear outlet deliverables, turnaround timelines, pricing, and secure payments – all in one place. From product launches and funding announcements to SEO backlink campaigns, users now have a centralized distribution platform for press visibility at startup speed.

Africa’s media ecosystem is both vibrant and complex, with thousands of outlets operating in siloed markets governed by different editorial standards, rate structures, and formats.

This fragmentation makes it hard for startups, especially those operating remotely or expanding regionally, to efficiently amplify stories beyond their local market.

Many resort to sending emails to individual editors, hiring consultants with limited access, or relying on costly PR firms with limited technical accountability.

As digital entrepreneurship accelerates across the continent, the need for smarter media engagement has become urgent.

GoBorderless.Africa answers that call. With verified listings, real-time publishing availability, and centralized execution, it mirrors the simplicity of programmatic ad buying, but for credible editorial real estate.

“We’re not replacing PR strategy,” Ezechukwu added. “We’re giving African founders and tech teams the tools to execute content distribution at scale, without being slowed down by outdated systems.”

One of the key tools at a startup’s disposal is Public Relations (PR). While many may assume that PR is a luxury only big corporations can afford, the reality is that startups can effectively use budget-friendly PR strategies to compete on a bigger stage.

At the recent StartupSouth9 Conference, I shared invaluable insights into how startups can leverage PR to boost their credibility, build brand awareness, and generate leads – all without breaking the bank.

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations, as defined by the British Institute of Public Relations, is “the deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.”

PR is a crucial element in building relationships with stakeholders, from customers to regulators and the media. The goal is not just visibility but trust and goodwill.

Why PR Matters for Startups

For startups, PR offers several benefits:

• Credibility: A well-crafted PR strategy positions a startup as a credible player in the industry.
• Affordability: PR is generally more cost-effective than traditional advertising, offering startups the chance to get their message out with minimal investment.
• Lead Generation: Good PR can spark interest in a startup’s products or services, driving inquiries and potential sales.

Budget-Friendly PR Strategies

One of the most appealing aspects of PR is its versatility. Startups don’t need massive budgets to create impactful PR campaigns. Here are a few proven strategies I shared during the event:

• Create Talkability with Mock Campaigns: Generating buzz doesn’t always require a massive ad spend. Take, for instance, the viral Bride Price Calculator launched by Anakle, a digital agency a few years ago. This mock offering became a social sensation, sparking conversations across Nigeria and beyond.

• Launch Industry Reports: Publishing unique industry insights can position a startup as a thought leader. A great example is RANKED by SquirrelPR, which analyzes and provides deep insights on the performance of Nigeria’s digital news platforms, giving it a foothold in media discussions.

• Promote Social Causes: Partnering with social institutions to support relevant causes (such as environmental sustainability or financial inclusion) can build goodwill while aligning the startup’s brand with important societal issues.

• Organize Meetups and Webinars: Community-building initiatives such as webinars, meetups, and charity events help strengthen relationships with key stakeholders while amplifying the startup’s reach.

• Secure Endorsements: Collaborating with notable personalities or regulatory bodies can significantly enhance a startup’s credibility.

The Future of PR for Startups

As the Nigerian startup ecosystem continues to expand, PR will play an even more critical role in helping smaller businesses cut through the clutter and connect with their target audiences.

While PR requires effort, consistency, and creativity, it’s one of the most effective ways for startups to gain visibility and credibility in the marketplace.

Whether it’s through thought leadership, community engagement, or clever social campaigns, PR enables startups to punch above their weight, standing out even against the most established brands.

*Jonah Solomon is the co-founder of SquirrelPR and a PR professional with a proven track record of delivering successful strategies for businesses focused in the finance and technology sectors across Africa.

This session aims to empower startups from the South-South and Southeast regions with actionable, cost-effective public relations strategies to help them grow their businesses.

This year’s conference, themed “Deep & Broad: Extending Frontiers of Technology and Economic Development,” will take place from October 3 – 4, 2024, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

SquirrelPR’s session, scheduled for October 4, will focus on “PR on a Budget: How Startups Can Compete with Big Brands.” Led by Jonah Solomon, a seasoned PR and marketing strategist, the masterclass will cover essential PR principles, the PR process, and low-cost strategies that startups can leverage to boost brand visibility, increase awareness, and drive profitability.

“Our goal is to provide startups with practical tools and insights that will allow them to compete on a larger scale,” said James Ezechukwu, co-founder of SquirrelPR. “Many startups, particularly those that are bootstrapping, lack the resources of big brands, but with the right PR strategies, they can still achieve significant growth. We’re excited to be part of #StartupSouth9, where we can share these invaluable lessons with the community.”

The session aligns with the core objectives of StartupSouth, which is in its 9th edition, to educate, connect, and attract investment to startups in the South-South and Southeast regions.

The conference has become one of Nigeria’s top tech industry events, bringing together innovators, thought leaders, investors, policymakers, and founders from across the country for education, networking, and business growth opportunities.

Participants attending SquirrelPR’s session will gain firsthand knowledge from Jonah Solomon, who has supported several leading tech companies in Nigeria through their early stages of growth with PR expertise.

Registration is now open for startup founders and marketing executives who wish to attend the hybrid session.

Join the conversation on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram using the hashtag #StartupSouth9 or click HERE to register.

SquirrelPR is Africa’s premiere media relations tools provider that grants organisations speedy and open access to a network of credible newsrooms/journalists across the world to fight disinformation or any other information that could lead to brand misrepresentation or reputational damage.

Disinformation and misinformation cost the global economy up to $80 billion annually, according to a recent report, and with the SquirrelPR tools, organisations can significantly mitigate, if not completely eradicate the impact of disinformation on their operations.

Demonstrating the SquirrelPR solution as one of the finalists for the challenge to global stakeholders at the event, the co-founder, James Ezechukwu said:

“SquirrelPR leads the charge for fighting disinformation that could lead to violent extremism on the continent through a suite of solutions aimed at holistically solving the problem of disinformation, especially with the growing disruptive influence of generative artificial intelligence in the spread of disinformation”.

He added that “with a growing media database of no fewer than 1,700 newsrooms and journalists covering both traditional and digital media channels across Africa, Middle East and Europe, SquirrelPR remains at the forefront of fighting disinformation with far greater speed than that with which disinformation spreads”.

The U.S.-West Africa Tech Challenge aims to advance the development of promising technologies that offer innovative solutions to help expose, understand, or counter disinformation, propaganda, and violent extremism in Africa.

It was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, United Nations Development Programme, She Code Africa, Impact Hub Abidjan, and Becera.

Released on Thursday, April 6, 2023, the report ranked 137 online news websites in different categories including News and Current Affairs, Business and Finance, Technology and Startups, and Entertainment and Lifestyle.

The ranking was based on total monthly visits, the total share of traffic in Nigeria as well as its ranking in the country.

The report shows that out of the 69 ranked news websites under News and Current Affairs category, only 30% generate above one million monthly visits.

The top five most visited online news websites in Nigeria attract between 9 – 14 million monthly visits. These include legit.ng, punchng.com, dailypost.ng, vanguardngr.com, and lindaikejisblog.com.

In the Business and Finance category, 18 prominent online business news websites were ranked, out of which, only 16.75% attracted more than one million visits within the period under review.

The top-ranked in this category include nairametrics.com, businessday.ng, and Africa.businessinsider.com.

The Technology category focused on news platforms with a preponderance of content on startups, the information technology industry, gadgets, etc.

A total of 27 platforms were ranked. Out of these, only the traditional mainstream publishers with equally strong coverage of the tech sector attracted monthly visits of millions. Of the niche tech news platforms ranked, naijaknowhow.net, techcabal.com, gadgetstripe.com, techpoint.africa, and mobilityarena.com gross at least 700,000 monthly visits.

No fewer than 25 platforms were ranked under the Entertainment and Lifestyle category. Out of these, 75% attract more than 1 million monthly visits.

Speaking on the report, James Ezechukwu, the co-founder of SuirrelPR, said the report was the first comprehensive ranking report prepared by SquirrelPR and that it was “inspired by the need to serve our clients that are constantly worried about which news platforms to prioritise in their placements”.

“We understand that there are thousands of news websites that serve all kinds of information to the Nigerian audience but for the purpose of this report, we focused only on platforms that serve the news and attract more than 10,000 monthly visits. We foraged over 400 news websites but we eventually settled for only the ones with at least 10,000 monthly visits,” Ezechukwu explained.

SquirrelPR is an online media relations management solution that enables Public Relations agencies and Marketing Communications professionals to discover journalists that matter to their industry, distribute press materials, manage media events at scale, and monitor press release publications while building and managing relationships with the media/journalists

If you think you have seen all the amazing innovations coming out of Africa, you might be in for a little surprise when you encounter SquirrelPR.

SquirrelPR is proof that there is still more innovations coming out of the continent as African entrepreneurs continue to seek ways to apply technologies that make processes simpler across all sectors. 

This past week, I had the opportunity to have a one-on-one with James Ezechukwu, who is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of SquirrelPR, and I present to you the excerpts of our interaction. 

Tell me about SquirrelPR

SquirrelPR is software built to streamline processes of PR operations. It makes processes like press distribution, management of press conferences, and general relations with the media completely seamless.

Currently, the media space looks like a distant relation to most businesses; the media appears to be the place they only run to when it becomes absolutely imperative, but this should not be the case. We think every business needs to maintain some kind of relationship with the media. Therefore, what we do at SquirrelPR is to connect businesses to journalists, enabling them to have a one-on-one connection and build a relationship that their brands need.

On SquirrelPR, you can distribute press releases without intermediaries. The SquirrelPR software facilitates the connection and lets you distribute your contents directly to journalists. You can reach as many as a thousand journalists in just one click and under three minutes. You can also monitor the distribution of your press release across the web, without leaving leaving SquirrelPR dashboard.

Also, you can organize press conferences and media parleys, managing invitations, check-ins, check-outs, send press kit and receive post-event feedback from attendees. 

SquirrelPR helps you maintain steady connection with the media through interactive messaging. And many more PR-related actions you can perform on SquirrelPR.

It has the same spelling as the animal Squirrel. Did the animal play a role in inspiring the name or business?

Yes, you probably have heard of the Gung Ho principles. It is a set of management principles that enable organizations to boost productivity. One of them is called the spirit of the Squirrel, which helps employees know that their job contributes to something important in the world. 

We believe that SquirrelPR is critically important as it will play a significant role in any organization’s mission to maintain a sterling brand reputation through a healthy relationship with the media. 

Beyond that fact, we also wanted something that represents speed and diligence.

Traditionally, going through PR processes and trying to do things yourself takes a lot of time. You can spend hours sorting your media database in a spreadsheet or hours sending press releases to a large number of Journalists, and then, spend a week or more, waiting for your press releases to appear in the news. However, on SquirrelPR, you can do all these in a few clicks, send press releases and have them in the news within 24 hours. 

We have carefully reduced the need for intermediaries, increasing the distribution and pickup rates and reducing publication times in exchange.

Your solution helps discover practicing Journalists in Africa; is your platform like a forum for Journalists or do you just connect them with the media houses?

There are basically three ways journalists are onboarded on the SquirrelPR platform, the first is through direct sign ups via a link on the website. 

Secondly, as a business, you may have been dealing with some Journalists, managing them with Gmail or Excel spreadsheets. Businesses can send the journalists they work with  invitation links to join the platform, right from their dashboard on SquirrelPR

Finally, if you have a long list of Journalists, you can simply upload the list as a CSV file on the platform. 

The Journalists you invite are exclusive to you; other users on SquirrelPR do not have access to them unless they upload the same Journalists as you. 

In this industry, we understand that the number of Journalists you know as a PR person is a bragging right to an extent. Nevertheless, while we aim to democratize this, we must respect our users’ preferences.

Asides these three ways of bringing journalists on board, we are building a community where Journalists can be accessed easily. However, we do not want any random actions, you cannot just go to a Journalist and start sending press releases, there has to be a formal onboarding process.

On the profile side, you can see a Journalist and send a message saying, “I’d like to connect with you”. If the Journalist permits you, you connect with the person who automatically gets added to your list.

While you may not have known them before coming to SquirrelPR, there is still a good chance for you to discover Journalists and connect with them.

James describes this as “connecting with a thousand journalists with the ease of connecting with one”.

While SquirrelPR’s service is completely free for Journalists, it is subscription-based for businesses. 

SquirrelPR connects  journalists to brands and businesses which they didn’t have access to previously, creating a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.

You launched in February this year and have garnered over 600 journalists. How were you able to do this and what are your strategies to further grow the number? 

It is the SquirrelPR magic! There is a social side to it. Asides businesses who bring in their Journalists, we are also speaking with media houses to onboard their Journalists. It has been a lot of footwork, but we are just getting started. The plan is to bring every Journalist in Africa onto the SquirrelPR platform, giving every business wide access to the media. There is a lot still coming on SquirrelPR.

Can you tell us some businesses you’re currently working with?

SquirrelPR is currently working with banks, PR agencies and other tech companies. So far, SquirrelPR has distributed over a hundred press releases and they were all sent by businesses.

What are the challenges you faced at the initial stage? How did you overcome them and what are the current challenges and strategies to address them?

We had the challenge of misconception. Some of our target audiences are PR agencies and at first, they saw us as competition. We had to make them understand that we are not competition as we are not a PR agency. We are a media tech company offering software for PR agencies and PR/corporate communications practitioners. That is why we now have a number of PR agencies using Squirrel for their media management.

Some of the Journalists you would find on Squirrel were brought in by PR agencies because they had Journalists they have been working with. They have used and experienced the platform and seen that we are working for them, not against them.

On the supply side, which includes the Journalists, there is the question of “what’s in it for me aside from getting your content out there?”. We are working on this through numerous initiatives that benefit the journalists beyond pecuniary incentives. 

Beyond the software, there’s a community/human side to SquirrelPR. We are building a community of Journalists in each region we operate/ or plan to expand to. We understand that as a business, building relationships with the media through the SquirrelPR platform is important, but ultimate loyalty comes from the foundational relationship the SquirrelPR brand has built with these Journalists. It’s a relationship business, and we understand that much.

It’s not just about businesses, it’s about exposing the African media to the world. The core idea behind SquirrelPR is that someone in India, China, Europe or North America can engage a Journalist in Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana or in Nairobi, Kenya with ease. It’s a movement where the Journalists are major players and we have a lot coming for them in terms of capacity building, events, partnership and monetisation.

We are also inculcating physical interaction to enable potential users to understand what we are doing and what is in it for them, changing their mindsets. For this reason, we have regional managers who interface one-on-one with media houses, telling them what we are trying to do.

There are still lots of challenges but we will keep tackling them as we progress.

What’s your competitive edge in the industry considering we have the likes of APO, Business Wire, PR Newswire?

At the core of the SquirrelPR solution are features that would eventually make APO a SquirrelPR user because we built a tool they will need to accomplish more. APO currently operates a press distribution agency that handles press distribution directly for clients. So, you send your press releases to them and they send them to their Journalists. SquirrelPR offers much more than that, while allowing businesses to handle their media distribution themselves more efficiently.

We would have clashed in terms of pricing but since APO is also our ideal target user; we do not see it as a problem. 

We charge quite reasonably low and our services take just 24 to 48 hours to get your release out there. This is an added advantage for PR agencies, plus ours is Do-It-Yourself. We do not have any hand in your distribution, we are just a pipeline. We leave the decision of the strength of your story with those who should actually be the judge – the journalists. 

The speed, price, approach and our open database are the edge we have over others. Users know who exactly they are sending their press releases to, you can track the publication of your content without having to go to Google to search – a query button does all of that for you, sending a comprehensive report to you.

The idea is to simplify the entire process. The PR industry, particularly in Africa, is least digitized, so we are leveraging technology to change this.

We are first in the market for DIY press distribution tool, fully automated, no intermediaries. We are targeting the global market and have built scalability into SquirrePR. All that you need to use the platform from any country is to upload your Journalists or search the platform, target them on SquirrelPR and send them the press releases in the language they understand.

You can pick 2000 Journalists and with the push of a button, your message is sent to them within a minute. You can also relate with just a single Journalist through interactive messaging.

Also, you can sort your contacts into groups. Most journalists cover specific sectors of the economy, SquirrelPR grouping allows you to create specific target groups such as Lagos tech reporters, financial market reporters, etc. for your distribution

What would success imply for SquirrelPR?

We measure success in three ways; first is the number of Journalists we bring to the platform, second is the number of businesses using SquirrelPR and the third is the distribution rate and we have recorded over 90% distribution rate. 

We are surprised at the speed because we have not done any major marketing; it has been one-on-one selling and word of mouth.

Next milestone is to onboard at least a thousand Journalists by the end of the year. However, with the current numbers,  we will likely surpass this.

On growth plans, SquirrelPR sees a gradual expansion in Lagos first, then Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

How are you planning for a future where metaverse, AI, etc will play a major role in the media and PR space?

We are a startup and one of the hallmarks of startups is fluidity and being open to change, we implement as we progress. 

We are currently exploring Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing for our social intelligence tool. It is more like your eye on the media space so you can relax and have SquirrelPR handle all your media worries including fake news.

We are here for damage control, reputation management, speedy distribution and lots more.