How Babbler is Taking Public Relations Into the Social Media Age

Three years ago sisters Hannah Oiknine and Sarah Azan were frustrated in their respective jobs. Oiknine was working as an apprentice at Microsoft and Azan was working as an independent public relations professional in their native France when the two sisters noticed a big gap in the storytelling industry--reporters were rarely opening pitch emails, leaving many untold stories lost in the abyss of their inboxes.

The powerhouse women decided to team up and, instead of just recognize a problem, they came up with an innovative solution--a social media network for public relations professionals and reporters, connecting these story tellers to the story makers. And with that, Babbler was born.

Babbler is a social media network that allows public relations professionals to create profiles where they can upload newsworthy content, pitches, videos and more to their feed. Reporters can then search and sift through their own customizable feed of information, getting relevant story ideas, photos and the contact information of the press contact for the person or brand.

Reporters are able to tailor the content they see by location and subject matter as well as search for story idea by keyword.

“It was evident to me that there was a demand for a tool like Babbler because it’s the only PR tool on the market that really works to solve an issue that everyone complains about,”Oiknine said. “We saw an opportunity to provide a solution.”

Babbler combines search databases like Cision with the direct contact of email. Reporters can use the platform for free and can pick up story ideas, comment on posted content, ask press contacts follow up questions directly and download materials like photos any time of day or night.

“Through Babbler, reporters have direct access to high-res images, video and more,” said Oiknine. “They can also post requests for sources on specific topics. It’s a two-way interaction system.”

In addition to attracting reporters to the platform, Oiknine and Azan have tapped into the new class of news creators--social influencers.

For PR pro’s, they can still utilize the tool to reach reporters even if they aren’t on Babbler by uploading a contacts list and sending them information through the platform. And don’t worry about something getting in from of the wrong set of eyes. Babbler lets public relations teams dictate which pool of reporters will see each news item posted.

After finding success in France, Babbler launched in the U.S. last spring at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and since has continued to grow with the help of Techstar, a global company that helps entrepreneurs bring their new technologies to new communities. Now, the team is growing the Babbler brand and its user base across America.

“Our goal is to quickly get a critical mass of users and prove that this problem in the public relations industry is the same here as it is in France, and we’ve created a solution to that,” Oiknine said.