--- title: "Betches | Muck Rack" description: "How Betches uses Muck Rack to raise its global brand profile" source: "https://muckrack.com/resources/case-studies/betches" last_updated: "2026-04-01T12:41:58.447574" --- # Betches How Betches uses Muck Rack to raise its global brand profile ## Last updated April 01, 2026 ## Learn how Betches, a media and entertainment brand, uses Muck Rack to: * Find media contacts around the world and build relationships * Prove the value of PR as the first in-house PR hire at the company ## Betches [Betches Media](http://www.betches.com/) is the most powerful humor and culture platform for women on the internet, offering audiences a range of cutting-edge and relevant content across web, social, podcasts, and events. The multi-media entertainment and lifestyle brand was founded in 2011 by lifelong friends Aleen Dreksler (Chief Executive Officer), Sami Sage (Chief Brand Officer), and Jordana Abraham (Chief Innovation Officer) during their senior year at Cornell University, and is one of the earliest digitally native media and entertainment companies founded and led by women. Today, Betches has a reach of 250M+ across all platforms connecting with fans across every touchpoint. In 2024, Betches Media was acquired by LBG Media, the owner of the global leader in youth publishing [LADbible Group](https://www.ladbiblegroup.com/about-us/). Michelle Ciciyasvili, senior director of communications at Betches, says: > I’ve spent almost my entire career with Muck Rack, and I still rely on it daily. I can do my job better and faster with Muck Rack, and we see more results from outreach. > — **Michelle Ciciyasvili, senior director of communications at Betches** ## **Before Muck Rack: Using Excel — not even Google Sheets** I started my career in 2012 at the History Channel as a publicity assistant. At that point, I was sending DVDs to reporters to review as well as physical media and press kits. For a media database, we used Cision, which was never reliable. I learned that the hard way when I made my first media list, and I received feedback from my boss that it wasn’t tailored enough . You couldn’t just plug some information into Cision, get a list and blast it out. You had to comb through the lists to ensure the right people from the right outlets were on it. For media lists, we kept them in Excel—this was before Google Drive was the standard. Maintaining media lists was just always an ongoing, never ending process that took up a large chunk of time. Around 2015, I remember members of the Muck Rack team came to the office and walked us through the software and its capabilities. I remember that what stood out to me the most was how the media list automatically updated a contact’s job title when they moved publications. ## **With Muck Rack: “Muck Rack makes me better at my job”** When I started doing research and creating media lists through Muck Rack instead of Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and Cision, I just found it to be so user friendly. I was still green in my career, so Muck Rack really helped me understand the craft. My next job was at Bravo and Oxygen as a Communications Associate, where we also used Muck Rack. I was there when Oxygen was rebranding to a true crime network, so I really relied on Muck Rack to build true crime media lists from scratch. From there, I moved on from television and transitioned into a different industry at Authentic Brands Group, where I oversaw PR for the entertainment and media portfolio. We didn’t have Muck Rack, so I fought for it. I knew how much I really needed it, and was really happy to help onboard the team once we finally got it. ### Making the case for Muck Rack Then, I joined Betches, my dream job, in 2023. They didn’t have an in-house PR team until they hired me, so naturally, they didn’t have Muck Rack (or any PRM tools.) I made a case for why we needed it. I put together a really detailed brief for leadership breaking down the business need, explaining why PR software is necessary and what separates Muck Rack from other PR software out there. I educated them about how Muck Rack is more than a media database, and that spreadsheets are inadequate for today's constantly changing environment. Basically, the TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) was that I can do my job better and faster with this tool, and we will see more results, which has proven to be true. ### Finding contacts around the world and building relationships Most people who aren’t in PR don’t realize that, just because you have contacts, doesn't mean they’re going to stay at the same place forever. Or how fast turnover happens. Spreadsheets are just inadequate for today’s changing environment, and as a one person team maintaininng that many separate lists on google sheets impacts the amount of time I can be spending pitching stories. At Betches, a big part of my strategy is to find the right reporters to work with and conduct competitor research. I’ve made a lot of connections with reporters based on my Muck Rack searches and seeing who’s interviewing our competition. As for media lists, I keep a big master list in Muck Rack of almost 1,000 contacts, and then I cull it down depending on the announcement. I also have a bunch of other smaller media lists, like a business list, a podcast list, talent booker list and launch specific lists. I always create a new list when I’m developing a new pitch and start by pulling from my master. Since our recent acquisition by the U.K.-based company LBG Media Group in October 2023, I also rely on Muck Rack to access global reporters and global publications that I’m not yet familiar with. A big media win for us in 2023 was in the New York Times. We executive produced Jared Fried’s “37 & Single” comedy special, and I was able to secure a review in the Times, which was a very overall positive review. I used Muck Rack to connect with the comedy critic there. > Instead of spending hours on Google and Twitter stalking people for email addresses, you have that time to actually go out and pitch and potentially get press. > — **Michelle Ciciyasvili, senior director of communications at Betches** ### **Proving the value of PR** At Betches, I put together monthly and quarterly coverage reports using Muck Rack. The amount of time it saves me versus using Google Sheets is really helpful, plus I have access to metrics. I have saved keywords, like “Betches,” “Betches Media” or our sub-brands, and then I can pick and choose relevant links to add to my coverage report. Within these saved searches, I’m also able to save filters, so I can easily filter out hits that might just include “Betches” in a freelancer’s byline. Instead, I can ensure my keywords are actually in the articles and/or headlines. That means I don’t have to start from scratch each time I’m putting together a coverage report. When Betches got acquired, our leadership was really grateful that I was able to quickly track all the coverage on that announcement through Muck Rack’s search function. It’s simply better than Google and always picks up a lot more stories. Plus, it was a big European story, so it got picked up by a lot of international outlets that Muck Rack had in its database. ## **Fast questions with Michelle** ### **1. What would your job be like if you didn’t have Muck Rack?** It would be a lot harder and take a lot more time. I think I would just see far less results, far less reach, far less data that can really show the impact of public relations. It would be a much more stressful career in this media landscape without this tool. ### **2. What would you tell other companies considering using Muck Rack?** There’s a reason why Muck Rack is the industry standard PRM tool. As we know, PR is never one size fits all and Muck Rack makes it possible for publicists to target the right press for the story they are looking to tell. ### **5. How would you describe your experience with Muck Rack in three words?** Publicist’s Best Friend