Media comment is an expert’s statement inserted into an article in a print or online publication. The quotation corresponds to the topic of the material and is most often accompanied by the regalia of an expert – the name, surname, position and name of the company he represents. 

Any appearance mentioned in the media affects the development and growth of the business. If you regularly publish comments in different media, a company or an expert will be able to achieve the following results:

• Brand awareness is increasing both among the target audience and in the market.
• The reputation of the company improves.
• Comments talk about a product or service.
• Mentions in the media affect the SEO of a company’s website.
• There are more applications and sales.

Experts who have never commented in the media have several logical questions:

• Why does a journalist need experts with their comments?
• Why do the editors “shine” someone in the media just like that?
• Is the opinion of non-eminent experts, that is, speakers who are not top managers in large companies, important to a journalist?

A journalist always needs interesting content that will attract readers. He craves stories, facts, research, figures. Experts provide him with such information in exchange for their name and company appearing on the page of a respected media outlet. Also, a journalist cannot understand all topics at once, and when preparing a material, he always seeks help from specialists who will answer his questions and explain what’s what. For example, if you are a photo consultant by profession, the journalist will be interested in How To Become A Photojournalist, what skills a specialist should have, how much time he should spend, how much salary he receives, etc.

Usually, experienced journalists already have a pool of trusted experts, but they can’t call on them all the time. Firstly, the faces will be repeated from article to article, and this is not good. Secondly, posting can be unpredictable, and sometimes a story needs the input of a small business owner, lawyer, psychologist, real estate photographer, pharmacist, fitness trainer, or anyone.

There is no point in trying to get into all the media or into “at least some” publications. Your comment in the media should be seen by representatives of the target audience. If the media are read by those who may be potentially interested in your services, then add the site to your database. After you decide on the publications, study them better – it is important to understand the format and style, to see what and how have already been published here on your topic, to what extent your comments can be interesting and useful to the media audience.

What are you going to talk about in the media? Highlight topics that are relevant to the company: just list what you are best at. These topics can be related to the product, and the industry, and business management in general. If you are a financier, in addition to general information, try to offer specific solutions, one of which may be financial reporting software  for small businesses because such solutions help with.

Next, divide key topics into narrow segments. For example, a holiday organization can write about events for children, and about parties for an adult audience, and about corporate events. But the target audience will be different in all three cases, which means that the media in which it is worth publishing will also be different. At the same time, no one forbids business owners to speak on personal topics. A business owner can be a race car driver and comment with a story about how a hobby saves him from burnout. Such mentions reveal the first face of the brand as a person – and this also affects the trust of potential customers.

So, the topics are clear, the list of target media has been drawn up, what to do next? Communicate with journalists. Establishing relationships with editors is a long and painstaking process. Experienced PR people do this throughout their professional career. The main thing is to start collecting your base of journalists, besides, now there are tools that greatly simplify the task. More professional communication is naturally carried out by e-mail. You can use the potential of email marketing in different communications.

What should be in a letter to a journalist:

• personalization – the editorial staff will immediately see that he received not a massive “spam”, but a letter addressed specifically to him;
• specific topics on which you are willing to comment. The clearer and more understandable they are, the better;
• figures, facts, references, evidence of expertise – explain why the journalist should cooperate with you.

Try to make the subject line as catchy as possible. It doesn’t mean putting 3 fire emojis or saying “You will be shocked if you open this email!!!”. You can take a significant fact from the biography of the company or speaker, which will potentially attract the attention of a journalist.

If the letter was sent a long time ago, and there is still no answer, try to remind yourself, and then move on. A journalist is not obliged to respond to everyone who writes to him. Perhaps the offer did not seem interesting, or you came to the wrong place.

Over time, you will collect your own database of journalists, and editorial staff will add you to their list of conscientious experts. The more contacts, the easier it will be to comment and get more mentions. However, remember that the database of journalists is a “live” tool. You can not create it once and use it all your life, the list must be updated regularly. Read the advice of experienced PR specialist Vera Trakhimovich on how to work with the database of journalists.

Final thoughts

If you give a good invoice to a journalist, are ready to promptly provide additional materials, and do not break deadlines, then there will be no problems. The journalist himself will contact you again and again, and you will receive hundreds of mentions in the media, increase your reputation, and recognition and follow the growth of sales.