For years we have been working with clients helping them become recognised as experts in their field, by gaining them 3rd party endorsement via media coverage.
Have you ever wondered how people get quoted in articles? Do you imagine they are out schmoozing the journos, over cocktails and long lunches, think it’s pot luck or put it down to black magic?
Well in reality, most of those forces are not at play. We are the middle men and women that connect up journalists looking for expert comment with experts in their field who have something to say, but not always access to the channels through which they can be heard. As we continue to have success in this area (both for consumer and business press) it seemed the right time to pen something around this as it’s an untapped PR tool that many organisations are missing out on.
The image above is recent coverage in New! Magazine that sees our client, psychotherapist Samantha Carbon quoted. (https://samanthacarbontherapy.co.uk/)
Sam is most definitely an expert in her field and is keen to share her views, opinions and insights but only as part of our campaign activity has she recently become more media friendly. She was bursting with content and credibility, but how this was presented to the press needed a rejig and she needed more routes into target press and tricks of the trade to help get her in front of them. We now put her forward for media comment daily, and are excited about how her profiling is evolving.
How to get heard:
If you have an expert lurking within your organisation here are a few things to help you make the most of them:-
- Ensure they have a media friendly bio document and high res headshot, or even better their own personal website
- Encourage them to blog, to generate pieces on topical debates that provide the media with confidence that they are useful commentators
- Focus in an areas of specialism, so they really can be classed as experts in certain areas
- Identify the media they are most suited for by absorbing their content regularly
- Approach targeted media with media bio and previous examples of writing
- Engage with target media on twitter, sharing views and expertise that is helpful
There are a few more tricks of the trade that can also fast track your success and get you closer to the media looking for those comments, which is where we come in. Our ‘On the Lookout’ PR service is a very cost effective method that could help get you off the ground – https://www.chocolatepr.co.uk/pr-services/chocolate-pr-media-services/on_the_lookout_pr/index.html.
I’d love to help more experts within UK businesses get their voices heard.