The cheapest coverage a company earns is the quote in somebody else's story. The journalist has the story and the editor wants it, and what's missing is an outside voice with a view. Reactive PR, or newsjacking, is supplying that voice fast enough to be used. Done well, it gets a spokesperson into the trade press every month for about an hour's work. When it goes wrong, you end up sending a stream of "we are not surprised" emails that nobody opens.
When to comment on a story
A story has a shape, and the shape decides whether your comment is wanted. Our news intelligence sorts stories into four stages.
Breaking. The story was first reported in the last 24 hours, by three or more outlets. The reporters on it are writing the facts from the source and aren't looking for your view yet, so read up and start a draft, but don't send it.
Building. Coverage in the last three days is running faster than before. The first pieces are out and the follow-ups are being commissioned, on what it means for customers and what happens next. Those pieces need outside voices, and the journalist writing one has until this afternoon, which is when a comment is most useful.
Peaked. It's still being written about, but no faster than before. The comment pieces exist and have their quotes, and anything you send now arrives after the conversation has moved on.
Fading. Nothing new has appeared in the last three days, and unless you have new information, the story's over.
Breaking
First 24 hours, three or more outlets
Building
More articles each day. Comment now.
Peaked
Still being written about, but less each day
Fading
Nothing new for three days
When newsjacking fails, it's usually because a perfectly good comment arrived at Peaked. The fix is a morning habit. Know by nine which stories in your sector are Building, and decide by half past which one gets a comment.
The comment
Keep it under 120 words. It has two jobs, and the first is to take a position, whether that's that the story is good or bad for someone, that it won't last, that the obvious reading is wrong or that everyone's quoting the wrong number. The second is to add something the journalist doesn't have, a number from your own data or what you've seen in the last six months. Somewhere in it, put one sentence of twelve words or fewer that could stand on its own in the piece, because that's the sentence that gets used.
Write it the way the spokesperson talks. A journalist can tell a quote written by a committee and won't use it. "We welcome this development and remain committed to" is deleted on sight; "Most of the companies this affects will not notice for a year" gets lifted.
Underneath, add one line on who the spokesperson is and why they're worth hearing on this, and say they're free for a call until four. It doesn't need anything else. The subject line should name the story and leave your company out of it.
Who to send a comment to
Send it to the journalists already on the story. Usually that means the five or six people who wrote the first pieces, and whoever at each title writes the analysis. Find them by reading the coverage. The bylines on the Breaking pieces are the people who will write the Building ones, or will pass your note to the colleague who is. Write to each by name with a line that shows you read their piece.
A comment sent to the news desk at twelve titles gets treated like a press release, and mostly ignored.
Go to the trade press before the nationals. The trade journalist on your beat is writing three follow-ups this week and knows your company; the national business desk gets more of these in a morning than it can open. If it's the national you need, the trade piece is the quickest way there, because national reporters read the trade press to find the voices.
Getting a comment approved quickly
Writing the comment is quick. Getting the spokesperson's sign-off is usually the slow step. Set it up before the story breaks. Agree which subjects they'll comment on and which they won't, and write down their standing position on each. Then agree that a reactive comment gets a yes, a no or an edit within the hour, by phone if it has to be. The executive who insists on seeing every quote the next morning has closed the window on your behalf, and should be told so once, politely.
Where the subject touches a customer, a regulator or a live deal, put the one person who can say no on a message thread with you, not an email chain.
What to avoid
Tragedies. Don't comment on anything where people were hurt unless you're directly involved and have something to say about the people. The brands that made a product point out of a disaster are remembered for it.
Anything that could embarrass you. A comment on a rival's data breach reads as gloating and will be quoted back when it's your turn. A comment on a regulator's fine invites the regulator to look at you. Before sending, ask who could use this quote against you in six months.
Stretching. If it takes a sentence to explain how the story connects to your company, it doesn't, and the journalist will remember who sent it.
Opinion without knowledge. "We are not surprised" isn't a view. If the spokesperson has nothing to add that the journalist couldn't get from anyone, don't send it, because a weak comment gets your next one ignored.
The checklist
- The story is Building, not Peaked.
- The comment is under 120 words, takes a position and carries a number.
- One line in it stands alone.
- It reads like the spokesperson speaking.
- It goes to the named journalists on the story, with a line each that shows you read them.
- It is approved and sent within the hour, while the journalist is still writing.
- It could not upset anyone affected by the story, or embarrass you if it were quoted later.
- There's a mobile number, with someone on the end of it until the end of the day.
Tools
The watching is the part software does well. Agentcy groups your sector's coverage into stories and marks each one Breaking, Building, Peaked or Fading; when a story is Building, its newsjack studio drafts the comment from your spokesperson's recorded positions and lists the journalists already writing about it, for the spokesperson to approve and you to send from your own mailbox. Core includes 30 drafts a month at $269/month.
Questions
How fast do I need to be?
A newsjack comment needs to go out the same day the story starts Building, and within the hour of the decision to comment. A story that is Breaking in the morning has its follow-up pieces being written by the afternoon, and the journalist writing one will take the first usable comment that arrives. A comment sent the next morning lands on a story that has Peaked, when the comment pieces already have their quotes. Speed depends mostly on sign-off, so agree the spokesperson's standing positions before any story breaks.
Is newsjacking the same as reactive PR?
Newsjacking and reactive PR are, in practice, the same work, and rapid response is a third name for it. Reactive PR is the wider term, because it also covers answering a journalist's request for a source, such as the requests for comment and case studies that an enquiry service like ResponseSource sends out. Newsjacking describes the specific act of attaching your comment to a story that's already running. Both depend on a spokesperson with a view and a sign-off fast enough to use it.
How often should we do it?
A B2B company in a busy sector usually finds two or three stories a month worth a comment, which is a sensible pace for newsjacking. The test for each story is whether your spokesperson has something to add that the journalist couldn't get from anyone else, such as a number from your own data. Comment on everything and journalists learn that you'll have an opinion on anything, so they stop asking for yours. A quiet month is fine, while a quarter with no comment at all lets a competitor become the name journalists call.
Should the spokesperson be the chief executive?
The chief executive should be the newsjacking spokesperson only if they know the subject and will approve a comment within the hour. The person who runs the relevant part of the business, such as the head of product on a story about a rival's launch, often makes the better quote and the quicker decision. The title needs to be senior enough to carry the view, and it doesn't have to be the most senior one you have. It helps to name a spokesperson for each subject you'll comment on, with a deputy for when they're away.
What if the journalist doesn't use it?
Most newsjack comments aren't used, and the practice still pays, because the one that lands costs no more to write than the four that didn't. Log who opened each email and who replied, so the next comment goes to the journalists who read yours. Keep the unused comments filed by subject, since a view that was right this month is often still right next quarter and the spokesperson has already approved it. If a journalist replies to say no, thank them in a line and move on.
Can we post the comment on LinkedIn instead?
Posting a newsjack comment on LinkedIn works best alongside the pitch to journalists. A post from the spokesperson the same day is a second use of the same approved words, and journalists do find quotes there. Send the email to the named journalists first, because the email is what puts the quote in front of the person writing the piece, and post once it's gone. Write the post for your own followers, with a line of context on the story, since they won't have read the coverage it responds to.
Try it on one brand, free
You can set up one brand in an afternoon and see what it finds. Paid plans are monthly, and you can stop whenever you like.