One of the most PR-friendly organisations I ever worked with specialised in the field of personal injury law and was headed up by an incredible woman – you know who you are – who totally embraced the technique of hopping onto a news story, calling the journalist, and giving her view.

It helped that what she did for a living was rooted in hard news – life-changing personal injury stories – but she was bold and organised, checking for stories she could comment on every day – and never afraid to come up with a pithy soundbite or two.

She grew her business with this approach to self-promotion and when I worked with her – as part of a bigger, post-merger legal setup, she had all the skills and the contacts gto deliver a fantastic PR campaign which worked really well.

Today people are doing this every day on their social media channels – and hats off to you – building credible communities around good, interesting content, that enhances reputation and profile.

But engaging with media is still key to moving the dial on your profile – because it comes through the filter of a journalist who is trusted by your audience. That is worth going after. It’s fundamental to all PR media relations programmes – the precious, independent endorsement of your message by positive influencers – not just you saying it.

So if you have a confident publisher of social content in your organisation let’s have them spreading their opinionated wings and talking to media as well. Here’s how.

Newsjacking: strong reactions focusing attention

Quick-fire comment on a topical news story is called newsjacking – hi-jacking an opportunity to say something relevant. Journalists like it – because they can get strong, useful reactions from experienced people in the space quickly. Helps them do their job. Clients like it because it focuses attention on their skills in just the right context.

But it’s not for the faint-hearted in an agency or on the client side – you have to be ‘on it’ as a team. Here are six things to think about:

● You have to be timely in your response (and have a client who can do that). Sounds obvious, but it is critical to be able to act fast to make the most of the news while it is still top of mind and generating interest. Don’t forget that journalists are happy to update stories already published online a day or two later with a decent comment or two

● Your response needs to add value. It is not a sales opportunity. Look for ways to make the comment meaningful and not just a blatant plug for a solution. Identify with the issue and why you care about it

● Try and offer a different perspective on the topic. If all the competition is already in there, where could you take the chat next? Being original and thought-provoking will get a journalist’s attention

● Be authentic. This is where we live as PR people, helping real people with something interesting to say to get their voices heard.

● Monitor for topics and channels – newsjacking does need someone to react so set up alerts to help you see the story early. This might be a simple Google alert or receiving daily newsletters from a key media channel, but be alive to the opportunities and prepared to drop something to pick it up. The client must be on the same page with this! We have Teams or other platforms set up with groups of people around it who can react quickly to an opportunity.

● Flag availability with journalists in advance of a particularly significant event in the market or a regulatory change where news coverage is expected. This is where you need to sell your client hard – why should he/she be included? Most journalists will look for commentary from a range of people – in fact they look for contributors – it’s better reporting.

Finally go for topics where you are really strong and where there is less competition. Keep it pegged to the thing you want to be most famous for – and throw in a couple of unexpected commentaries as well to keep it interesting.

I love the fact that Google chooses to mark the most random anniversaries – which of course supports its super extensive search messaging – and flags the unflagged. Heartland for PRs.