Home Marketing & PR Using Reactive PR with Expert Commentary Using Reactive PR with Expert Commentary Reactive PR is an effective publicity strategy for brands. If you’ve been struggling to find a way to gain visibility and improve your reputation, then it could be as simple as reactive PR. Leveraging expert commentary as a way to react to trending topics could see you land pieces in huge publications, leading to gigantic backlinks and a bigger audience. I’ve learned lots about this topic and gained great experience in recent years, read on for more on what reactive PR is, how to combine it with expert commentary, the benefits, and its challenges. Contents1 What is Reactive PR?1.1 How to Combine Expert Commentary with Reactive PR2 Benefits of Reactive PR2.1 Visibility2.2 Brand Awareness2.3 Stream of Articles2.4 Narrative2.5 Backlinks2.6 SEO3 Get Reactive PR Done For You4 Reactive PR Strategies5 How to Find Trending Topics6 Who Should Use Reactive PR6.1 A Brand Looking for New Business6.2 Need for Brand Visibility6.3 Improving Brand Reputation7 Examples of Successful Reactive PR7.1 Burger King Advertise McDonalds7.2 Paddy Power Talk Loyalty with Rhodri Giggs8 Who is the Best Reactive PR Company?9 How to Land Reactive PR Articles9.1 Define the Type of Expert Needed9.2 Use the Internet to Gather Experts9.3 Prepare Questions9.4 Use Case Studies10 Challenges of Reactive PR10.1 Timeliness10.2 Relevance10.3 Competition10.4 Resource Allocation11 Frequently Asked Questions11.1 Why is Expert Commentary Important with Reactive PR?11.2 What are the Risks of Reactive PR?11.3 How to Measure Success of Reactive PR?12 Other Lead Generation Articles What is Reactive PR? Reactive Public Relations (PR) is a publicity stunt used by brands to react to trending topics and subsequently land big press opportunities. This is done by reacting to a story about your brand or inserting your brand into a current trending subject. There are various strategies and effective ways to do this, especially when combined with expert commentary. Reactive PR involves replying to news stories and getting in contact with a number of journalists. How to Combine Expert Commentary with Reactive PR Expert commentary is when a brand sources an expert to add to their story or topic. This allows you to confidently comment on or react to stories with expert insight. For example, a gardening company used their expertise during Mother’s Day (a trending topic) by using expert commentary to show people how to create the perfect Mother’s Day gift from flowers for the cost of 5p. Expert commentary is a great way to leverage and increase the likelihood of reaching publications; use this combined with reactive PR as a marketing tactic. Benefits of Reactive PR Reactive PR is a formidable marketing strategy for brands. Here are six benefits of using reactive PR: Visibility Gain brand visibility by using the best public relations methods, such as reactive PR. Your brand is seen by the relevant audience when using successful marketing campaigns, promoting your messaging, and increasing the chance of sales. Brand Awareness With brand visibility, comes brand awareness. By executing the correct messaging alongside your campaign, more customers will become aware of your brand and what it’s about. Reactive PR is a strategy that could get you seen in huge publications. Stream of Articles Reactive PR is about reacting to trending topics and is therefore picked up by the press, you will find a number of newspapers and media companies will pick up the same story, some even adding follow-on stories. This means you could show up in various stories for weeks, again adding to the awareness of your brand and making you visible in public. Narrative Reactive PR is used to cultivate the narrative around your business or company. It’s only fair that you get some say in your own brand. You can help contribute to the narrative by reacting to negative press via Reactive PR or by adding your brand to trending stories. Backlinks Getting articles and press means getting backlinks. Backlinks mean improved SEO for your website and more traffic to your company’s website. Each newspaper will link to your company when mentioning you in the story. Backlinks are important for SEO, making them not only great for marketing but also an impactful SEO campaign. SEO Reactive PR is a well-known SEO strategy, most agencies use it as a way to help brand’s land backlinks and essentially gain in the rankings. Gain backlinks and create a corpus or reputation around your company with PR strategies. This is also known as parasite SEO, helping you get people talking about your branding. Get Reactive PR Done For You Reactive PR is no easy feat and done wrong, it could negatively impact your brand’s reputation. With that said, it is an integral part of PR. You need to react and you need to do it promptly. If you’re seeking experts, you could get this free with our team at FatRank. Find out more with the button below, we do guaranteed ROI leads and marketing packages: Apply Today Reactive PR Strategies Some of the well-known strategies for reactive PR include the following: Surveys: You can conduct your own surveys, frame the findings in an interesting way, and present them to the media. Indexes: Indexes are great forms of information, allowing you to use this research or detail for the media to use. Maps: If you have created a map or have access to one, this could be a visual and interesting way for the news to use your story. Research: First-hand research is a strategy to get figures and anomalies in your industry and send them to journalists. How to Find Trending Topics There are various ways to react to trending topics. Here are seven methods to find topics to use reactive PR: Awareness Days: It’s important to keep an eye on upcoming awareness days, these will likely become trending topics. Social Media: Social media gives you an idea of what people are talking about and what’s being reported; Twitter is a good option for this. News Outlets: See what the media are reporting, if the topic is ongoing, and whether a follow-up is a possibility. Upcoming Days: If there’s Mother’s Day, Christmas, or a World Cup on the horizon, then you know there will be plenty of stories on these subjects, giving you an opportunity to get a story on these topics. Google: Google trends and search behaviour can be monitored, and these patterns can be used to scope out your next reactive PR. RSS: See what’s on the RSS feeds and what’s being syndicated across various media platforms and websites. Social Tools: Search tools such as Hootsuite and others help you keep an eye on the latest topics being picked up on. Who Should Use Reactive PR Anybody who wants brand visibility, backlinks or the chance of increased business should use Reactive PR, as long as it’s done right. A Brand Looking for New Business If you’re a company looking for new leads, then PR strategies are a great way to get customers on your website. Need for Brand Visibility Expand your brand’s visibility by getting in the news and across multiple platforms. This will get you seen and as well as improving awareness, you will reach a bigger audience. Improving Brand Reputation Use Reactive PR to build a good reputation and image for your brand. This can be done by showing your expertise and inserting yourself into topics as an expert. Examples of Successful Reactive PR If you’re unsure on what Reactive PR is, then you should check out the examples. Here are examples of companies using Reactive PR to their advantage. Burger King Advertise McDonalds McDonald’s were donating to charity in Argentina with ‘McHappy Day’. Giving money to children with cancer, rather than trying to counteract this, Burger King wanted to support the cause. In doing so, this offered Burger King a lot of publicity and improved their brand reputation. Burger King stopped selling their well-known Whopper and told customers to buy a Big Mac. Paddy Power Talk Loyalty with Rhodri Giggs A well-documented scandal about Ryan Giggs and his brother’s wife was constantly being circulated in the news. Paddy Power are known for their sarcasm and satire, they jumped on the opportunity to use Gigg’s brother, the victim of the affair, in their advertisement about loyalty. Rather than loyalty points, Paddy Power was offering rewards. The TV advertisement injected humour into a shocking situation, getting lots of press over an already reported situation. Who is the Best Reactive PR Company? The best agency at executing the Reactive PR strategy is Search Intelligence. Search Intelligence is run by Fery Kaszoni, a mastermind behind PR and marketing strategies. He has been known to share tactics on how to use expert commentary with PR. Search Intelligence have featured in big publications thousands of times, has 300 active clients and are known as a premium agency in the UK. How to Land Reactive PR Articles You can land your Reactive PR marketing in big newspapers and media companies with these four steps, finding the expert you need, reaching out, get your questions ready and add case studies: Define the Type of Expert Needed Identify the specific expert required for your story to ensure valuable contributions. Consider the topic and the most authoritative sources, such as nutritionists for healthy eating or psychologists for mental health. Expert profiles should be precise, matching the story’s needs. Localized topics demand local experts; universal themes can include international professionals. For niche topics, like oral hygiene, consider diverse perspectives from different specialties and regions. Use the Internet to Gather Experts Leverage online platforms like Response Source, Qwoted, and HARO to find relevant experts swiftly. These services connect you with professionals eager to contribute their insights. Avoid spamming; post clear, detailed requests specifying the article, client, topic, expert type, deadline, and target regions. Use hashtags like #JournoRequest and #PRRequest on Twitter for broader outreach. Prepare Questions Prepare specific questions to guide expert responses, ensuring relevance and depth. Craft questions based on the expert’s field and your story’s focus, refining them as you receive responses. This approach guarantees tailored, insightful commentary that enhances your article’s credibility and engagement. Use Case Studies Incorporate case studies to add real-world relevance and relatability. Tools mentioned earlier can also help find everyday individuals with pertinent experiences to share. Balancing expert insights with relatable case studies enriches your story, making it more compelling and newsworthy. Stay informed on current events to seize reactive PR opportunities, boosting your client’s visibility and influence. Challenges of Reactive PR Like any public relation strategy, it comes with its challenges. Here are some of the things that make Reactive PR difficult. Timeliness Reactive PR requires swift action to capitalize on current events, demanding rapid response and flexibility. Delays can result in missed opportunities and reduced impact. Staying vigilant and having a streamlined process for approval and dissemination is crucial to maintaining relevance and effectiveness in reactive PR campaigns. Relevance Ensuring the relevance of your response to the trending topic is critical. Misaligned or forced connections can backfire, damaging credibility and brand image. Careful analysis of the trending story and thoughtful integration of your message are essential to maintaining authenticity and audience trust. Competition Reactive PR is highly competitive, with many brands vying for attention in the same news cycle. Standing out requires creativity and unique insights. Differentiating your approach and leveraging unique angles or expert commentary can help your PR efforts rise above the noise and capture media interest. Resource Allocation Reactive PR demands significant resources, including time, personnel, and sometimes budget, to monitor trends and craft timely responses. Overcommitting to reactive efforts can strain these resources. Balancing reactive PR with planned strategies ensures sustained efforts without compromising overall PR objectives and resource management. Frequently Asked Questions Why is Expert Commentary Important with Reactive PR? Expert commentary adds credibility to reactive PR, enhancing the story’s authority and trustworthiness. Including expert insights helps provide depth and context, making the content more informative and engaging. Expert voices can differentiate your piece, attracting more media attention and increasing audience trust. What are the Risks of Reactive PR? Reactive PR can lead to misalignment with the brand if not carefully managed, risking credibility. The fast-paced nature of reactive PR can result in hasty decisions, increasing the chance of errors and backlash. Overreliance on reactive strategies can strain resources, potentially neglecting planned PR activities. How to Measure Success of Reactive PR? Success in reactive PR can be measured by media coverage volume, indicating the reach and impact of the campaign. Engagement metrics, such as social media interactions and website traffic, reflect audience interest and response. Analysing sentiment and feedback provides insights into public perception and the campaign’s overall effectiveness. Other Lead Generation Articles Best Digital Marketers in the WorldContent MarketingCrisis ManagementEvent PRInfluencer OutreachLink Building CampaignsProduct PRThought LeadershipUsing Reactive PR with Expert CommentaryWhat is Newsjacking & Why It's Important