Hello, dear reader!
I have over 7 years of experience in communications and PR and a large number of successful interviews with top speakers and companies, as well as with very narrow-profile specialists, even when it’s sometimes hard to understand the content the person is describing myself.
In my opinion, beginners in PR cannot always correctly identify the stages of planning and organising an interview. And novice businessmen do not understand the value of this tool. That's why I would like to share my tips on how to organise successful media interviews. This topic is relevant for brands and experts who want to effectively communicate their messages to the target audience.
I represent the communication agency M&P Communications. For 15 years of work in the Ukrainian market, we have managed to build a systematic approach to organising interviews for top managers of international companies such as Microsoft, GlobalLogic, Rakuten Viber and others. Since we live at the crossroads of generations, the agency's experience allows us to combine the previous ‘old but golden’ methods and new approaches. What always remains the same is the measurable and understandable result of our work.

Strategic approach to organising interviews

You have a task or goal to tell a story to a target audience. For example, potential customers, other professionals, or the entire industry. You start looking at the options available and decide on an interview format. Where do you start?
The first and key step is to choose a topic that will be interesting and relevant to the readers of a particular publication. For example, at the agency, we start by analysing the media field, studying audience interests and current trends. If you represent a brand in the financial sector, you should start by analysing current economic trends, assessing readers' needs and the formats of presentation in the target media.
The next step is to determine the approach that will be most interesting to the editorial team. For example, when planning our media interviews, we consider the possibility of presenting the material in different formats, whether it is an exclusive interview, an expert commentary or an analytical article.
Perhaps the most important thing! Don't forget to ask the journalist (or blogger) about their expectations for the interview. Ask clarifying questions to understand what points will be most interesting to readers.

Systematic interview preparation

I suggest using a proven algorithm for preparing for an interview:
1. Preparation work:● View the media field related to your topic. And the English-language one too. There may be a goldmine of ideas and topics there.● Ponder the interests of your target audience.● See what your competitors are writing. Perhaps everything has already been said before you.● Determine the best time for the interview.Along with preparatory work, we can also help the journalist. It's important to understand that publishers also have a schedule and you have to work out the organisational details:
2. Media relations:● Choose the best format depending on your workload, speaker's training or expertise in the topic at hand. Again, the most common formats are: interview, an expert column, a commentary.● Pitch: write to the journalist why the speaker is cool and why an interview with them would be interesting for the media.● Agree on the format of the interview. Basically, we have three options: a personal meeting, an online conversation, or preparing answers in a text format. ● Be sure to ask them to prepare preliminary questions. Why this is necessary I will describe in the next section.● If necessary and agreed upon, it is important to discuss the organisation of photo or video shooting.After evaluating and analysing the information from the first stage, we can move on to the next:
3. Speaker preparation:● Prepare a cheat sheet for the speaker based on the company's figures and statistics. The speaker is not obliged to remember them or know everything by heart, so our help is very important. The media loves facts and figures.● Prepare documents with answers to actual and potential questions (you will hear the term Q&A in communications often).● Organise and conduct media training to get rid of anxiety and practice uncomfortable questions (with experienced speakers, this step can be skipped).

Examples of successful interviews

To see how successful interviews look, I will provide examples of several materials from the same speaker. I suggest looking not so much at the text as at the sequence of the topic, the use of facts and figures to support what is said and confirm the expertise. I would like to point out that the media audiences from the examples are completely different. That's why it's important to choose the right approach to deliver the company's key messages and do all the preliminary work.
The first example is a very recent interview with GlobalLogic for DOU. We were able to combine the request of the editorial board with the speaker's expertise and accurately answer questions for a specific target audience of technical specialists.
Another example is an interview for Ekonomichna Pravda. Here, the same speaker shares the expertise of a technology company for a different kind of reader. All thanks to careful preparation and the right choice of topic for the media.

How to avoid common mistakes

I would also like to help you avoid common mistakes and advise you on what to do to make the interview go smoothly and productively for everyone:1.Insufficient speaker preparationSolution: Don't neglect the briefing and pre-preparation.2. Media rejecting your speakerSolution: Analyse the media more thoroughly and adapt the content to their needs.3. The speaker did not mention important figures during the communication.Solution: Figure out an arrangement with the journalist of the possibility of providing the data after the interview.4. The publication distorted or misunderstood everythingSolution: Agree with the journalist on reviewing the text before publication.

Performance measurement

Like in other industries, it is important for us to evaluate the results of our work. At our agency, we use a comprehensive approach to evaluating results.Quantitative metrics:● Publication reach.● Audience engagement.● Number of key messages communicated.● Number of reprints.Qualitative metrics:● Accuracy of key messages.● The tone of the publication.● Citation quality.

Conclusion

Based on my experience, I can say that a successful interview consists of three parts: careful preparation, a clear understanding of the target audience, and a correct assessment of the results. Don't forget to keep in touch with the journalist after the interview, promptly provide additional materials and track the publication. Remember that every interview is an opportunity to strengthen your brand's position and your company's expert status.
Good luck with your interviews!