“We haven’t got anything to announce.”
It’s a familiar reason for putting media relations on hold. There’s no launch, new contract or milestone, so the business assumes it has nothing worth sharing.
However, your team may be answering questions every day that a journalist’s readers are asking too. Why is a technology proving difficult to adopt? What helps a school introduce coding meaningfully? What do customers misunderstand about maintaining equipment?
That knowledge can be useful even when your company has no news.
Start with what you know
In our earlier post on what turns a business update into a PR story, we explored why an announcement needs relevance beyond the business itself. The same principle applies to expertise. Start with what your audience needs to understand.
Cision’s 2026 State of the Media findings identify expert access, credible data and relevant ideas among the things journalists value. Yet 72% of respondents said fewer than a quarter of the pitches they receive are relevant. This is global research, rather than a GCC-specific finding, but the practical lesson is clear: expertise needs to fit the story.
Explain a problem you understand
Consider a technology distributor helping businesses introduce new systems.
“Our solution makes adoption easier” is a sales message.
Explaining why implementation stalls, perhaps because staff training starts too late or nobody owns the handover, gives a journalist something useful to explore.
The same approach works across sectors. An engineering business could explain a maintenance shortcut that creates bigger problems later. A music educator could discuss what parents should consider when a child wants to learn an instrument. A textured-hair specialist could explain why a routine needs to suit the person’s hair.
Each offers knowledge that helps someone make a better decision.
Be clear about the limits of that experience. What you’ve observed among your customers doesn’t automatically establish a UAE or GCC-wide trend. Use figures only when you can explain where they came from, and obtain permission before identifying a customer.
Choose the person closest to the work
The founder doesn’t have to answer everything.
A service manager may understand recurring equipment problems better. An educator may be best placed to explain classroom challenges. A specialist who trains salon teams may offer a clearer practical perspective than someone working mainly on commercial strategy.
Choose someone who can explain the issue clearly, give a concrete example and recognise where their knowledge ends.
Expert commentary should help people understand a subject. Reacting to a headline outside your expertise, or making predictions without evidence, can weaken the credibility you’re trying to build.
Make the offer specific
Before contacting a journalist, read their recent work. Does your knowledge fit the subject they cover and the people they write for?
A short offer could say:
“If you’re looking at technology adoption among SMEs, our service manager can explain three implementation problems we encounter with customers, including where training and handovers tend to break down.”
That gives the journalist a clear subject and reason to speak to you.
Agree availability and approvals first. The person needs to be reachable within the journalist’s deadline. Be clear about any commercial interest they have in the topic.
Try this with your team
Identify three questions your customers keep asking. Choose the person best placed to answer each, then prepare a short explanation with one concrete example.
You now have a starting point for relevant media conversations between announcements.
Your business can contribute to a story without being its subject. Helping people understand something useful is a good reason to be part of the conversation.
