The Smart Home Media Landscape: Key Targets and How to Get Reviewed
Peter Girard
Senior Vice President
If I were bringing a new smart home or IoT-enabled connectivity product to market in 2026 and wanted media coverage beyond a flash-in-the-pan launch announcement, I would focus on one thing first: earning credible hands-on reviews from the outlets and reviewers buyers actually trust.
The smart home market is crowded, and while plenty of brands manage to secure some coverage for their launch when they are announcing something new, far fewer make it to the stage where they have put product into the hands of the key voices reviewing those devices on a daily basis. The question becomes, who do you target and where do you start?
The “answer” in one paragraph
To earn smart home reviews, you need three things working together: (1) the right targets based on your go-to-market route, (2) a review pitch that matches what that outlet evaluates, and (3) a product experience that makes it easy for a reviewer to succeed, with setup, onboarding, reliability, and clear differentiation. If you miss any one of those, your product often gets skipped, even if it’s genuinely good.
Your go-to-market should shape your go-to-media
Evaluating your go-to-market strategy is an excellent way to help determine which media outlets you should target with a hands-on review of your product. If the new product is available directly to consumers, via Amazon or your own website, then consumer review outlets should be on your list.
If the new solution is available via distribution, or a solution provided by an installer network, consider key trade and integrator publications to help spread awareness. The primary audience of the publication matters, and in cases where you have a hybrid GTM approach, both channels should be considered.
Once brands understand the different audiences served by media type, the next step is understanding how they evaluate products.
Here’s a breakdown:
General / Top Tier Media – Such as Forbes or Fast Company, typically value the brand story with an emphasis on their relevancy within the current market. These types of outlets do not exist to review products solely and are often more interested in the bigger picture. That said, many of these outlets do have staff or rely on freelancers who submit dedicated product reviews on a regular basis.
Dedicated Review Outlets – Such as Wirecutter and PC Magazine, typically value product specifics and details. Upon review, these publications are evaluating aspects such as setup, features, reliability, and overall ecosystem fit. That said, many of these outlets draft overarching theme stories where they link to prior reviews as proof points.
Trade Media – These vary depending on the market served, but generally these outlets are interested in providing insights on the installation process, interoperability with other provided services and overall performance. If it matters to professionals interacting with your product, it matters to these publications.
Why products don’t get reviewed (even when they “should”)
The reasoning behind missed reviews can be multi-faceted, but common issues here include the product significantly lacking any differentiation, a weak or non-existent onboarding process, or a completely misaligned product pitch.
When pitching for a dedicated product review, you’re asking the press to spend a significant amount of time directly engaging with your product. Failure to inform them about key or differentiating features or what makes your product superior to the likely numerous competitors out there is a sure-fire way to have your product skipped over.
Most reviewers have a mountain of products that have been sent their way for evaluation, what they need most is why they should prioritize yours over all the others.
Why reviews matter more than ever in an AI-driven discovery environment
In a landscape that’s becoming more AI-driven, product reviews are working overtime as they influence buyers and shape how your brand shows up in AI-generated answers.
AI models are increasing their reliance on trusted, expert-centric content from established outlets. Earned media is more relevant, and powerful, than ever before.
This means the information contained within the product review published to CNET or Wirecutter for example isn’t just living on their website, it is now feeding the broader information ecosystem in a whole new way.
For brands who have a product in a category where consumers have a lot of choices, validation from expert 3rd party sources is now table stakes for AI visibility.
A simple targeting map
If you want a quick media targeting shortcut, think about it like this:
DTC / retail-heavy: consumer reviews, buying guides, mainstream tech
Installer / channel-heavy: integrator and trade publications
Platform / ecosystem play (Matter, multi-protocol, partnerships): outlets that cover ecosystem dynamics + reviewers who compare compatibility and reliability over time
The Caster Approach
At Caster, our agency has a rich history working with smart home, IoT, and other tech brands to deliver impactful, result-oriented review programs.
We understand the product review process and inform our clients on key aspects such as review timeline/duration and the importance of a reviewer’s guide. These practices help place product directly into the hands of the experts and publications consumers research when making a new purchase.
We work with clients to understand the ins and outs of their products and take the time to become the experts we need to be in order to properly pitch out products for hands-on evaluation.
Want to learn more? Have a product you want dedicated reviews on? Drop us a note here today.
