It may not be a new concept to pitch reporters via Twitter, but our office does a jump Hi-5 when that tweet turns into a news story without a press release anywhere insight. Traditional media relations as we used to know it, has drastically changed over the past two years, thanks to social media services like Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out (HARO), and communication tools such as Twitter.
We are constantly monitoring the social media ecosystem for opportunities for our clients. To prove yet another power of Twitter and listening, here’s an example of how we recently used it as a public relations resource:
Sunday, June 27:
6:47PM Local ABC 15 reporter, Tim Vetscher sent a tweet seeking a source for his Foursquare story
7:05PM I sent a tweet in response to @Tim_Vetscher tweet
7:40PM Email sent to Tim Vetscher
Wednesday, June 30:
12:45PM TV segment shot with Amy who shared case studies
6:15PM Segment aired on ABC 15
Talk about a time-saver for everyone involved. The days of spending hours to draft a pitch or press release are limited. Now we’re drafting 140 character “pitch” tweets and DMs. More and more reporters have turned to Twitter and social media for a resource to gather information and sources for the stories they are writing. Twitter may be a powerful listening tool for consumers and potential customers, but lets not forget about the folks that are writing or producing stories about our brands.
So, shouldn’t we be listening closely for these golden opportunities? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see a tweet from a reporter or a blogger looking for a source or information for a story they are working on and if you aren’t listening, it’s likely your competitors are. Most media outlets have directories which allow us to easily identify who to silently stwalk.
Coming from a public relations background, I can appreciate how difficult it is to get a response from a reporter on an email pitch, let alone a phone call. So I am rejoiced to have another form of communication, and due to the nature of social media, we have the ability to communicate (in a more personable environment) with everyone and anyone we chose to, including @The_Real_Shaq or even @KingJames!
To watch how Amy’s interview with ABC 15 played out, visit: http://bit.ly/a8FHUC
On the flip side, brands also have the ability to announce breaking news via these new communication methods. For example, Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com CEO, announced the Zappos/Amazon marriage with a tweet linking to this open letter: http://blogs.zappos.com/ceoletter. This gives companies the ability to control the message and content, before it hits mainstream media.
