Twitter: PR's Little Helper

Social media continues to grow and weave its way into people’s daily lives.  Specifically, I am talking about Twitter.  It is no longer a place where celebrities and athletes update their fans with what they are wearing that day or how good their gourmet salad was for lunch.  Businesses have adopted the social media site as a way of integrating their advertising campaigns into people’s social lives.  It is everywhere and hard to avoid noticing. Nearly every advertisement these days wears the stamp “Follow us on Twitter” at the bottom of the ad.  Posts are limited to 140 characters each; it’s not the size of the post, but the size of the audience the post reaches that matters.

While advertisers have taken the reins using Twitter to spread their ad campaigns, organizations can greatly benefit from using it to promote news, events, or anything they need to make public.  Websites like TinyURL.com and bit.ly will help cut your URL link to fewer characters, so your remaining post can really draw attention to what the link is for.  Bit.ly goes a bit (no pun intended) further with their free membership, giving analytics tracking of how many people clicked on your shortened link. It is so easy to write a quick title for a link to your feature article or press release and post it for your followers to view.  Having a catchy post is extremely important, because if the reader doesn’t know what it is for, they will probably skip right over it.  Using #hashtags and tweeting at other users (done by using the @ sign in conjunction with a user’s Twitter handle) can also make your post pop, attracting followers to the link provided.  Not only does the use of #hashtags and tweeting at people draw attention to your post, it can also expand your influence, increasing the size of the audience that sees your post.  

A substantial number of journalists and bloggers use Twitter these days, so connecting with them and making new contacts for future stories could expand your company’s reach even more.  Start following reporters you’re  interested in, retweet something they posted if it’s relevant to your area of business, and send them a private message if you have an appropriate pitch for them.   As with pitches in any medium, show interest in a reporter’s recent stories and do your research to ensure you’re targeting the correct person for the pitch in question.  My junior industry status has taught me to really do my research on reporters and their stories because it could mean the difference between making a new contact or sounding inexperienced and being discarded for wasting the reporter’s time with material that is irrelevant to them.

It is also important to keep a constant flow of news and updates going to your feed.  Social media like Twitter has a large mobile user base that has access to their news feed at all times, so it is important for your followers to see you posting regularly.  Posting a news story only every few weeks will drop your presence to the very bottom of your followers’ feeds, and they may forget you are there.  Having said that, quality is better than quantity, so make sure all posts are high quality and you’re not tweeting just to tweet.

Connecting with reporters on Twitter is a great forum for pitching your stories, but I also want to stress how important your following can be.  Anyone can have a Twitter account and have great compelling content being posted to it on a regular basis.  The key factor to a successful social media campaign is your following.  Who is viewing your content?  The content may be great, but without the proper following, that compelling content could mean nothing.  There are several ways to increase and improve your following on Twitter.  One method is to #hashtag and tweet at as many relevant contacts as possible – focus on those who have a larger following, in order for your tweets to end up on other people’s (their follower’s) feeds.  If these people like your tweet, then hopefully they will start following you too. 

Adding #hashtag key words can also increase your search engine optimization (SEO).  Another way of increasing your SEO is to link all of your social network posts together so they appear on every social network site you use.  With the same posts, key words, and links appearing on several different networks, search engines will have more than one place to link people to.  

In short, Twitter is everywhere and it is here to stay.  If you are using it already, great --keep expanding your following and releasing quality content.  If you are not using Twitter, don’t be afraid to start.  It is easy to set up and will prove to be a valuable part of your communications toolkit. I’d love to hear additional Twitter tips from other communications professionals – you can reach me at Thomas@adviceunlimited.net.  And you can follow me on twitter at @adviceunlim.

Press Releases vs. Blogs

Anyone who has worked in the Public Relations industry knows the importance of press releases.  They have been the traditional method of providing information from a business to various media publications for years.  However, advances in technology have created many new ways that people get information, and the news cycle has evolved from weeks or months to days or minutes. Blogs and Social Media sites have greatly expanded where information is found, how many people obtain it and how quickly the information is spread.  Could the process of writing and submitting press releases to publications become obsolete?  Why not skip the submission and post the information through your own blog?  While I love the ease of use that comes with blogs, press releases serve as a vital part of your communications toolkit that should not be overlooked or discarded.

Blogs are great for releasing company news, discussing industry issues, and expanding the reach of your business.  One of the advantages of writing a blog is that it can bring more traffic to your company website.  Publishing new literature to your website and social media on a regular basis allows for the opportunity for new traffic to flow into your website.  Once visitors are there to read the blog, they can browse your site to see what your company is all about and hopefully they will inquire about using your services.  Having a company blog on your website and social media can help improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).    The increase in traffic to your website will hopefully increase your number of new customers.  Your blog will also keep current customers interested and engaged in your company.

 

Blogs allow you to be the writer and the editor so you have more freedom to discuss what you want and at what angle.  They are very convenient in that you can write it up, edit it and post it all in the same day.  Because you post your blog, it’s easier to link related materials such as articles, pictures and videos to your message.  This helps you stay current which is very important since mobile technology keeps everyone instantly updated on any issue.  

Being a young social media specialist, my idea of spreading news is to post it instantly over several media channels, so sometimes I don’t see the advantages of having to submit press releases, as it can take a much longer time to see results.  It is fun being young in the Public Relations industry and bringing new ideas to the company conference room, but my junior industry experience has taught me that while speed is great, it is not always the most important aspect of public relations.  Sure, I could write a release and post it instantly to my Facebook, Twitter, blog page, etc. but if those media channels are lacking the proper audience, the speed of release won’t mean a thing because it’s not going to reach the right audience. 

Press releases can be more time consuming, but when sent to the right publications they can reach a much larger audience.   And you still have the online advantage: these publications will most often publish the release on their website which you can simply link to your website and social media feeds.  Third party credibility is also important – because a trusted publication picks up the release, or writes about the information included in the press release, it’s a more credible story. It’s not just you writing about your firm’s news; an editor is saying this news is important.  And if you post the release to a wire service, your pickup will be significant, boosting Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and reaching an even broader audience, well beyond what your blog and social media tools will reach. Press releases are still a valuable part of a company’s public relations toolkit and an important way to expand a company’s audience.

Bottom line:  I’ve learned that both types of communication tools should be used for any comprehensive public relations effort.  By choosing just blog posts or just press releases as your channel of releasing company news, you are missing out on important audiences.  In my opinion, the best public relations strategy would be to use all available resources and media channels to publish and release news.  I’ve learned that you always need to keep your targeted audience in mind – this will help you to determine where, when and how you should distribute your news. I’d love to hear any feedback from other communications professionals on the topic of Blogs vs. Press Releases – you can reach me at Thomas@adviceunlimited.net.