Social Media Tips and Tricks
Episode #4 of the course How to get press for your business by Lucy Werner
Hello!
We’ve done great research and built a master media list, but hold it there, sailor! There are other great ways to find journalists besides sifting through print. Today, I’m going to start by telling you why you need to be on Twitter as an essential part of your press office.
Why Twitter Is Your New Best Media Friend
Above and beyond any other social media platform, this is a free resource that can help you so much with understanding journalists.
Search the hashtag, #journorequest, select “latest,” and you will see a steady stream of journalists looking for spokespeople, case studies, or businesses for interview. In the past day as of this writing, I have pitched for a national newspaper and a major radio show and found two journalists who are relevant to a specific story I’m working on.
Sometimes, there may even be a case study request that is not 100% relevant but could boost your profile. For example, I contributed to an article in The Guardian on how to run a business and have a baby. If you now google my name, Lucy Werner, this is one of the first articles that appears. Although not directly related to my business, it was a great relationship builder with that journalist and helped raise my own personal brand.
So, let’s say you spot a journorequest that is 100% relevant for you. Now you need to give the journalist the information about you to make them interested in your story. All too often, I see a request that says, “DM or email me with your examples,” and then someone responds by saying “Hi XX, my business XX is perfect for this, here is my email.” If they are using journorequest, chances are that they are too busy to look for an answer—they are not going to email everyone who responds. They just don’t have time. But if you send a tailored email or message to them, directly matching what they are looking for, you could be on to something.
Points to Consider with Instagram
I get this asked a lot: If you run a business-to-business brand, should you be on Instagram? Well, it’s up to you; you don’t need it for your press office, but I’m increasingly seeing many interesting B2B brands on Instagram. Take FedEx as an example. They are a business-to-business service but have one of the most innovative and beautiful Instagram feeds for essentially a courier business.
So, don’t let the type of business you own restrict your creativity—there is still big magic in every business. Instagram is a great way to tell your brand story and personality. Many people like to see something visually beautiful or behind the scenes. Although fantastic photography can help, you can create a picture story just using your smartphone.
Equally, partnering up with another similar business to run a competition can be great for audience awareness. A simple “tag a friend, like, and follow” run simultaneously on all the accounts involved can help expand the reach of your brand to a new but similar audience.
There are so many platforms—e.g., Snapchat, Facebook, LinkedIn, and new player Vero. Going back to your checklist, where does most of your audience sit? And most importantly, this is your business and you have to do this every day, so where do you want to be? I repeatedly say that one size fits no one, so you should focus on the one that works for you.
Still with me? Fantastic. You now have a bit of a PR strategy, you’ve identified some slots, and you might be starting to think about what to say to a journalist. Tomorrow, we’ll begin with some no-noes and watch-outs to look for before you send that all-important email.
Recommended book
The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki, Peg Fitzpatrick
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