The Many PR Uses and Benefits of Twitter

 

Twitter is a favorite social media channel of many professionals and businesses. All sizes of companies as well as individuals actively participate on the social media network to promote their products and services, connect to like-minded colleagues, and monitor industry news. [CyberAlert does too; follow us @CyberAlert for tweets on our blog posts and other worthwhile PR and marketing content.]

Twitter’s unique characteristics are particularly advantageous to meet PR goals: engage with journalists, promote clients, connect with prospects, stay informed about current news, and get quick access to the writings and insights of leaders in the profession.

Twitter as a Media Relations Tools

Anna Pedersen of digital marketing agency aimClear outlines how PR pros can use Twitter for media relations.

Find and follow journalists. Journalists like the network because of its timeliness and brevity. Many use Twitter to find, research and report stories on their beats – especially business, technology, entertainment and local stories. You can find reporters by visiting their publication’s websites or by accessing online databases offered by Muck Rack or others.

Follow and learn. Before you start firing off tweets, follow journalists to learn how they use Twitter. Some are active; others are not. Some regularly communicate with PR pros through the network; others only Tweet links to their stories. By following first, you’ll learn if email or the telephone might be better ways to engage a specific journalist.

Engage. Instead of immediately pitching to them, first try a nonpromotional interaction. For instance, first retweet a few of their posts. Then answer questions or share interesting links.

Twitter is also a superb tool for staying abreast of breaking news. Some have called Twitter today’s biggest newsroom. PR pros who monitor Twitter on topics of business interest can jump into conversations and contribute their expertise. Social media monitoring tools create alerts for keywords or hashtags relevant to your industry.

Twitter is also well-suited for following PR-related news and trends, and for learning about new PR practices and strategies. Following leading PR professionals and agencies, and local and national associations, such a @PRSA, as well as media organizations like @AP can help you stay up-to-date on PR developments. Including PR-related hashtags like #crisispr or #pradvice when tweeting about the industry and in your monitoring helps identify the most relevant content.

More Twitter Tips for PR

Deborah Weinstein of the PR agency Strategic Objectives offers more Twitter tips for PR pros, including:

Use Twitter lists. Create and/or follow Twitter lists, or “Twitlists,” to help organize users by industry or other categories. The lists help organize groups without having to follow lists members in your main stream. Lists can become customized focus groups on new trends, news, and advice. You can also follow lists created by others.

Recruit talent. Twitter is a superb tool for recruiting employees, as well as exploring your own opportunities. It’s ideal for finding PR agency employees since it attracts communicators who are adept at engaging on social media.

Promote client news. Tweet or retweet positive media coverage about your company or your clients. Show journalists appreciation by including a byline/@mention credit for their article or blog post.

Bottom Line: Like the multifunction jackknife, Twitter offers many tools that public relations professionals need – and many benefits if used effectively and consistently.