Written by Yuru Tang, input with Ron Stefanski
Nowadays, social media has become one of the most effective tools for PR professionals to connect with journalists, editors, and producers, which can significantly facilitate relationship building between PR experts and media. The following tips can help you to communicate with media professionals through social media platforms.
1. Engage with their posts
Follow the media account you are willing to work with and spend some time reading their posts. After fully understanding their content and style, you can start to engage with their new posts by sharing, commenting, and liking the content frequently. This is an effective approach to gain their attention and let them remember your name.
2. Mention relevant posts when contacting journalists
Nothing can make a journalist happier than knowing someone pays attention to the content they wrote. By showcasing your critical reviews to the posts, you are able to build unique relationships with the journalists. Also, you can offer relevant data to justify your thoughts to impress the journalists because most of them are very sensitive to data.
3. Seek for connection points
Another good way to attract journalists’ attention is to open your conversation by talking about something you have in common. You can look for this connection point from their blog posts and social media feed. For example, if they are launching a webinar soon, you can tell them that you will attend in time.
4. Talk naturally
Social media provides a platform where people always talk casually. It is acceptable to chat with the target journalists naturally through social media. However, you should avoid overly casual and inappropriate words which might irritate them. Before connecting, you would better observe how the journalists interact with other people to find the most proper style to start a conversation.
5. Choose the appropriate platforms
Research demonstrates Instagram and Facebook are seen as more private and so you should show respect to journalists’ personal lives and avoid connecting with them through these two platforms. On the other hand, Twitter and LinkedIn are considered the most welcomed tools to build relationships at work.
6. Use your personal account
To build solid relationships, you should first let people know you instead of an official brand or company. It is the same when connecting with journalists. Using an authentic personal account no matter you are emailing them or sending messages through social media can benefit you with establishing trusting relationships.
Headquartered in New York City, Bao Communications is a full-service bilingual PR Agency specializing in social media, media relations, content creation, and influencer marketing. We serve local, national, and global clients in the United States and China.
Headquartered in New York City, Bao Communications is a full-service bilingual PR Agency specializing in social media, media relations, content creation, and influencer marketing. We serve local, national, and global clients in the United States and China.