BuzzStream

Quick follow-up on the last post about Twitter. Last week, RedWriteWeb published some good tips about pitching them, including one related to Twitter. Marshall wrote:

“Sending a Direct Message from Twitter just ends up being another email. I tell myself, “I’ll look at that later.” How about a public Tweet that says “I’ve got news about a new ad platform targeting seniors on mobile browsers! DM me if you want it under embargo.” We’ll jump on that, because that’s the kind of thing we eat up over here. “

I agree. Use Twitter for what’s it does best, public dissemination of your news. A Direct Message on Twitter isn’t much different from an email, and hey, that’s why we have email. When I wanted to actually “pitch” reporters, I would send them personalized notes via email. If you’re like me and pitch 20+ beat writers at daily papers all over the country, the number of personalized emails you have to send quickly gets big. But that’s what pitching is all about, and Twitter ain’t for pitching.

Your goal in using Twitter for PR should be three things: #1 participate in the day-to-day industry conversation (you might just get quoted), #2 announce the “small wins,” that don’t merit a press release or a full pitch (it might just get picked up as news), and #3 over time, come to be seen as a knowledgeable source in your industry (so journalists will seek you out).

Update: Wow, Twitter’s a hot topic over at RWW… great follow-up post about how they use Twitter for journalism. Indeed, they’re looking for breaking news there. But understand the difference between pitching via Twitter (which they guide against), and using it as a way to disseminate your news. If you’re breaking something really cool, you might want to reach out to RWW personally a bit before you do the big push, then put it on Twitter the minute you post it on your blog or when your, ahem, press release goes live.  Think of it as a second chance: even if journalists ignore your pitch initially, putting it on Twitter gives them an opportunity to write about it while it’s still newsworthy. Of course, this hinges on giving journalists a good reason to follow you.

Agree? disagree?  Follow me on Twitter: jeb512