PR Guest Post: How to Pitch to Journalists on Twitter

A guest post by Jim Hawker, co-owner of Threepipe, an integrated marketing agency, on the latest Cision Social Journalism Study and what it means for PRs using social media to pitch to the press. 

This year’s Social Journalism Study from Cision certainly makes for an interesting read and the statistic that 32% of PRs use social media to contact reporters immediately sparked conversations in our office about the changing nature of the industry.

We no longer live in an age where you post press releases (I was surprised to find 6% still do!) and PRs definitely cannot keep relying on phone calls alone to cut through the noise and generate quality coverage.

Journalists are in constant demand, with little to no time on their hands, and increasingly consider Twitter to be an extension of their own reporting. Following a journalist contact on Twitter and finding out what they are interested in, so that you can chat to them about topics related to them, makes a massive difference when it comes to pitching a story.

Furthermore, #journorequest – originally created by Sarah Ewing – has picked up momentum online and is a great way for PRs to keep on top of more obscure stories media may be looking to cover –especially if you are looking to place case studies or getting a feel for the content that a particular freelancer looks for.

The stats reveal that over half of journalists cannot carry out their work without social media – and neither can PR professionals. It is a way for us to monitor the news, keep on top of emerging trends, spot information that may lead to a story being covered, and to help build relationships and learn more about the media we are speaking to. It is great for conversation starting, for bouncing ideas off of likeminded people and finding creative inspiration.

Twitter (rather than Facebook which is more personal) can also be a great place to pitch directly to a journalist who is already engaged with the platform and whose attention you need to grab. Condensing pitches to 140 characters on Twitter is a challenge though – they need to be clear, concise and attention grabbing, giving the contact a reason to reply.

However, it is worth noting that depending on the story, sometimes 140 characters just doesn’t cut through the noise. The pitch process always, without fail, needs to be tailored – some correspondents hate being called, some love email, others dislike both and only accept pitches via Twitter (the technology media are increasingly guilty of this).

PR professionals also need to be very cautious of the relevance of the stories they may be pitching on these channels – it is a much more personal way to make contact given most journalists use their social accounts for personal use also. Twitter is asymmetrical and public and a scattergun approach is never the answer – mass tweet pitches to several reporters about the same story will quickly make your client’s story lose gravitas.

At Threepipe, our PR teams (from senior associates through to junior executives) work together and co-create strong story angles and ideas to pitch to media to ensure the team has the tools they need to pitch confidently (including pushing back on clients where necessary). We never plough through media approaches for the purpose of ‘ticking boxes’ and ensuring that ‘all bases have been covered’ – we tailor outreach, ensuring lists are targeted and relevant to ensure we are engaging media and yielding the best possible results for our clients.

For me, it is particularly surprising that only 4% of PRs pitch face to face – although time is a consideration, at least one person from the office is out meeting media face to face on any given day, helping build lasting relationships that affect how we do our jobs and the coverage we generate. Building relationships is key and the one thing that will never change no matter where those relationships started and how much the technology around us changes.

Follow Threepipe on Twitter: @Threepipe

Featutred photo Courtesy of opensource.com on Flickr