Generating Leads by Connecting with Journalists on Twitter
Journalists live online these days. It is the perfect place for them to find stories and companies worth talking about. If you can connect with one or two journalists on Twitter who have developed a global reach on multiple news and media channels and are willing to talk about your business, you gain access to a free and potentially powerful public relations campaign.
Journalists increasingly use social media networks to search for content worth reporting. They rely on tools like hashtags and keywords to do research and "listen" to the many conversations happening on social media networks. These tools help them discover industry experts (like you) and breaking news stories. By participating in the same conversations (using the same hashtags and keywords), you dramatically improve your chances of being discovered by the media.
In other words, let the journalists find you, rather than cold calling, cold emailing, or cold direct messaging them—tactics that almost never work. Journalists report what they want to report. You could knock on the virtual doors of 100 journalists who focus on your niche or marketplace and get zero replies. However, when journalists hungry for new stories find you and reach out to you on Twitter, you are virtually guaranteed a spot on their news feed.
Moreover, journalists have dozens, if not hundreds, of media channels outside of Twitter. They work with radio and television stations, as well as the largest online news websites. Connecting with a journalist who wants to do a piece about you, your business, your products, or your services can lead to an avalanche of targeted leads.
To start, follow journalists and media outlets relevant to your niche or market. You can search for "your niche + journalists" on Google. For instance, a search for "tech journalists to follow on Twitter" will deliver pages of journalists specializing in technology with a significant presence on the Internet's second-largest social media network.
You could also visit MuckRack.com, which markets itself as "The new standard in public relations software. Easily search for journalists, monitor news, and build reports." This website can help you find journalists and news outlets that are active on Twitter.
Other tools like Press Pass, Twellow, WeFollow, and JustTweetIt can also help you find media professionals. Simply enter the terms "journalist" or "editor" along with industry keywords. Once you've located 10 or 20 journalists you'd like to connect with, start engaging with them.
Retweet their content. Favorite their tweets. Mention them frequently. Pay attention to the keywords and hashtags they use that are relevant to your market. When a journalist reaches out to you through a mention, retweet, or direct message, ask how you can help with a noteworthy news story or breaking news about your company.
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