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Has Social Media Changed the Game of Media Relations?

Last week I attended a great Webcast titled The New Rules of Media Relations put on by PRWeek and Marketwire. What was particularly good about this Webcast is that top journalists from PCMag.com, Reuters Health and Kiplinger shared their candid feedback on how they use social media, how PR professionals can drive them nuts, what we do right and how we can turn so-so pitches into successful pitches that result in coverage for our clients.

So, has social media significantly changed the game of media relations? The short answer – not really. According to these journalists, tried and true methods reign BUT new media outlets have made it significantly easier for PR professionals to research topics, stay current, and contact journalists. Also, it was noted that reporters are still trying to navigate their way through this online world of social media and understand how to best leverage it to make their jobs more efficient – just like us PR folks are trying to do. That was reassuring to hear.

Webcast Participants:

Chloe Albanesius, News Writer for PCMag.com
Kevin McCormally, Executive Director Kiplinger Washington Editors
Ivan Oransky, Executive Editor, Reuters Health NY
Jessica Strange, Executive Director Media Relations, Marketwire

Key Takeaways:

Respect Journalists & Build Relationships
- One of the most laborious and important parts of media relations is identifying the appropriate contact at a publication
- Take the time to learn what they write about, follow their Tweets, get to know their beat
- Slowly begin a relationship by commenting on their articles, tweets, and mention past articles in pitches
How to Craft the Perfect Pitch that will Actually Get Opened
- Subject Title – keep it short and simple (you’ve got about 2 seconds to garner their attention)
- Use bullet points
- Avoid flowery language
- Keep the publication’s audience in mind
- Kevin from Kiplinger’s motto – send 3 off-point pitches and your email address is blocked
How Journalists are Using Social Media Day-to-Day
- Most use it to receive and share ideas, not a main source of news yet
- Initiate discussions with folks and follow relevant industry pundits and companies
- Corporate Blogs – Chloe is a big advocate of getting news/quotes from corporate blogs
Preferred Contact Method
- Yup, it’s still good ol’ fashion email
- Using social media (ie. Twitter or Facebook) is ok too, but email gets the best response
SEO-Savvy Releases & Pitches
- Keep headline of release to under 65 characters to be SEO optimized
- Embed unique keywords
- First 2 words of a sentence and first 2 paragraphs are key
- Cut through the clutter and get to the point
- Interesting Note: Yahoo! will be releasing an Editorial Style Guide for the Web in 2010
Future of Journalism
- It’s a bright, Internet-filled future
- Journalists and PR are in the midst of an evolution and understanding how to work with the Internet and social media
- Types of people reporting and the overall definition of “journalism” will evolve as the Internet and social media progresses