Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations Blog

Media Relations Using Social Media

“Tutoring Incentive Program at the former Johnston HS (pays students to attend tutorials) results on Monday. http://tinyurl.com/mttx6f”

This is what I “tweeted” on July 24, 2009, at about 1 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. We had a planned press release distribution date of the following Monday, but I wanted to make sure I was on the local news radar for Monday. It worked.

First thing Monday morning, I received the following email from an assignment editor at a local television station:

“There was a note kicking around here this weekend (I’m not sure where it came from but the information was attributed to you) that the East Side Tutoring Program will release results today. Can you get me some information about that (if it is something you are working on) so I can present it in the morning meeting?”

Another story played out similarly after I posted a “tease” statement on Facebook about the impact a client was having on the local economy.

The purpose of my telling this story is simple—social media can be an effective "add-on" to other media relations tools. However, it doesn’t always work out this way. I’ve had similar scenarios end quite differently on many occasions—I “tweet” about a client event and it’s not until I make a good, old-fashioned phone call that I show up on a media outlet's radar. Whether social media will work depends heavily on several factors, including your message, your target audience and your list of followers.

My list of Twitter followers, for example, consists largely of members of the media (having worked with many of them, as a reporter, for many years). For me, as a public relations professional, “tweeting” is a good way to reach my audience, the public, through the media (should they find my information newsworthy).

Is it hard to craft a quality message in 140 characters?  Absolutely. Will people actually click on your link if you add a link to a document or Web page with more information?  Maybe not. However, even if your followers absorbed just a portion of your message, you’ve likely accomplished your goal. If it piques their interest, they will have to call or message you to get more information (or click on the link provided, if applicable). A carefully crafted response will significantly increase your chance of getting your “news” covered.

Additionally, a carefully cultivated list of people to follow can be extremely helpful in monitoring the media and the public. What’s the big news of the day? Would any of my clients have anything substantial to add to this story? An interesting angle, perhaps? Or, if there is breaking news that day, should I rethink pitching an unrelated story?

What you “hear” on sites such as Facebook and Twitter is just as important as what you “say.” I would love to hear from you. “Tweet” me at www.twitter.com/Erin_Ochoa.

-Erin Ochoa

Newsworthiness

Garnering earned media is the bread and butter of most of the work I do for the clients with whom I work, and I truly enjoy it. Media relations is my favorite aspect of what I do as a public relations practitioner. Pursuing earned media opportunities requires educating our clients on what is newsworthy and what is not, but may be ideal for internal communication or an advertising opportunity. Here’s what I try to convey to clients so that we can work together to develop newsworthy pitches:

A journalist’s job begins with selecting what is newsworthy from the multitude of events that occur every day. By newsworthy, the journalist means what’s important to readers or viewers—what will interest, affect and entertain them. Public relations practitioners must pay attention to these guidelines and present client news accordingly in media pitches.

These are newsworthy values that I still reference in my old college news and reporting textbook and are helpful guidelines for deciding what to pitch to reporters:

• Impact/importance (events that are likely to affect many people)
• Timeliness (events that are immediate, recent)
• Prominence (events involving well-known people or institutions)
• Proximity (events that are geographically or emotionally close to your target audience)
• Conflict (strife, antagonism, warfare)
• Unusual (events that deviate sharply from the expected, that depart considerably from the experiences of everyday life)
• Currency (the sudden interest people have in an ongoing situation; occasionally a situation long simmering will suddenly emerge as the subject of discussion and attention)
• Necessity (a situation a journalist feels compelled to reveal)

An important side note to remember is that news values, like the ones listed above, do not exist in a vacuum. Their application depends on those who are deciding what is news, where the event and the news medium (TV station, newspaper, etc.) are located, the tradition of the newspaper or station, its audience and a host of other factors, such as the economy and dwindling news staff.

Happy pitching!

Lindsey Erwin

5 Ways To Get the Most Out of Twitter

A couple of weeks ago my colleague, Hamlet, I mean, Meg, asked on this blog: to tweet or not to tweet? Since I choose to tweet, I have decided to share here some hints and tips that may help you navigate the twitterverse.

1.     Keep your tweets to 120 characters. This will allow re-tweeting without the “re-tweeter” having to worry whether or not the whole message will be within the site’s 140-character per tweet limit.

2.     Add your handle to your stationery. Your handle is your username, that is, whatever comes after twitter.com/. This will increase the reach of your profile. People are now adding their username to e-mail signatures and even their business cards.

3.     Use hashtags. Hashtags are a way to parse messages about a certain topic. They are preceded by the # symbol. It’s frequent to see “#ut” when people are tweeting about Longhorns football, for instance. What this does is it allows people who are searching for that hashtag on search.twitter.com to find your tweet, therefore increasing the visibility of your message.

The hashtag name can be whatever you want it to be. Along the right-side of your Twitter page, you will see the trending topics, which means which hashtags and search terms are the most popular at that time. Some of them may not make much sense to you so to find out their meaning you can visit wthashtag.com. It will explain what that hashtag refers to and give you a statistical breakdown of how often it was used in the past few days, along with users who tweeted the most using that tag.

4.     Don’t be afraid to jump in the conversation. If you see someone tweeted you, that is, posted a message with @yourtwitterhandle, don’t be shy about sending a hello back or responding to their comment. This is particularly useful if you are tweeting as a business. People like to know there’s a person on the other side, and not a machine.

5.     Mix up the topic of your tweets. People like seeing that behind someone who posts links to interesting articles, there’s a person who enjoys going to a ball game, or a walk at their favorite park. This is a great way to give your Twitter-self a personality. While I find a bunch of interesting articles on Twitter every day posted by folks who seem to know what they are doing, the neatest ones are from those who are also willing to share a bit of their personal lives.

Happy tweeting!

-Andre Lenartowicz

Tips For a Successful Event

When I went into public relations, I thought that I would be doing a lot of writing, working with media, crisis communications, and—as most young folks think—working with people. In my 10 plus years in PR, I’ve done all of those and more.

One thing that I didn’t anticipate, that has become a favorite part of my job, is event planning.

ECPR has had the opportunity to orchestrate some pretty fantastic events over the years including the launch of Time Warner Cable’s 24-hour news station, News 8 Austin; the VIP and media nights for Barnum’s Kaleidoscape and for the last three years, the Concordia University Texas Excellence in Leadership Gala.

We also planned and executed the major social events, guest and youth activities, volunteer effort and transportation on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House of Texas for the 2001 National Conference of State Legislatures, attended by more than 7,000 people from across the U.S.

I happen to be planning an annual event right now. This is the fourth year that I’ve managed this particular event and it is one of the hottest tickets in town.

This got me thinking about events and what makes a good one. Here are my five tips for planning a successful event, no matter the size or scope:

• Create a budget.
  
  It is very possible to have a successful event that stays within budget, but only if you know what that budget is. This should ALWAYS be your first step in planning an event.
  
  
• Develop a timeline and checklist.
  
  Timing is a critical element to event planning. For example, if you invite guests too late, you could have poor attendance. If you confirm the number of guests with the caterer too late, you may be charged for more attendees than you will actually have.
  
• Select trusted vendors.
  
  I only work with vendors (i.e., caterers, musicians, florists, decorators, etc.) with whom I or a trusted friend or colleague has previously worked.
   
• Make expectations clear.
  
  Whether you are communicating with the event site or with a vendor, it is critical that expectations are made clear and that those expectations are put in writing. I have learned the hard way that different people have different ideas of what adjectives like “early,” “loud,” “subdued,” or “fragrant” mean (to name just a few).
  
  
• Recheck the checklist (again and again).
  
  A successful event is all about details. Months ahead of the event, a list should be checked weekly, but as the event draws near, it should be checked daily and sometimes hourly. 

You may be wondering what annual event I’m planning right now.

•     Size: An intimate affair for less than 75 people
•     Theme: Jungle
•     Entertainment: Wonder Woman
•     Food: Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and chicken fingers
•     Dress: Safari casual

It’s the fourth birthday party for my twin sons! I guess it’s only the hottest ticket in town if you’re in pre-school. While this isn’t quite on par with the Concordia Excellence in Leadership Gala, for example, the planning tips that I sited above apply even to this event.

I hope you find these tips helpful, whether you are planning a four-star fundraiser or a child’s birthday party.

Have fun!

Kristin Marcum
Vice President, Account Management