4 Social Media Tactics to Incorporate Into Your Digital PR Strategy

Often those marketers undertake digital PR who aim to create backlinks and brand awareness.

However, building great content and then pitching it to other people isn’t that an easy earned media approach. The outreach on its own can result in a lot of marketers struggling and ultimately quitting the strategy. Although engaging a writer/publisher away from a typical persuasion email can make any marketer stand out from the boatload of emails the publisher receives every single day. However, it isn’t as simple as it may sound.

Yet again, pitching your digital marketing content does not necessarily have to be dull and robotic. Building a connection on social media can be the beginning of building a long-standing professional relationship.

This blog will discuss numerous ways of drafting outstanding media relations emails and establishing organic and personalized relationships with writers using social media.

Tactic #1: Compliment via Instagram

One of the best ways of initiating a relationship with a publisher/journalist is by establishing a connection through Instagram.

First of all, start following their official account and maybe give a “heart” by double-tapping their latest Instagram post. Interpret the situation and then perhaps leave a humorous comment or compliment on a post relevant to the content of a potential pitch.

Once you have successfully established a trivial connection, drop them a “direct message” or an email with reference to their Instagram post stating your content and ideas for a collaboration.

When sending an Instagram DM or pitch email, bear in mind the following:

• What content you are pitching and the importance of its topic.
• The type of journalist/publisher you are reaching out to matters.

Examining the journalist’s coverage and style of writing can offer invaluable insights into how you can appropriately reach out to them. Also, mentioning some daily life happenings or seasonal holiday plans are excellent examples of personalizing a pitch.

Tactic #2: Solicit Contact Information via Twitter

Just like Instagram, initiating a conversation on Twitter is another excellent way of connecting with journalists/publishers. However, in this case, rather than liking a post or dropping a compliment, retweet, or like a relevant tweet of theirs.

Sending direct messages on Twitter is another excellent way of asking for their contact details. A lot of journalists have open Twitter DMs and are happy to receive news tips in their inbox directly!

While reaching out to publishers on social media, you must pay attention to ensuring that the content you are pitching is apt and relevant. The only way to make your marketer-publisher connection work is to do proper research and consider the journalist’s beat and be sure to cite a recent article or post they have covered within your pitch email.

If your content is irrelevant or does not align with the journalist’s coverage, don’t even expect a pitch response.

Tactic #3: Get Acquainted via LinkedIn

While most consider LinkedIn as one of the best professional ways to go, sending a message on LinkedIn requires the sender to be connected to the receiver first, which makes this a lengthier connection process.

However, when interacting with the writer on LinkedIn, watch out for your humorous, witty, or folksy comments as they may not be received well on this platform. Remember, LinkedIn is used to build professional connections, so it’s best to keep your PR messages short, crisp, and formal.

The best thing to do is mention the journalist’s beat and simply ask for their email address where you can contact them. Even though it sounds very straightforward, the journalist will be expecting your email and most probably recall your name. In addition to this, try to personalize your email’s subject line so that they know which one is yours.

Pro tip: Besides merely asking for their email, try to connect with them by initiating a conversation regarding the college or school they attended or one of their experiences.

Tactic #4: Reference Social to Get Relatable

Even though we are connecting to the writers in the hopes of establishing a professional relationship, appealing to their personal interests and likings can be very helpful in the long run. One of the great ways to do that is by looking through their bios on social media profiles or checking out their personal website or blog. Some of them may be writing a book or may convey something they genuinely like.

See if you, too, find those things relatable. If yes, then make sure to tell them this. That’s right, the human on the other side loves pets or music or chocolates just as much as you! Who would’ve guessed that?

You may try and mention your mutual interests or likings in the subject line or highlight it in the email while sharing your own experience and smartly getting the message across about your content and idea of collaboration. But remember, this is just advice and might not work all the time.

It all depends on how well the marketer does his/her research and analysis. Be sure to take out some time for that and always do your research. The majority of the journalists/publishers typically mention how they’d like to be pitched. You can find such info in places like their article posts and personal website. So, remember to read the articles published by the journalists positively to get an idea regarding the best way to personalize your pitch email that appeals to them.

Wrap Up

To conclude, we would like to add some final tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your digital PR strategy.

Whenever initiating a conversation with the aim of establishing a connection, remember always to do your research correctly. Don’t get too nosy and try to keep things as simple as possible. Because let’s be honest here, nobody really needs a long, detailed summary of what they posted two years back in December. So keep your messages sweet, concise, and relevant.

Accordingly, every journalist is different. Even though some of them favor basic introductions, employing some kind of external link can boost the chances of a marketer to build a life-long relationship.

So whether it is citing their pet’s photos from Instagram or mentioning a catchy phrase or sentence from one of their recent articles taking a note of these small details might be the difference between heaps of overlooked emails in their inbox and that one exception email that steals their attention leading to the establishment of a new digital PR relationship.

In a nutshell, whenever you are in doubt, turn to social media, get creative, and research well. Utilize these four smart tactics discussed in the blog, and happy pitching!