Use social media to gain the headlines you want

If you are working in comms you probably don’t need us to tell you about the importance of social media.

So we are not going to bore you with the same material which you can find elsewhere on the internet.

Instead, we thought you’d like to hear how you can use social media to generate positive headlines and articles in the mainstream and trade media which matter to your organisation.

So here are our top five tips for using social media to gain mainstream media coverage:

1. Actively search for opportunities to engage with journalists. In the current climate of reduced resources and never ending deadlines, they are reaching out on social media for stories, case studies and interviewees. On Twitter take a look at #journorequests. It is full of journalists looking for case studies to bring their stories and features to life. It is a great opportunity to get some free publicity and get your messages heard by a wider audience. Similarly, search #prrequests.

    

   Tools like TweetDeck and Hootsuite are a great way of keeping on top of the topics of interest to your organisation on social media. They allow you to organise searches on different topics, events and hashtags in handy columns on one page. For example, at Media First we keep a close eye on #mediatraining and engage where appropriate.

    

2. Turn positive feedback into case studies. Everyone likes happy customers on their Twitter feed. The challenge is to seize upon those tweets and turn those customers into advocates and case studies. Instead of just thanking them for their tweet, ask them a question to keep the conversation going. For example, ask them specifically how you helped to solve their problem. This feedback can be turned into testimonials, so keep a record of these happy customers and their tweets for future use.

    

   Positive stories are shared widely on social media and can generate mainstream media coverage. Take a look at how the heroic actions of an Iceland delivery driver were shared widely on Facebook before being picked up by the Daily Mail.

    

    

3. Don’t ignore negative tweets. It can be really tempting to ignore the negativity and hope it simply goes away. But that is a hugely risky strategy, which is not only rude, but also allows other people to see the message without your side of the story. Apologising without offering a solution does not work either.

    

   The basic rule here is to treat the social media complainant the same way you would if they were speaking to you face-to-face. Engage with them, offer a solution and show you genuinely care about the views of your customers. If the situation is right, enter into the spirit of social media banter. Take a look at how Greggs the baker humorously dealt with a Twitter storm when a faulty algorithm meant a fake, and less than complimentary tagline, came up at the top of a Google search. Their excellent handling won them praise, and free publicity, in the Daily Telegraph and Marketing Magazine.

    

   Similarly, if you put out a message which lands badly and causes controversy don’t just delete it without explanation. Be proactive, explain your decision and apologise if appropriate. Learn from the mistakes of others, such as the recent tweet from the FA about the national women’s football team.

    

4. Use social media to make it as easy as possible for customers and journalists to find the information they require. This is particularly true in a crisis. One of the biggest causes of frustration with train companies is not that the service they are providing is running late – it is the lack of information about that late running train. Our recent ‘controlling a crisis with social media’ blog highlighted how Eurostar has set – up hashtags for individual trains to help commuters find the specific information that matters to them.

    

   Customers who get the information they want will not be filling your timeline with negative comments. They may, however, take the time to thank you for your customer service, opening the door to some potentially valuable case studies.

    

5. Social media makes it easier than ever before to engage with the journalists who matter to your sector. Whether it is a reporter on an influential trade publication or a leading journalist on a national outlet, they will undoubtedly be on Twitter. This means you can find out what interests them, what subjects they have recently been working on and how people respond to their messages.

    

   This provides truly valuable insight. Not only can this help you deliver messages which gain their attention, but it can also be really beneficial in preparing your spokesperson for an interview. Telling him or her a list of topics the reporter has recently reported on and what approach they took provides valuable background detail and will enable them to focus on the skills they learnt on their media training course.

    

 

Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. To find out more about our highly practical social media training courses, contact us here.

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