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How to use text messaging and Twitter DMs to reach reporters in real time
By David Meerman Scott | May 16, 2011
I've said many times that the best way to reach reporters is when they are looking for what you have. It's real-time communication with reporters when they are working on a story that gets you (or your clients) into the news.
Yet there are so few PR people who work with reporters in real-time. Mostly PR people like the traditional pitch. However, that doesn't work so well because you are trying to interrupt reporters so that they will pay attention to you.
How about turning that around? Why not pay attention to reporters! See what they are tweeting about. Read their most recent blog post or the latest thing they posted to the Web. That’s your clue. Then reach out.
When I was in Munich recently speaking at the International Health Forum, I had a chance to connect with David Lowey who is Managing Director, Digital, for the EMEA region for Fleishman Hillard.
David told me about working on the iPhone launch with Fleishman Hillard client AT&T. His team connected to reporters in real-time via text message and Twitter Direct Message to offer up information or spokespeople at the precise moment that the reporters needed the information.
I found it so interesting that I asked David to explain to us on video. The second half of the video we talk about some of the technologies in use at sophisticated companies.
Direct link to video on YouTube.
How about you? Are you reaching reporters in real-time?
More posts by David Meerman Scott
- In search of the outrageous at SXSW 2011
- When failure is cheap, why not give it a go?
- Nordstrom does Twitter right
- One speech plus a dozen video cameras and a hundred people tweeting live
- Cyber graffiti with WiFi network names as advertising
About David Meerman Scott
David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and the author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR, an award-winning BusinessWeek bestseller published in 24 languages. He is also the author of the hit book World Wide Rave and three other books. His Web Ink Now blog is ranked by AdAge Power 150 as a top worldwide marketing blog.
He is a recovering VP of marketing for two publicly traded technology companies and was also Asia marketing director for Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world’s largest newspaper and electronic information companies.
David has lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents.
Satisfied audiences include: Cisco, HP, Microsoft, The New York Islanders, NASDAQ Stock Market, the Government of Ontario, McKesson, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, SAP, Google, Digital River, Hill & Knowlton, Hanley Wood, Dow Jones, National Investor Relations Institute, Milken Institute Global Conference, America Credit Union Conference, TS2, Giant Screen Theater Association, Realtors® Conference, and many, many more…
Books by David Meerman Scott
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