Should PR Pros Pitch Journalists Through Twitter DM’s?

By: Peter Girard

It was fun, interesting, and insightful to turn the tables on some of Caster’s media friends and ask them a few questions.  Last week, Patrick Coffee, a writer for PRNewser, asked the question: Should PR Pitch Journalists on Twitter with Direct Messages? – in response to Twitter’s update which now allows Twitter users to receive direct messages from any of their followers- even if they don’t follow back.  Just to be clear, previously the only way to send/receive direct messages on Twitter was if both parties followed each other.

Now, if you’re in the PR world and truly see Twitter as the powerful tool that it is, it’s in your best interest to check out Coffee’s article.  Twitter’s ability to connect and engage with journalists in targeted 140 character spurts make it unique, and if used responsibly, can lead to some great PR wins.  Coffee’s article is a great jumping off point and offers tips for approaching this delicate question so in this instance, I recommend getting that information from the source.

As a PR pro in training, I’m bias because I am the one crafting the pitches, never receiving them.  Yes, I want to explore whether or not PR should pitch journalists via Twitter DM’s not from the PR perspective, but from the journalist perspective.  Irony aside, I took to Twitter to ask 5 journalists who get hundreds of emails a day what they thought about the Twitter DM pitch.

Let’s kick things off with Caleb Denison, the A/V editor over at Digital Trends.   With 140 characters, actually even less once you consider you have to @ mention the journalist somewhere in the Tweet, you’re not left with a ton of room to get your point across.  Boiling your entire pitch down to essentially one sentence is a good exercise that will force you to meticulously choose each word.  Some editors may use the DM pitch as a way to green light you sending them additional information via email.

John Sciacca, who writes for Residential Systems as well as his own fantastic blog said he “wouldn’t object to a DM pitch.”  He’s not alone either.  Dennis Burger, whose work can be seen on sites like TechnologyTell and HDLiving responded to my tweet very similarly.

One of the keywords here is “relevant”.  With the large volume of journalists on Twitter, make sure you take the time to accurately identify the best one for your pitch.  Journalists/editors are busy people too, a DM pitch on a subject completely irrelevant to what they cover is a good way to get yourself blacklisted as someone to ignore.  For every journalist that’s cool with receiving a pitch through Twitter DM, there are of course going to be a few who’d prefer you reach out through different means.

Geoff Morrison, who writes for C|NET, as well as Forbes, Sound+Vision, and TheWireCutter and he makes a serious point.  While at first glance you might think he’s being cold, you’d be wrong, it all circles back to media research.  Geoff’s twitter profile links directly to his website, where he has a ‘contact me’ submission form.  Many journalists get hundreds of emails a day and have a system in place.  To some, a pitch going to their inbox on Twitter is just one more place they have to monitor and so if you’ve done your research on your target writer, it’s always best to pitch them the way they prefer to receive information.

I’m with Grant 100% on this.  Grant Clauser is the Technology Editor of Electronic House.  There’s really no right or wrong on this subject just, as I’ve demonstrated, journalist preference.  Some journalists will welcome a DM pitch because it forces you to be relevant, short, sweet and to the point.  Other journalists prefer you contact them via email and as a PR professional, it’s your job to respect that.  My own personal thoughts on the subject align most closely with Grant’s response.  To be a PR PRO, pitching journalists, writers, editors, etc. on Twitter should be one tool at your disposal, but not make up your entire toolbox.

Have your own thoughts on the subject? Want to be part of the conversation?  I’d love to hear what you have to say!  Feel free to reach out to me via Twitter, and yes, I updated my settings to accept DM’s from anyone for anyone who’d like to try that new feature out.

Twitter Decoded: The Lingo You Should Know

By: Peter Girard

Twitter is one of those social networks PR pros need to have their pulse on.  According to a Washington Post article posted back in March, Twitter users send over 400 million tweets per day.  Twitter is a steady stream of information with an average of 5,700 tweets per second on any given day.  As anyone who is active on twitter knows, not ALL of those tweets contain useful information, but with Twitter being the river of information it is, it’s important to be able to discern useful information when it does go flying by.

If you’re doing it right, a lot of information can fit into those 140 characters but that requires some abbreviations and acronyms.  Problem is, sometimes you come across an acronym or abbreviation of which you’re not very familiar.  We’ve put together a handy guide of some of the most important Twitter shortcuts to assist you become a master at not only decoding tweets, but how to respond to them should you feel the need.

RT – stands for retweet.  This is how you forward another user’s tweet and it is usually accompanied by an additional comment.  The RT marks the end of the forwarders comment and the beginning of the original content they were responding / forwarding.
CC – literally meaning is “carbon copy.”  Use in this the same way you would CC someone on email or memos.  It’s a way of ensuring a Twitter user(s) sees certain content.  When you use it with an @ mention, it will help draw a Tweet to someone’s attention.

DM – Direct message.  This is the way to privately message someone on Twitter.  Previously, Twitter only allowed DM’s between two users who were following each other but the rules have since changed, allowing any user to DM another account, regardless if you follow them or they follow you.

MT – Modified Tweet.  This is used in the same fashion as a “retweet” but is used to show that you made some modifications of changes to the original tweet.  This is usually done due to space restrictions.

FF – #FF stands for “Follow Friday.”  Users use this hashtag as a way to endorse other users they follow by making the suggestion other people follow them as well.

NSFW – recognize this one as it stands for “Not Safe For Work,” and denotes potentially inappropriate or graphic content.  So if Twitter is a big part of your job, you should avoid opening or engaging with these types of Tweets on the clock.

HT – sometimes seen as H/T stands for “hat tip.”  It’s a polite way to recognize the person who originally shared the content which you are tweeting.  This is very similar to using “via” which is another popular way to accredit original information to another user.

TIL – “Today I learned” #TIL is a fun way to share something new you learned that day.

TT – “translated tweet.”  A nice way to ‘warn’ other users that the original tweet has since been translated to a different language so there may be some ‘loss in translation’ issues going on.

ICYMI – stands for “in case you missed it.”  Most often used when a Twitter users retweets their own content from earlier but can also be used as a way of sharing information with other users who might have missed the initial news.

W/ – just stands for “with”
Those are some of the most important Twitter acronyms and abbreviations we can think of.  If we missed any major ones, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter and let me know so that I may make the addition.  If you’re feeling brave, you can take what you learned here and share with your followers on twitter.

Making the Case for Case Studies

By: Peter Girard

Case studies are an incredibly powerful marketing and PR tool.  What makes them so powerful?  Well let’s see, they’re a multi-use document for starters.  Case studies can be used as marketing materials, in a newsletter, for lead generation, and in webinars.  At its very core, in the PR world, a case study is an account of a problem an end-user was experiencing, and how a company with the right solutions and skills solved that problem.  Case studies can be incredible credibility builders and assist in humanizing your products and you company.  With so many benefits, wouldn’t it be great to know how to leverage a case study for PR gain?  Well, while we’re not into giving always all of our secrets, here’s a few ways to do just that.

To a PR professional, the first one, pitch the story, should be a no-brainer.  The fact is, case studies often feature compelling stories that are a natural fit for publication.  Couple that with the fact that editors and reporters are always looking for a great story and, as long as you’ve done your target research, pairing a relevant editor up with your case study can end up being a home-run.  The key here is to do your homework.  Not every editor and reporter will be interested in your case study.  Take your time in identifying the best possible contact and then reach out.  It will save you time in the longer run, and hopefully cut down on the number of rejections or from being completely ignored.

Highlight the case study in interviews.  Case studies make for great talking points in media interviews.  When interviewing, you want your client to have good stories they can share with the journalist and their audience.  Instructing your client to review relevant case studies before an interview will refresh their memory and help leverage a case study beyond simply pitching it out to media.

If you can control it, use bigger customers or unique case studies to help attract journalists.  This isn’t a requirement for a case study to be successful.  If your client’s case study tells a compelling story, then it’ll likely perform just fine.  However, if you have experienced an impressive result for a big-name client, that’s the case study you want to push out.  A well-known company or individual in your case study can help journalists take notice when it comes across their inbox.

PR professionals know press releases, well, at least they should.  A slightly new take on an old tactic, using case study quotes in a press release, can help you leverage a client case study for gain.  All PR folks know press releases should always contain compelling quotes to help round out the story.  Incorporating a case study with a press release can result in a 1-2 punch, where media not only learn about a new product or service your client offers, but an account of how it’s already been successfully utilized by a (happy!) end-user as well.

We hope these tips get you thinking about some different ways through which you can leverage a client’s case study for PR gain.  If there’s a method we missed and you’d like to shed some light on the subject, feel free to reach out to me via twitter or email.  If there’s an aspect of case studies you like to learn more about, I’d love to hear about that too!

A Trade Show Survival Guide

As the dust settles from my first major trade show and life at the Caster offices starts to regain some form of normalcy, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my first CEDIA EXPO and put together a little trade show survival guide based off my observations of this past trip to Denver.  I am not claiming to be the Bear Grylls of trade shows, after all this is the only one I have attended and I look forward to attending many more.  This list should serve more as a guide of things I found indispensable both on and off the show floor.

1.    Coffee.  Coffee is magical, and you’re going to need it.  Either that, or have your own personal stash of caffeine pills.  I was surprised by how much of a social event a trade show is, while equally being about the business side.  A bit of caffeine in the morning gets the blood flowing and generally helps folks be more sociable, then there are other types of liquids to help you be sociable in the evening.  Coffee is such a big player that while at the trade show, I jokingly made a CEDIA13 Survival Guide Twitter Vine which was essentially seven seconds of footage of coffee.  Don’t forget to chase that coffee with water, though.  Coffee dehyrates you, combine that with a warm and dry trade show floor, and you could end up feeling groggier than when you started.

2.    Combo Pack: Change of shoes & comfortable socks.  I have my boss to thank for this one.  Left to my own devices I most likely would have brought one pair of shoes I planned to wear the whole time.  A shoe change at the end of your time on the show floor before you head to a client dinner or event made a world of difference and comfortable socks just help to make the whole experience more enjoyable.

3.    Mini Med-Kit.  Recommending you bring a smorgasbord of various drugs may sound bad, but I of course mean legal ones like Tylenol and ibuprofen.  My colleagues were right, a trade show is unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  By the end of the first day, my everything (but mostly my lower back) was killing me.  Having something I could take to alleviate my discomfort was a must-have.  Band-aids for blisters will also come in handy.

 

4.    Portable Power.  This was huge and I now swear by it.  I was in charge of social for our office while at the trade show.  Constantly tweeting, recording Vines, taking pictures, scheduling posts, occasionally emailing and texting took a toll on my iPhone’s battery.  So much so that by 11:30 AM I was usually staring at about 35% battery after having a full charge at 7 AM.  I was fortunate to have my iPad equipped with a Justin Power Case made by one of our clients, Innovative Technology with me which packs an insane amount of portable power into an iPad case that you can then use to charge any of your mobile electronics.  The whole time I was out there I didn’t have to charge my Justin Case once and it provided me with enough juice to charge my iPhone roughly twice a day for all three days I was on the show floor.

5.    Gum/Mints.  Especially to help combat the amount of coffee you’re drinking at the show.  You never really know who you might run into or strike up a conversation with at a trade show.  For Caster, it could be a new media contact or potential new business.  For an exhibitor, it could be a new dealer or distributor.  Carrying around a pack of gum or tin of mints is just one of those handy things to have.

 

To a veteran of trade shows, this list may be a collection of no-brainers but to someone like me, who had never experienced a show before and didn’t really know what to expect, having these few items helped and made a difference.  So to those veterans of trade shows, if there’s anything I missed (which I am sure there is) or any tips/tricks you have for surviving a trade show, I’d love to hear what they are!

As always, I can be reach via Twitter at @CasterPete or via email at pgirard@castercomm.com.

Face Value: The Importance of the Face-to-Face

BuzzFeed had a great post comparing expectations vs. reality  when traveling for business.  I will only be highlighting one of their comparisons but I’ve linked to the full article up above.  Ashley Perez leads off with “expectation: exciting travel to glamorous places vs. reality: Ohio”.  I was hooked right from the start, know why?  I spent 2 days this week in Ohio for business…

Joking aside, traveling to Ohio with Nick Brown, my account manager, was my first “official” business trip and I would have been excited regardless of the destination.  Oddly enough, we traveled to Girard Ohio, which is only odd if you know my last name, which happens to be Girard.  Girard, Ohio is the corporate headquarters of Caster’s subwoofer and speaker client SVS.  As their PR firm, Nick and I were invited out to participate in their annual planning meeting.

This post isn’t about regaling you with tales specific to my trip, but rather why the trip was so important.  The article is a couple years old, but in 2011 Business Insider wrote an article entitled Why Face to Face Meetings Still Matter and since then Forbes has done some research on the matter, as well as Hilton Hotels.  Since these articles were written, the world has gotten increasingly more technologically advanced and so these points are just as important now as they were two years ago, if not more important.

I am the most recent addition to the SVS PR account, making myself, along with a couple new SVS hires, the most recent additions to the team.  An unavoidable side-effect of being new to the team is not knowing the rest of the team.  Sure, I’ve communicated with the SVS team via email from time to time, and even spoken up on SVS PR calls but that doesn’t mean I know the team, or that they even know me.  My physical presence at the meeting allowed me to put faces to names and emails, interact on a personal level and really get to know each member on the team, better understand the role they play, and feel like a valued member of an internal team, even though Caster is technically an outside consultant.

My role and what I would have gotten out of the meeting had I simply called in to listen would have been minimal at best.  Physically being present forced me to be engaged and observing others engage made me want to participate when I felt I had something worthy of sharing.  A side from my experience, the case for face-to-face meetings is pretty strong:
They help to capture attention – According to Beth McEuen, attendees at virtual events are more likely to multitask and filter certain information out. “[Multitasking] engages a different part of your brain, and information doesn’t make it into long-term memory.” The President of SVS, Gary Yacoubian said “today is not a multitasking day” as he requested people power off their laptops unless they were taking notes.  The simple action of asking those in attendance to disconnect and focus on the purpose of the meeting made us likely twice or three times as productive as the group would have been had everyone remained wired in.

They inspire positive emotional reaction – interacting with other people in the flesh creates a positive emotional experience and that’s contagious!  Positive emotions become attached to those involved in the event and make attendees more open to new experiences.

They build networks and relationships – sharing information is easy, that’s something that can be done virtually.  However, creating networks or relationships is still something that requires an in-person interaction.  Before the meeting, I was simply sharing information with the SVS team, but attending the meeting and engaging them face to face has allowed me to begin building relationships with each member of the team and as McEuen notes, “trust is built more effectively face-to-face.”

Recent advances have helped bridge the gap a little bit between working inclusively online or in person, and these are excellent, often times cost-effective, tools.  The next time you have the opportunity to attend a meeting in person, jump on it!  While it’s not always a possibility, the benefits of a face-to-face interaction are truly remarkable.