Pitching journalists and bloggers for placements in a social media world requires keeping up with the ever-changing rules of engagement.

I’ve collected nuggets of wisdom along my PR career and put together a set of tips and guidelines to help you avoid a deleted press release and score that coveted placement.

TWITTER/FACEBOOK
While I believe the ideal way to build a relationship with a journalist is through a meet and greet, it can be tough given busy schedules.  Twitter and Facebook are great platforms to learn a writer’s beat, personality, channel/contact preference, subjects they’re interested in covering, and their deadline dates.   Most of the journalists I’ve worked with prefer email pitches.  I use Twitter and Facebook as a way to get to know a reporter so that when a client comes along that might be relevant to the journalist, I can help make a meaningful and authentic connection.

BLOGGERS
Pitching bloggers is different than pitching journalists.  They aren’t paid to write about something specific at a certain time and aren’t under any obligation to cover your brand.  They care more about what is of interest to their readers.   Giveaways, contests, photos, and exclusive content all provide incentive for bloggers to feature your product or brand because it in turn engages their audience.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the era of internet marketing, in order for a social media campaign to be successful, it’s a given that it must move beyond traditional media (print, broadcast, radio) channels to include a consumer driven online PR and social strategy.

The question now isn’t whether the social media component is necessary for a campaign, but rather:

How can online and offline entities work together to effectively promote a campaign and build word of mouth marketing?

From my experience, having worked on both sides, one of the most important factors in ensuring the success of an integrated campaign is the need for traditional and interactive campaigns to be launched simultaneously.

It’s important for managers on both sides to coordinate a launch date for the campaign and make sure both traditional and digital media fronts are mobilized by this date in order to maximize exposure and build on momentum.

Case and point, the integrated publicity campaign for the premiere of the third installment of the New Moon trailer on the MTV Video Music Awards this week:

Read the rest of this entry »