5 newsroom lessons for real-time marketers

Journalists make a living by responding to breaking events. Here’s how you can translate their techniques into timely, relevant branding efforts.

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Let’s get real: Journalists have been conducting real-time marketing for years, but we just called it news.

Now, as more brands and agencies establish real-time engagement and content creation centers, they could learn lessons from those of us who spent time in the newsroom trenches:

1. Start your day smart.

A newsroom mentor drilled into me early-on the importance of “reading in.” This is journalism-speak for reading news from a variety of sources to make sure you understand what’s happening in the world. I spend an hour reading in every morning.

That might seem like big time investment (especially in a billable environment), but it’s vital to anyone in the communication field. Whether you’re talking to reporters or managing digital channels, the biggest mistake you can make is being tone-deaf to the world around you.

2. Be relevant.

Real-time marketing is just a buzzword for being relevant—to your fans and followers, to the media you’re pitching, and to your stakeholders. Reading in will help, but more than that, you have to know your audience and understand that it’s often a moving target.

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