Pitching on Twitter? Try these 8 tactics to entice the media

The continued proliferation of social media has changed how the PR industry interacts with and pitches to the media. These days, the media are flocking to Twitter in droves, and the platform presents a new opportunity for PR pros to connect with journalists and bloggers. However, pitching there has its own set of rules and best practices.

Here are my tips on how to successfully pitch media on Twitter.

1. Develop and strengthen your online brand first. Before you pitch anyone, you want to be seen as a credible and influential source. Do you engage often with your followers? Do you share interesting and valuable information with your community? Twitter is a place to engage and converse. If you look like a spammer or as though you’re using it to stalk media, you probably won’t be successful.

2. Find the actual journalist, rather than the publication. This takes time and research. There are a few good resources for finding people in the media, such as MediaOnTwitter, and more publications are listing their staff’s Twitter handles in the publication. Twitter lists are another good resource for finding media.