Samantha Hilsenrod

How to Use Twitter for Public Relations and Marketing, Part 1

Samantha HilsenrodAs Twitter evolves into a useful tool for marketing and public relations, an etiquette of sorts has evolved concerning the use of the platform for such ends. Here are some tips to make sure your efforts are put to good use.

Tip 1: Remember that Twitter is a social platform

Engage other users on Twitter. Your communications should not be one-way, promotional messages or your list of followers will slowly dwindle to insignificance. You do want to use Twitter to promote your core message, but your promotions should be in the form of answering the questions of others, providing useful information, and sharing interesting facts. This will engender goodwill and authority in your Twitter community, so that when you share something important about your organization, people will take notice.

Samantha Hilsenrod

Tip 2: Use tact when engaging with journalists

Publicists increasingly turn to Twitter to contact journalists. Take care with this approach; not all journalists appreciate it. Before pitching any journalist, follow his or her tweets for a while to get a sense of what the journalist is interested in writing, as well as how he or she likes to use Twitter. Once you have an idea of the person’s preferences, contact the individual in the most appropriate manner.

Samantha Hilsenrod

Tip 3: Avoid self-promotional tweets

People don’t use Twitter to check out your cool new product or offer, so keep promotional tweets to a minimum; instead focusing on building relationships. The occasional promotional tweet won’t do any harm, but it should not be the focus of your Twitter feed.

Samantha Hilsenrod

About Samantha: A Communications major at Tulane University, Samantha Hilsenrod has interned with public relations companies and the Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental advocacy group.