Problem: A team from Howard University’s ADVANCE-IT was heading to Johannesburg for the Women in STEM Conference: South Africa, and I had 12 days to book pre-conference and on-the-ground interviews for Dr. Sonya T. Smith, Principal Investigator of the program.
Solution: Twitter and email were critical tools for booking interviews, and I never picked up the phone. With the six-hour time zone difference, I took to the “Twitter streets” to engage journalists from my personal Twitter handle and the organization’s Twitter handle. Then, I followed up via email to coordinate interview logistics. When Dr. Smith touched down in Johannesburg, she had a full schedule of in-studio, phone interviews and deskside briefings.
Below, I have shared my six tips for effectively engaging reporters on Twitter.
- Review past tweets of reporters you want to target, and engage by commenting on/RT-ing articles that resonate with you.
- If you’re reaching out to a reporter in a different time zone, schedule a few tweets in their time zone, then interact in real-time.
- Tweet content to them that you think they’ll find interesting/useful. Ie. Relevant studies/articles of interest. These should be from various sources and add value to their work.
- Tweet your “ask” and include handles and website links with verified background information. Your request can also appear more legit if you tweet it from the organization’s Twitter handle. (This allows the reporter to quickly check out the organization’s website link without feeling like it’s spam).
- As you’re engaging, ask for reporter’s email address if it’s not readily accessible.
- Move conversation to email to coordinate speaking further and/or interview logistics.
Photo Caption: Erin Conway-Smith of the Economist interviewing Dr. Sonya T. Smith at Hyatt Rosebank.
Photo Caption: Dr. Sonya T. Smith with Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka, host of Womanity – Women in Unity
Have any of you used Twitter in a similar manner to arrange PR opportunities? Please share in the comments below.
