How Twitter Can Benefit Your Next PR Campaign

A number of months ago I was at a networking event speaking with two colleagues about Twitter. One uses Twitter to share info and spread the word about his company CollarFree and its products/events. The other is a PR professional who specializes in social media. After discussing their plans to attend the upcoming Tweetup, they proceeded to share with me how I should be using Twitter to build and publicize my coaching practice. 

I’ll admit, at the time I was still trying to figure out if they were tweeters, tweets or twitterers! I just signed up on Twitter (you can follow me here) but haven’t begun to use Twitter to increase visibility about my coaching practice yet. However, I have seen the PR benefits of Twitter firsthand in my corporate job.

A couple months ago I was pitching reporters and bloggers about some notable funding news. One of the best results was a post by the highly trafficked site TechCrunch. In addition to seeing the TechCrunch post picked up by numerous other blogs, we also noticed a tweet about it from Michael Arrington who currently has over 32,000 followers! Tweets from others followed, and let’s just say that’s when I became a big fan of Twitter and the viral effects of social media. 

PR professionals must stay ahead of the curve by embracing social media tools and using them (as appropriate) in their PR campaigns and pitches. I’m seeing more agencies tout that they have a social media expert on staff and it truly demonstrates how much the PR profession has evolved. A very exciting time! 

Today’s WSJ featured a educational piece written by Katherine Boehret about Twitter titled, “Birds of a Feather Twitter Together.” I highly recommend the read for those who have been interested in knowing more about Twitter but were afraid to ask.

I’d also love to hear how Twitter has positively or negatively impacted your PR campaigns.