There are many articles on how to use Twitter for business, and DJA takes full advantage of this social media platform to build community and to promote our clients’ news, activities, accomplishments and new product introductions. But I’ve also found that Twitter is an invaluable tool for a more indirect but equally as important service to my clients: staying on top of their industries, markets and competitors so that I can provide well-informed value to their PR and marcom programs.
This blog will share a few tips on how Twitter can be leveraged to provide better service to PR clients.
1. Keep up with the latest industry news and events
I have Tweet windows for key industry feeds for each client. This enables me to stay informed about my clients’ industry news and events with a minimum of time investment. Knowing what the latest hot topics and issues are is helpful for positioning in a myriad of client projects, from whitepapers and articles to press releases. Last week, I spotted a tweet from an industry conference organizer who still had open panel speaker slots and passed the opportunity along to my client.
2 – Mine industry feeds for blogs, tweet topics and retweets
Twitter provides great inspiration for client blogs, tweets and retweets that position them as being well informed about the most current happenings and offerings from industry leading companies, spokespeople and media. With the rule of thumb for successful social media programs being that information is relevant and informative to readers, being able to provide my clients with current and educational information to impart via their social networks adds to their credibility and attracts new followers.
3 – Monitor retweets
In addition to the promotional value of using Twitter to broadcast client news and activities, I have found that keeping track of retweets from client Twitter feeds helps measure interest and provide return on investment in their social media programs.
4 – Keep abreast of clients’ competitor news and activities
Twitter also works well for monitoring what my clients’ competitors are doing and saying. I can keep track of how competitors are positioning themselves around issues, what hot new products they’ve announced, what trade shows they are attending and if they’re doing anything interesting at the shows. Most importantly, I can keep up with the coverage my clients’ competitors are receiving and what outlets the coverage is coming from.
5 – Keep up with industry media and analysts
I follow all of my clients’ key media and analysts on Twitter. I can see what companies and issues they are discussing, what events they are covering and sometimes they even use Twitter to ask for input from followers. Twitter is just a great way to stay in touch with your key media even when you have no important news to email or phone about.
Social media has changed the game for PR professionals, sometimes to the point where it is very difficult to stay on top of all the important information being shared every minute of every day on multiple platforms. I have found that a good Twitter browser like TweetDeck can organize the many industries, companies and media that PR professionals need to follow for their clients and provide an efficient means for staying informed and keeping in touch.