16 Ways Twitter Can Support Your PR Efforts

1. Broadcast your PR pieces. As a publicity tool, Twitter can get the word out about something new and can link to online news releases. More often than not, a release posted online is ignored. But what if your release actually contains some really interesting information and not mere fluff? How do you get it noticed? Tweet about it to get those online thought leaders to see it.
   
2. Get more mileage out of publicity. If a favorable article appears in small media market or obscure publication, how can you get it seen all over the country? With Twitter you can spotlight such an article and keep giving it exposure long after it’s news cycle has passed.
   
3. Find out immediately when your company or product is in news. if you don’t find out about a news piece right away, your opportunity to maximize exposure from it can be lost. Twitter enables you to find out about these favorable mentions early by having a pre-set keyword search in place.
   
4. Offset bad publicity. Get your side of the story out quickly. Because Twitter gives you an early warning whenever someone tweets about your company, you can rebut or present offsetting information about the bad stories before they gain traction.
   
5. Humanize your executives. The more your audience can relate to your top people as humans, the better.
   
   For example, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks uses his blog and Twitter account to talk about his ideas and opinions. Cuban is loved by some and hated by others, but no one doubts that his humanity and passion. He puts himself out there gives his voice and views on a wide range of topics When he puts out a new blog post, he sends a tweet out about it as well to bring visitors to read it.
   

   As a result, people all over the U.S. relate to Cuban not as a corporate suit, but as a person.
   

6. Humanize your company. Highlight individuals who work hard to create great products and deliver great service. Don't just claim that your company is different, show it.
   
7. Showcase customer service “heroes.” What happens in most companies when an employee delivers exceptional service for a customer? Usually they are given a pat on the back and a lame “attaboy.”
   
   Nothing will convince people that your company has a culture of caring for customers more than showcasing individual employees who go the extra mile for a customer. Not only does this build loyalty from outside the company, it also builds it from within.
   

   Create a piece that features what one of your “hero – employees” did for a customer that went the extra mile, and then use Twitter to send people to that piece.
   

8. Highlight your high standards. It’s one thing to claim that you have high quality, it is another thing completely to show your quality control standards in practice. Do you have procedures that demonstrate your fanaticism for producing quality products or insuring great service? Again, create a piece to show the world how your company goes the extra mile, and then send out a tweet with a link to the piece.
   
9. Use Twitter to do good. Support causes, talk about the needs these causes address and show how others can help. Use Twitter to create buzz about needs, issues and concerns you feel are being overlooked. If you know of certain people suffering dire plights, you can champion their cause as a corporate white knight.
   
10. Preview launches and rollouts. Get pre-orders in advance of your product hitting the stores. Build excitement and anticipation for the product before it can be bought. Offer beta versions or advance copies to some key people on Twitter to help build buzz.
    
11. Create buzz for upcoming events. Twitter can help make sure an event is well attended and gains the maximum exposure.
    
12. Spotlight commercials. Let’s face it, your most creative and expensive commercials are probably going to be ignored. Use Twitter to make sure they get more attention than it otherwise might receive.
    

    Create a video of the commercial's production. Give some insights into how the spot was made, who made it, why the message was worded as it was. As a result, a few more people may stay and watch it instead of making a refrigerator run.
    

13. Get more out of trade shows and conferences. When members of your team will be attending a conference, trade show or forum, tweet about it beforehand. Invite attendees to visit your company booth, attend breakout groups in which your people will be presenting, or just look them up as individuals going to the same event.
    
14. Get testimonials. Inviting people to talk can lead to some very positive feedback which can be used as case studies or testimonials. Moreover, if you use Tweetdeck, you can set it so that anytime your product, brand or company name is mentioned, you will receive notice. If someone says something positive, ask if you can use that quote on your literature or press releases.
    
15. Show how the sausage is made. Add value to your products by using Twitter to highlight pieces on your manufacturing process. Customers like to see the inner workings of how the things they buy and use are made. They especially relate to seeing (not just hearing about) high quality control standards. Not only would a video of your process build more brand loyalty, it also removes pricing barriers to premium products.
    
16. Keep your old content working. This is one of my favorite uses for Twitter. Old content, old press releases and old news stories need not die out or fade away. Twitter can drive traffic to even old information as long as it is still relevant.
    

    Just because your company had a favorable article written a year ago does not mean people are no longer interested in the information it contains. Twitter can enable you to connect interested readers to dated, but still useful, information.
    

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COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown

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