When connecting with journalists in the wild and wonderful world of PR, there are proven tactics that work--like email.
PR pros cite emails as the top medium to reach out to journalists, and journalists agree. Email is their favorite way to be contacted too.
While public relations gurus and journalists are on the same page about email, after that, there's a major disconnect.
Namely, 35% of journalists prefer contacts and pitches on a social platform that a mere 15% of public relations professionals use.
Read on to discover what the social platform for pitching and connecting with an audience is that you're missing--and how to master it in a snap.
Drum-Roll Please!
The platform that journalists love and that you're neglecting is...
Why It Works
First of all, 1 out of 3 professionals in the world is on LinkedIn, and that ratio is only going to continue to grow since 200,000 more professionals join LinkedIn every day.
Plus, as you already know, the reasons you visit LinkedIn are drastically different than the motivation for viewing personal social networks, like Facebook or Twitter.
On Facebook, you spend your time flipping through friends' vacation photos and liking every witty comment about the state of their world.
But, when you're on Linked in, you're not simply spending your time: you're investing it.
The top three reasons individuals visit LinkedIn are for:
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Career Info
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Updates on Brands
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Current Affairs
Basically on LinkedIn, professionals visit the site to discover professional content.
Plus, there is 6 times more engagement with content on LinkedIn than job updates. Now that's a number that your garden business needs to tap into.
4 Steps to Rock the Professional Platform
1. Define Your Marketing and PR Objectives
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Is your brand trying to connect with journalists to pitch, build your brand, or drive traffic and leads?
Discover what you want your content and presence on LinkedIn to achieve. The more clear and focused your goal, the more focused your approach can be.
2. Re-Purpose Content for the Professional Network
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Find content you already have and recycle it masterfully for LinkedIn's audience. For example, a story release for consumers about a new plant or garden product could be tweaked to talk about the goals and development of the plant to add a more professional twist.
Or, you can also focus content that you can quickly develop. Think short pieces with lots of take-away facts or tips for the professional audience.
And, always ask yourself before posting, "Does this content further my objectives, goals, and outcome?"
3. Tweak Tone and Themes for Professionals
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Cute, soft content is guaranteed to flop on LinkedIn.
Instead, to further the professional investment of time on LinkedIn, members want content to be:
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Informative
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Insightful
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Entertaining
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Inspiring
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Educational
4. Optimize Actions by Measuring Metrics
See what works, and what your garden brand needs to be doing more of by tracking and analyzing the metrics on LinkedIn.
Use these tips to reach journalists and other professionals interested in learning more about your garden business.
Discover More Tips to Use LinkedIn's Power to the Fullest by Downloading our e-Book.
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