Should You Tweet At Journalists?

By Alex Greenwood

In a post by PR Pro Tips, we learn that pitching a story via Twitter can be “unnecessary and annoying.” I agree it can–especially if you set up an account expressly to spam reporters (and if you read the story in the link, you’ll see a host of other mistakes made by the source trying to get a write-up).

However, if you’ve developed a relationship with a reporter, blogger or columnist, i.e.,: you follow each other on Twitter (or even Facebook), then an occasional pitching of links is just fine.

I’ve scored at least a couple of interviews the past quarter pitching via social media. Also, note that not every reporter on Twitter has a problem with the “cold-call tweet”–just make sure your link lands somewhere with impeccable presentation and navigation (I like Pitchengine and Launch.It for Social Media Releases).  It has to be very clear what you want the reporter to look at and why.

Incidentally, you can follow me (and even pitch guest blogs) on Twitter at @A_Greenwood.