There's no denying the media landscape is in flux, but as journalists figure out the best way to leverage social media, so must PR professionals. From pitching media via tweets, as opposed to email or phone, to sharing media hits on brand Facebook pages, PR professionals are changing how they go about their daily tasks. But yesterday's interaction with a journalist, was a first for me. When I sent off a pitch for a new beer release to a drinks reporter at a Las Vegas Magazine she requested a photo and informed me that the beer would be featured as the "5 o'clock drink of the day" post on the Magazine's Facebook page. It was the first time I had pitched a journalist where the content was being used strictly to fill the Facebook newsfeed, and while it may not have made the glossy pages of the magazine I was still pleased. Here's why:- More fans: The magazine's Facebook page has close to 20K fans. Not nearly as many as the print subscription, but it was ten times that of my client's Las Vegas Facebook page. People still flock to traditional media on social media as traditional media pumps out quality content.
- Timeliness - The beer is being released in a few days. I would have never made the print deadline but in this case I was able to get in front of people in a timely manner via Facebook.
- 3rd party endorsement. Sure I posted about the beer release on the client's Facebook page, but there I'm most likely reaching current customers. The Magazine's Facebook page could potentially drive new customers.
Who knows...one day in the very near future, PR professionals may be battling it out to secure placements in the newsfeed of media's social pages versus the news pages of a publication. At the end of the day, the important thing is the message gets to the right audience at the right time.