There are tons of reasons why brands and enterprises should be listening and engaging in social media these days, one of those reasons is that it being active in social media may be the best way to get your news in front of journalists and in the press. Looking at a few recent studies, we see that journalists everywhere are using social media more and more to source their stories.
Journalists use of social media is surging, according to research from the Society for New Communications. From the journalists surveyed:
- 70% are active on social media sites with the majority being very involved on Twitter and micro-blogging sites.
- 66% are reading blogs
- 80% of journalists believe that bloggers have become important ‘decision-shapers’ in recent years.
- 91% agree that new media communications and technology are contributing to journalism
- The rate of growth from the previous year is 28%.
- Also, 80% of journalists believe that bloggers have become important ‘decision-shapers’ in recent years
Looking at this study, you can see that those who write the news are engaged in social media, and feel that bloggers are becoming more important. But are journalists really sourcing their info from blogs and social media? The answer is yes according a study from Cision and Don Bates of George Washington University posted on MediaPost.
In this recent report, journalists were asked how they used social media, and the results show us a very simple trend:
- 89% said they turn to blogs for story research
- 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn
- 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter
- 61% use Wikipedia
Impressive numbers, but what does this mean for your brand? A few things:
- It means that whatever people are saying about your brand is fair game and can easily be picked up – Ex: Kevin Smith vs Southwest Air
- Having a ‘Media Room’ on your corporate website is now just the beginning, you need to have your company news floating around the social web – blogs, twitter, facebook, it needs to be visible
- Fact-checking is still important so make sure any news is easily verifiable – include links to research studies, any news sources used, etc
- The ‘corporate blog’ is a great way to start integrating social media into your marketing mix
So now what do you do? LISTEN to what people are saying about your brand and join the conversation (try ListenLogic’s RESONATE as a listening solution). Then make sure your company has a social media presence and a way to spread out information. Lastly, you’ll have to MAKE SOME NEWS that people want to talk about – new products, new research, etc. just do something news-worthy.
