Using LinkedIn to Connect with Journalists

Quick reference

• 00:05 In this lesson, I hope that you're going to get an insiders tip that will really
• 00:09 change your game.
• 00:10 Now let's be clear, as an expert on digital marketing,
• 00:13 I'm not inclined to coach my customers to work like
• 00:17 slaves on social media platforms where are the people would profit from the activity.
• 00:22 But if you use LinkedIn in the way that I'm going to recommend,
• 00:26 you'll have one one situation.
• 00:28 Why should you use this professional platform and
• 00:32 how can you use it to the benefit of your company?
• 00:36 LinkedIn is currently the top social media forum and platform for professions.
• 00:43 And with all honesty, I can't see how that
• 00:45 will change any time soon because now they are also a part of the Microsoft network.
• 00:50 And moreover, a recent survey indicates that
• 00:54 this social media platform is the preferred one among journalists.
• 00:59 What I like most about LinkedIn is the possibility to
• 01:03 reach out to specific professionals.
• 01:06 Members can be categorized by their industry and
• 01:09 their job title, which is really great.
• 01:11 So, you can easily do a search for journalists, and then define the industry.
• 01:16 This will really narrow down your options to
• 01:19 the individuals who are more relevant to your field.
• 01:23 Great, isn't it?
• 01:24 You can see how good a tool this is to manage your media relations.
• 01:28 And so, therefore, the very first step you want to take on LinkedIn
• 01:32 is to connect with as many journalist as possible but
• 01:36 only the ones who are relevant to your industry.
• 01:38 Now once you are connected to a reasonable volume of journalists,
• 01:43 you can either take an individual or an automated approach.
• 01:47 Both will be quite safe since LinkedIn does not have
• 01:51 the spam risks that's typically associated with PR rips indication.
• 01:56 Now, if you're like me and you've got a couple of thousand contacts, you can use
• 02:01 this magic feature on LinkedIn that allows you to export your list to Excel.
• 02:07 They can sort through your contacts and filter out the journalists only.
• 02:12 Now if you choose the individual approach,
• 02:15 you will then email each of the journalists via LinkedIn with your page.
• 02:20 Or of course,
• 02:21 you will email in through your email account after extracting their details.
• 02:25 Now, if you choose to follow the automated approach, you're going to post your
• 02:30 press release as an article on LinkedIn, with a headline stating, press release,
• 02:35 because those people who are connected to you, including the journalist will receive
• 02:40 a notification via LinkedIn and this will allot them about to press release.
• 02:44 Remember, in this case you have to choose publish a post rather than share
• 02:49 an update, this is very important because sharing an update will not actually
• 02:54 trigger a notification that's going to be sent to the inbox of your contacts.
• 02:59 Now which approach is best?
• 03:01 Whether you choose an automated or
• 03:03 an individual approach, it's really going to depend on the topic of your release.
• 03:07 For example, I would imagine that if you sell kinky toys you would
• 03:11 rather want to do an individual approach.
• 03:14 But if you run a charitable organization,
• 03:17 then in that case you'd be more inclined to go the automated route.
• 03:22 It also depends on how much time you've got,
• 03:24 because the automated approach is much faster than the individual approach.
• 03:30 Ultimately, the choice will be yours.
• 03:33 The two approaches we've just discussed here,
• 03:36 are the best ways to get the job done.
• 03:38 And it can work really well, if you follow all the other guidelines,
• 03:42 that we provide you within the course.
• 03:45 Next, I'm going to share with you some ideas on what other people do.
• 03:49 Although in my own view, perhaps these could be less appealing ideas.
• 03:53 So people often use LinkedIn groups because you're able to find groups that
• 03:58 will be home to many journalists.
• 04:00 You just need to identify the ones that are also relevant to industry.
• 04:05 Get into the group through and application.
• 04:08 And then start talking, liking and commenting.
• 04:11 Thereby you create a presence.
• 04:14 And again, some people will love this.
• 04:16 I personally, don't really have a lot of time for groups.
• 04:19 But you may wish to differ.
• 04:21 As far as LinkedIn policy is concerned, this really will feature articles and
• 04:26 the latest trending news can also be found here.
• 04:30 This will help you to gain an understanding of what is being read and
• 04:35 what is sought after by the media and by your clients.
• 04:38 And I would say that this is good if you're just starting out as well.
• 04:43 Really important,
• 04:44 as with all social media, it's helpful to make your presence known.
• 04:48 Gotta create a positive presence and
• 04:50 people will want to be associated with you in that case.
• 04:54 This is how you would access the journalists and
• 04:57 the editors on how this access will grow.
• 05:00 Now a word of advice that I would have is, really try to be yourself, okay?
• 05:06 There are people on LinkedIn and on social media who tend to use this for
• 05:10 escapology and to become the person that they've never managed to be in real life.
• 05:15 So I think that this will neither impress your real acquaintances, and
• 05:20 it wouldn't impress the media.
• 05:22 So just keep it as real as you can on social media,
• 05:25 because that will go a long way.

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