Over the weekend, many would have been shocked and dismayed to discover that songstress, Whitney Houston, had passed away. It has been said that this talented woman inspired a whole generation of artists. One of the most popular ways that this particular piece of news reached Australians would have been via Facebook, and not via the radio or TV, or newspapers, who were yet to run the story when it broke. Collecting news via Facebook or other forms of social media is actually quite convenient because if you require more specific information, you can simply ask for it via these channels, and it will more often than not be supplied immediately. This eliminates the need to go trawling through news reports on public news outlets for information you are looking for. Whether social media will replace all or a part of the need for traditional media remains to be seen, especially as it bleeds across into disseminating news in the areas of politics and business too.
You can also use social media to effectively disseminate your news, both to journalists and directly to your audience/customers.
Here are my top tips: Firstly, make sure you have a presence on the various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.
- When you have news, post it there. Facebook and Twitter don’t allow room for your entire news broadcast, but they are perfect to provide links back to your blog for the full report, or even brief updates on news you have previously shared.
- Make sure you collect an audience across these channels. There is no point sharing news here unless you have people to consume it. There are plenty of tips to gather your audience specific to each platform, but generally, be active in relevant groups on Facebook and invite relevant people to “add” or “like” you. Hashtag relevant words to your industry in your Twitter updates and follow others so they are more likely to follow you.
- Post regularly and make sure it’s interesting and relevant. Whether your posts are all news oriented or personal as well depend very much on your publicity strategy, the nature of your industry of work, and the posts themselves among other factors. But the golden rules are regularity and relevance to your audience.
- Have an end goal in mind. Always! What are you hoping to achieve? This could be to build your profile as an expert in your industry with the view to gaining a reputation, or to sell a certain product or service. But an end goal will help you develop your news posts accordingly.
