On Thursday, June 25, 2009, a pop icon died. News of Michael Jackson’s death spread like wildfire. And the primary means of communication was social media. Yahoo News set a record with 16.4 million unique visitors that day; compare that to the 15.1 million visitors Yahoo logged on Election Day. While it is estimated that the news was most shared on Facebook, Twitter recorded 30% of their total volume that day was devoted to the king of pop.
What does that mean to you? Social media is the fastest way to get your message out and processed by your network of colleagues, clients, etc. Your firm should be connected to many different target groups: clients, prospects, referral sources…but one very important group that is probably often overlooked in building your social networks is your local media and trade publications for both accounting and your niche target markets.
A firm might argue that a lot of their clients aren’t using social media that much; but reporters are. Reporters are always on the prowl for a good story. And by connecting with these VIP’s, you are likely to obtain significantly more media attention for your firm than through traditional forms of media like press releases. How and why? First, you are (hopefully) connecting with them on a regular basis and building rapport. They know who you are and trust what you say. And second, when you tweet about an important issue that your firm can address, these reporters will hunt you down for the story.
Lastly, how do you acquire a complete list of all the media sources that you should be connected to? Go to your local library and check out the Bacon’s Media Directory. Gather contact information for all forms of media (tv news, newspapers, trade journals etc.) and reach out to them. Send them an invitation to connect with LinkedIn; ask them to follow you on Twitter. BECOME THEIR FRIENDS. Be authentic, don’t oversell, connect regularly and monitor 24/7.
So beat it…it’s time to get tweeting!
