Guest post by Jessica Lawlor
Ready to take your engagement on Twitter to the next level in 2013?
By now, we all know how important Twitter is as a tool for both journalists and communication professionals. From the PR side, Twitter is an incredible resource to engage with journalists one-on-one, build relationships and position yourself (or your client) as a news source.
At its core, Twitter is very simple. It’s all about sharing content. One of the easiest ways to share content is through Twitter’s retweet function, which the Twitter help page describes as a “re-posting of someone else’s tweet.”
There are three main ways to retweet on Twitter:
1. Native RT. A native RT is Twitter’s current default option. As you scroll through Twitter and see a tweet you’d like to share, simply click the Retweet button and the message will automatically appear on your Twitter feed with the RT icon. Users are NOT able to edit tweets when they choose to use a Native RT and these tweets are able to be tracked by Twitter. Using a Native RT is a great way to share a reporter’s content and to get your name on their radar.
2. Old Style RT. Before Twitter developed it’s current RT option, users had the ability to edit and modify tweets before sharing them with their followers. The great part about an Old Style RT is that it allows users the chance to add a bit of commentary before the RT to further engage. For example, if a reporter shares a story they’ve written on Twitter, a PR professional can add their own personal touch to the tweet by saying something like “Good read” or “Great story!” This not only gets your name on their radar, but also personally engages with the reporter with something a bit more memorable than simply sharing their tweet.
3. MT. MT stands for “modified tweet.” Use MT when you’d like to retweet someone, but their tweet goes over the allotted 140 characters, so you need to edit their tweet slightly. MT is especially important when working with journalists on Twitter- even a small change in the language of a tweet can change its context, so if you need to tweak a tweet, be sure to let your followers know.
So which approach is most effective?
I’m partial to the Old Style RT for the following reasons:
- It allows you to add a personal touch to the tweet.
- It helps you to build a stronger relationship with the person you are retweeting.
- If a tweet is very popular, your Native RT may get lost in a sea of RT’s whereas with an Old Style RT, your reply will show up in the journalist’s @replies section.
Be sure to keep in mind that the style of a RT differs depending on what platform and device you choose to use. For example, the Hootsuite iPhone app asks users if they’d prefer to use an Old Style RT, but Hootsuite for the web automatically formats tweets in the Old Style format. Whatever platform you prefer, be sure to research your RT options to ensure that you’re using the format that best helps you reach your Twitter goals.
Which retweet approach do you think is most effective? Be sure to share in the comments section below.
Jessica Lawlor is a public relations professional and freelance writer in the Philadelphia area. Check out her blog at jessicalawlor.com or follow her on Twitter: @JessLaw.
Covering the PR industry has never been more exciting as new platforms equalize the value of earned media as much as paid media. PR News, which covers this world exclusively recently announced Matthew Schwartz as their new Group Editor to oversee the growth of the brand and their editorial coverage. Previously, Schwartz was a contributing writer at Crain’s BtoB and Media Business magazines and editor of BMA Buzz, a biweekly email newsletter published by Crain Communications and the Business Marketing Association (BMA). We interviewed Schwartz about the evolving state of the PR world and how PR News has grown the community that’s “on the right side of history.”
