How to share media stories with your audience

This week’s is a short follow up from last week’s newsletter, just so you have a really clear idea of how to go about sharing pieces so that you maximise their impact.

As I said last week, sharing media stories written by journalists you want to create a connection with is a great way to get on their radar, as well as an easy way to have content to share with your audience when you don’t have the time or energy to create something new.

In order to, as I said, maximise their impact, below is a little formula you should follow:

Make sure you link the piece

Whether you’re sharing on Instagram or another social platform, make sure you include the link to the piece so that your audience can access it really easily. As links are (finally!) available to all Instagram users in Stories, this is fairly easy to do.

If the journalist has created a post around it, share that too

If the journalist has actually published a post on this piece, make sure to re-share that post to your own audience as well as including the link to the piece. Not only will that send a notification to the journalist, but it will also make it easy for them to re-share your share (ahhh we could get stuck in an endless loop here!) which then automatically puts you on their radar.

Tag the journalist

One of the biggest mistakes people make is not tagging the journalist when they share a piece with their audience. Not only does this mean the journalist won’t see the piece, it also gives the impression that you don’t really care how much work they put into it. Journalists spend hours working on their articles and always appreciate a shoutout for their efforts.

Explain briefly what the piece is about

When sharing with your audience, make sure you include a few words on what the piece is about (unless the headline is already written in the journalist’s original post that you’re re-sharing - this is usually the case on platforms such as Twitter, although how long people will still be using that is anyone’s guess) so your audience understands quickly why it’s relevant to them.

…And also explain why you’re sharing it

As I’ve said before, authentic connection is the only way to go with journalists, so expressing what it was that you loved about their work/ what surprised you/ what message you want your audience to take from it is a great way to show them true appreciation. It never goes unnoticed and is the easiest way to stand out in their mind.