Personal vs. corporate Twitter accounts: Which is better for pitching journalists?

Some PR practitioners don’t like to use their personal handles for work, but reporters may not want to engage with a corporate one. A public relations pro weighs in.

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Media outreach is part of public relations, so one way we PR pros connect with reporters is through Twitter.

We develop Twitter lists and research them inside and out. Then we monitor the reporters, look for opportunities to talk to them and start engaging.

It seems straightforward, right? In this business, though, there’s always a wrinkle.

In a recent situation with a client, this was my wrinkle: Should I engage reporters from my personal Twitter handle or from the client’s corporate one?

Let’s look at both sides:

Engaging from your personal account

Your personal handle is generally the way to go, mostly because you can engage with the reporter one on one. That makes a difference.

Sure, the reporter will know you’re a PR person after a quick glance at your profile, but he’ll be more apt to reply to a personal handle than an organization’s.

The downsides of this approach are:

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