The ideal relationship between a journalist and reader should be
Just how this idyllic kinship with your readers ought to look like.
Sometimes we get caught up in our deadlines and we forget that we have an audience that reads our stories from all over the world. Deadlines can get the best of anyone.
We have all been there!
But remember, it is ultra important to build rapport with your fellow subscribers. You are just not pushing stories just for the sake of your job.
Many times just starting out with liking your reader’s comments and replying back to them is the start of a bountiful relationship with them. Your audience will appreciate these small gestures and see a person behind these stories.
Their reaction to these little actions will be like “Hey, he/she actually engaged with me in my comment!” These types of small steps will go a long way. I believe that besides producing stories and content, you have to establish your presence alongside your material so that your subscribers just don’t see words. You will give them the vision of a real person behind the stories.
When you provide this type of response it makes them feel noticed within your circle in the community you are active in. Think of it in a way similar when your favorite celebrity notices you when they like or reply back to you in one of their posts.
That is the euphoric feeling you want to impart to your audience.
Kenna Griffin, a writer for Business 2 Community said “to truly engage readers through social media you must first connect with them. Friend and follow readers actively, encouraging them to friend/follow you and building your online community. You also can use traditional media and marketing tools to promote connections on your social media accounts. Just be sure to tell readers how they benefit from connecting with you online.” You can read her article with additional vital information here.
A great example of giving insight to your subscribers is providing vivid imagery to your audience so that they can view your perspective on your thoughts.
Here, I am showcasing a tweet from Joy Sewing, an Emmy award-winning journalist, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing a few months back with a classmate for an important project. She displays the situation that happened a while back during the record-breaking Texas Freeze that occurred back in February. of this year. She articulates the newest information and she gives us insight with her personal view of the situation.
Remember, its the little things such as these that will go a huge way in building rapport with your readers.
They will appreciate you that much more.
