Social media has not only changed the advertising and marketing landscape, it has also changed the way the media does its job. The news cycle is now 24/7 and journalists must feed the beast constantly, which means they are always on the lookout for sources and content ideas. And more often than not, they turn to social media for both.

In fact, the 2017 Cision Global Social Journalism Study showed that 74% of journalist said they source story ideas and sources on social media. 42% of those journalists say they are active on at least five social media sites.

This means that social media is a great place for attorneys and journalists to connect; here are some tips on how to do that:

• Set up Google Alerts for your practice areas so you can familiarize yourself with the journalists who routinely cover those areas.

• Follow journalists on their media outlet’s website or blog using Feedly.

• Search Reddit regularly for stories that correlate to your practice areas and note the names of the journalists who wrote them, then follow them on Twitter or their websites.

• Find out what blogs your clients read and make it a practice to comment on those blog posts.

• Be sure to post regularly on your firm’s blog.

• Post articles, videos and links to your blog posts on your LinkedIn profile page. Journalists like to use LinkedIn to source experts for commentary since the site provides complete bios on potential sources.

• Ask journalists to connect with you on LinkedIn once you have worked with them.

• Follow journalists who cover your practice areas on Twitter, then comment on and retweet their tweets. Be sure to share your own content by tweeting links to your firm’s blog or website.

• Share your content on every social media platform where your firm has a presence.

Social media makes it easier than ever for lawyers to increase their visibility with the press, which in turn will increase your visibility with prospective clients.