One of the great privileges I enjoy as an employee of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News in Seattle is the opportunity to work with Jenni Hogan. Jenni (@jennihogan) is our traffic reporter, and she’s just as well-known in Seattle for her on-air presence as she is for her prolific social media presence. She also happens to be the top local TV journalist on Twitter, as ranked by our Lost Remote Social TV Leaderboard, with over 35,000 followers and counting.
To give you a feel of what Jenni’s all about, and to avoid the appearance that I’m completely biased, here’s something I wrote about her nearly two years ago, long before I ever knew I’d be working with her:
I think Jenni Hogan might secretly be a robot. The volume and speed of her Tweets are so great that it’s hard to tell when she stops working or sleeps. Nearly everything she does on camera, behind the scenes, on location or socially among other Seattleites is documented on Twitter. Hypersocial is how I’d explain it, and I’d almost go so far as to say follow her example to an extent (if you can keep up the same pace, go for it).
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That’s all still true, but one of the things I’d add, which I’ve learned while working with her and which I think may be the key to her success, is that she’s intensely dedicated to using her influence for the benefit of her fans and friends (“Best Twitter Friends” or “BTFs” is how she’d probably put it).
I asked her about her success with social media recently and how she manages to keep it all going. Here’s how she answered:
When did you first start integrating social media into your work, and how did that happen?
I remember the exact moment seven years ago. I was a few weeks into my first on-air job in Lewiston, Idaho. I was at a Starbucks and a viewer walked up to me and started talking to me. This viewer knew everything about me, and I had nothing to add to the conversation about their life. This moment changed me forever. I didn’t like the fact that being on TV was a one-way relationship. I was determined to make my job a two-way relationship. After that day, I started recording everything about my interaction with viewers on an Excel spreadsheet. Anytime a viewer emailed, sent a message or called, I’d write their name, contact info and a little nugget about them.
By the time Twitter came along, I was in Seattle and this Excel spreadsheet had a few thousand people on it. I’d spend a few hours a day writing back and forth to these people, reaching out to them randomly, to just say hi. I loved knowing that if I saw them out in public, I could ask about their daughter, or congratulate them on their new job. It made my job so much more meaningful knowing that these people who welcomed me into their lives knew I cared about them, too. The difference with Twitter and my old Excel spreadsheet is that Twitter made this communication public. My bosses knew how many emails I got, but no one else saw them. With Twitter, it’s all out in the open; everyone sees my relationships and communications with viewers. People think I’m on Twitter all the time, but Twitter has actually saved me time. I no longer have to go through an Excel spreadsheet and update it — Twitter does that job for me. I can just look at my feed to catch up with all of my viewers and see what’s going on in their lives.
Did you have to “sell” any of your bosses early on, with regard to engaging fans online and using social media on TV?
My boss was the one who sold me. He suggested I get on Twitter and give it a try. We both decided it I should try it on my personal account before I did it for work. The next day, I woke up and had a few hundred followers. We realized pretty quickly I wasn’t just trying it anymore; that this was a new, powerful way to connect with viewers. I was one of the first in our market to dabble with Twitter, so there were no rules or examples of how to use it as an on-air talent. The only rule my boss gave me was to be myself. This is still the best piece of advice I’ve ever received in regard to using social media and I tell everyone I can to follow his advice.
Do you have a specific strategy or focus for your social engagement?
My social strategy is to community-build. I tell people I mentor that you can either talk on social media, listen, or community-build and do both. I love the community-building model and really encourage you to try this strategy for two weeks if you haven’t already. I know you’ll feel the power of the community you have built. It does take time to do this strategy but it’ll be such an asset to your journalism tool kit. Here are the five rules I live by:
- Impact my community in a positive way with every interaction or post. I want to influence people to have a great day. It’s my goal to bring a smile to the face of my community when they read what I have to say. This means “no posting while grumpy” is a big rule of mine.
- Reply to everyone who writes to me at least once. I started out with a rule that I would reply to every single Tweet. This has been really hard for me to let go of as my Twitter following has grown and I still try to get a reply to everyone.
- Follow everyone who follows me. I love this rule and I will go to bat for it to everyone who tells me otherwise. I believe everyone has a story. As journalists, we to choose who those people are who have a story. I’m honored for people to care enough to want to have me in their feed that I want to return that relationship and follow them back.
- Share moments in my life. If there is a moment that gives me an emotion, I’ll share it on my Twitter feed. It could be something I’m excited about, a piece of clothing I love, a story I’ve read, something someone said to me. If I get jazzed over it, I’ll share it.
- Treat my Tweets as a job shadow. I don’t Tweet teases to watch our show, I tweet what it’s like to do my job. If I am watching an accident on our chopper feed and it’s hard to look at, I’ll Tweet that. If I get starstruck by someone who is in our studio, I’ll let my followers know. It’s more of a behind-the-scenes. I know they can get the news by following our news Tweets, so my feed is all about what it’s like to be me. If I’m covering a story, then they’re going to get information on that story, but it’ll be through my eyes and emotions.
Talk about some of the projects you have outside of KIRO 7 and how those came to be.
I launched MissionHotMama.com in May. It’s an online magazine/blog that covers fashion, fitness and all things fun to inspire mothers to focus on themselves and kick booty in life. The idea of Mission Hot Mama was born right after my baby girl was born. I was on maternity leave and struggling to get back into TV shape. I Tweeted that I needed help and opened up my personal training session to anyone who wanted to come. Twelve mothers showed up the next day and I can’t put in to words how amazing it was to have that support at that time in my life. We called our work out sessions “mission hot mama.” This made such an impact on my life that I launched MissionHotMama.com as a place for this community to call home and help inspire other mothers to know they’re not alone and it’s time to release your inner hotness and shine.
I’m also co-founder of GoGirl Academy, a career acceleration program for women. There are more than 50 graduates of GoGirl Academy since it launched last year and we’re now expanding the company to also help men. Expect a big announcement on that and a name change coming up in September.
You’re already the No. 1 local TV personality on Twitter (by Lost Remote’s count) — where do you go from here? What’s next?
I am so honored to have that title and work hard everyday to give it meaning. I’m passionate about doing online campaigns that help link up my community to help a cause. I’d love all of you to try take the title from me, though. The more of us in influential positions that can be online, building a community, the more good we can do in the world. I am such a believer in the power of social media and the influence it can have on your community. People may read this and think I’m not genuine, but it’s my passion. It found me, and now I just want to share my experiences with others.
I am all about helping people in my industry kick booty online, so please ask if you ever have any questions. That’s probably the reason why I have so many followers, too. I’d say half of them are people I’ve met and given a Twitter-101 to, and made them get online. I can’t help myself. If you aren’t online, you will be after spending five minutes with me. I’ve gotten my lactation consultant, trainer, co-workers, barista… everyone I come into contact with, I am a walking advertisement for Twitter and how powerful it can be.
As for my personal goals online, I want to keep experimenting with the latest technology and stay on the forefront of mixing social media and television. I’m excited about how our industry will look in five-to-10 years. I can’t say what that will be, but I do know the online world will be a big part of shaping our industry’s future.