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Monthly Newsletter: The MVPR Spectrum
10 Things To Do To Ensure That Your Online Newsroom Is Doing Its Job
May 28 2003
Hello -
Welcome to the second edition of the MVPR Spectrum, a monthly electronic newsletter published by Mt. Vernon PR & Communications. MVPR Spectrum features topics of interest to communications professionals and others in corporate and association management. You are receiving this email either because you subscribed or were referred as someone who would be interested in the content. Feel free to forward it to your friends and colleagues who might enjoy it; they can opt in by clicking on the "subscribe" link below. If you do not wish to receive future issues, please scroll down to the "unsubscribe" link and opt out.
In this issue:
** 10 Things To Do To Ensure That Your Online Newsroom Is Doing Its Job
**Shoestring PR Awards: Deadline June 30, 2003
**Advice to PR People: Use the Web
Check out the MVPR resources page and click on the links to some of the Web sites we have found helpful. While you are there, you can view our recent white paper and sign up for our white paper alert service (http://www.mtvernonpr.com/resources_wp.asp) And, coming in June, look for our newsletter featuring "Secrets of Successful Media Interviews." If you did not receive the first issue of MVPR Spectrum, "Preparing to Meet the Challenge of Crisis Communications," it is available here: http://www.mtvernonpr.com/newsletter_display.asp?id=6
Best Regards,
Rosanne Desmone
Principal, Mt. Vernon PR & Communications
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MVPR Spectrum
Volume 1, Number 2
May 2003
The MVPR Spectrum is published monthly by Mt. Vernon PR & Communications to provide our friends and clients with information on public relations and communications topics that we trust will be useful and/or interesting.
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***10 Things To Do To Ensure That Your Online Newsroom Is Doing Its Job
This month, we're going to ask you to step back and take a fresh look at your online newsroom. You have a newsroom online to make your company as easily accessible as possible to journalists (and analysts). We're going to look at what makes online newsrooms USEFUL to journalists… what they want to find there and how best to provide the information.
Before beginning this edition, I visited a dozen or so Web sites of companies that are on our distribution list to check out their newsrooms. Of those, one was excellent, one had no newsroom, and the others were somewhere in between. I also visited another dozen or so companies not on the distribution list, with similar results. Everyone has news releases, several have press kits, a couple have executive bios and photos, one has searchable news releases, a few have PR contact names, phone numbers and emails prominently placed, and several have a direct link from the home page to the newsroom. All told, editors would find some of those sites helpful but would probably just not bother with others. To steal from Dave Barry, I am NOT making this up. A study by Vocus of 1,000 journalists stated that only 33% of corporate Web sites provided all the information journalists are looking for when they visit.
Journalists are usually on deadline when they start poking around a Web site to see if a company might fit into a story they're writing. Because they're in a hurry, they want to be able to find information fast and get in touch with someone right away. If they can't do that from looking at your newsroom, they'll move on. So, how do you keep them there and make sure they find what they need? Let's take a look from their perspective…
1) Put a direct link from your home page to your newsroom.
Most companies put a "Newsroom" or "Press" link under the "About Us" or "Company" section of the Web site. Yes, this makes sense architecturally, but a direct link on the home page tells the journalist that you have tried to make his or her job easier. If I'm rushing to get what I need to finish my story, I want it to be as easy as possible to do so.
2) Make sure your contact information - name, phone, and email, are prominently displayed on the newsroom home page.
I have been absolutely amazed at the number of online newsrooms in which I haven't been able to locate the PR contact's name, number, or email. This is one of the most important pieces of information you can offer a journalist. If there's more than one PR person, list them all and their areas of responsibility, if applicable. List your PR agency contacts also. Make sure contact info is one of the first things the journalist sees on entering the newsroom. On some sites I've visited, there is a PR contact listed at the bottom of a news release, but many companies remove that information when they post the release to the Web site. Some sites list only an "info@" or "press@" email.
PR is all about accessibility. If you are a journalist on a deadline, are YOU going to send an email to a no-name person and expect to be answered in time to finish your story? Remember also that not all stories get written between 9 am and 5 pm. Make sure that, if a journalist calls you at 10 pm, you have a 24-hour contact number on your voicemail. This is particularly important in the event of a crisis… you do want to be the first person they reach to find out what's happening. If they can't get you, they are going to find someone; and it could be the competition.
3) Your newsroom should demonstrate your company's thought leadership.
White papers, speeches, bylined articles, and other public communications are ways that your company creates a perception of thought leadership in its industry. This includes views and positions on industry or public policy issues, if appropriate. Your company does not exist in a vacuum and the journalist is often interested in a company's stand on breaking news stories that affect the industry. It's also possible that a journalist is not familiar with your industry, so some industry background can be useful. Many times, when researching a story, a journalist will be looking for an "expert" to interview. If you site carries the right kind of information, linked from the newsroom, one of your execs might just fit the bill.
4) Put everything that you'd want a journalist to know about your company within easy reach.
Don't assume that the journalist who hits your newsroom is going to know or bother to look for where your executive bios are on the site, how to find information about your products or copies of your logos… I am in hog heaven as a journalist when I find an online newsroom that has news releases (searchable is even better), company overview/history, analyst coverage, financial data, exec bios/photos, logos/graphic standards, product or service descriptions and/or photos they can download and use to accompany stories. This doesn't mean you have to restructure your site, but you should at least have a list of these things in the newsroom with links so it's easy to find them (and get back to the newsroom… if I get lost in your site, I'm outta there). The information you provide also should allow a journalist to put your company in context… how many employees, annual sales, years in the industry, etc.
5) Forget the marketing hype… just the facts, please.
Don't offer journalists downloadable brochures as the only option for product or company information; they really don't want to navigate through the marketing hype to the heart of the matter. A file of brief product descriptions is a far better option, and you can offer a link to the brochures as well.
6) Lovely to look at often means too long to download.
Forget the fancy stuff… flash, large graphics files, and the like. Please remember that many journalists write on the road in hotel rooms or at home late at night… and don't always have broadband access. I visited one site this week that actually had great information… but it was in zip files. I was using DSL and it took 45 sections to download… then I had to unzip, and save it somewhere. All I wanted to do was read it. And if I had to download zip files with a typical modem, it just wouldn't happen. It's much better to offer HTML or Word or pdf files that are smaller and easier to download. Again… this is about accessibility for journalists.
7) Search and/or sort capability
Most journalists want to be able to search your newsroom. If possible, then, this kind of tool would be a great addition. If not, at least try to offer a search and/or sort capability for your news releases. This service might just help a journalist find something that would interest her in your company.
8) Offer an email alert service.
If a journalist is covering your company as part of a regular "beat," it makes sense that he or she would welcome information from you in the form of news releases. Or notification when new white papers, speeches, events, etc., are added to the site. Sometimes this could be a simple monthly email noting what's new in the newsroom. But make sure to use this only for real news; too much non-useful "stuff" and they'll opt off your list!
9) Forget about asking media to register to enter your newsroom.
Yes, you want to know who's visiting, but to many journalists this is just a big turnoff. What's of more concern, however, is that registration is a barrier to access and… PR is all about accessibility. (You may have noticed that I can't say this too often.)
10) Include a link to your newsroom in your contact information in every release.
You can start adding another line to your contact information in all your news releases - "Online newsroom: www.mycompanynewsroom.com" This is one way to market your newsroom and drive media there to see what's happening. The only caution: be sure you make their trip worthwhile or they won't bother a second time.
If you have questions about online newsrooms, feel free to contact me at rdesmone@mtvernonpr.com. I'll be happy to provide answers if I can.
***Shoestring PR Awards - Deadline: June 30, 2003
PRSourceCode and Adweek Magazine's Technology Marketing invite PR practitioners to enter the 2003 Shoe-String PR Technology Awards, which recognize innovative, business-to-business technology campaigns that deliver significant ROI on an annual budget of $100,000.00 or less. Nominations are open to corporate public relations teams only. Deadline is June 30, 2003. Visit www.PRSourceCode.com to learn more and obtain PRSourceCode's easy-to-use Shoe-String PR Technology Awards nomination form
*** Advice to PR People: Use the Web
Larry Magid has been a technology journalist for 20 years. His advice is worth taking… particularly his admonition to use the Web. Read Larry's open letter to PR pros by clicking on the link below.
http://www.larrysworld.com/pr.htm
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Mt. Vernon PR & Communications (MVPR) provides a full range of public relations and marketing communications services to companies and associations on the move, in a hurry, and determined to stay on top. We specialize in creating and enhancing your visibility and credibility in the marketplace, using your unique capabilities and expertise as the building blocks. For more information about Mt. Vernon PR & Communications, please visit our web site at www.mtvernonpr.com
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