I’ve been poking around a lot of online press rooms lately. Interestingly enough, they all seem to fall into one of three categories: bare bones, yesterday’s news or robust resource.
The bare bones media room is like a pizza box at a Weight Watchers convention—empty. If you’re lucky, you’ll find contact information for a media rep, but that’s usually about it.
The yesterday’s news media room is like a day old danish—stale. The news is outdated and the page feels frozen in time.
Now the robust media room, that’s a different story, the robust media room is like a Porsche 911—fully loaded.
So, “Gentlemen, start your engines” and check out these four steps to get your media room up to speed and on the right track.
Provide Comprehensive Contact Information
Journalists are always under deadlines and juggling multiple stories. They don’t have the time or the patience to be searching around your press page for contact information. Make sure to include the name, phone numbers (office and cell), and email address for an accessible PR contact. You should also provide a general contact option such as press@organization.com for less pressing issues.
Offer an Extensive Press Kit and Multimedia
Provide your company history, executive bios, board list, high-resolution logos, photos, head shots, awards, links to recent media coverage, videos and podcasts. The easier you make the journalist’s/blogger’s job, the more likely they are to write about you.
Share Information on Your Industry or Cause
Want your press room to become a destination for journalists and bloggers? Then offer more than just information on your company or nonprofit and provide information on your industry or cause. Use tip sheets, fact sheets, polls, and surveys to make your case. For example, let’s say you’re a PR person for a major airline, you could compile a fact sheet of the latest consumer trends in flying: how often the average person flies, the percentage of passengers who do not check baggage, etc. Why not create a tip sheet on how to save on airfare? Go beyond the pale and provide journalists/bloggers with the all the ammunition they need to write a story. They will soon start to see you as an industry resource rather than a PR rep for your organization.
Create a Calendar of Events and Speaking Gigs
Journalists and bloggers often attend trade shows, conferences and seminars. Why not create a calendar of executive public speaking appearances along with the conferences and trade shows you’ll be attending. You never know…a journalist/blogger may decide to attend your session or swing by your trade show booth for a chat.
This is a great post! We will work these tips into our media page. Thanks for sharing!
We’re also working with our customers to come up with our “3 word differentiator”. This is surprisingly tough. Wonder what techniques others have used to develo this if they don’t have a marketing department.