Tips Hotline Operator:
“PR Tips Hotline, what’s your question?”
Caller:
“Does my business really need an online press room?”
In many, many cases, the answer is YES! Your media contacts can benefit greatly from a press room (a.k.a. news room) – managed by your PR team – to keep them abreast of your company’s latest endeavors, innovations, accomplishments and much more.
Press Room Contents
The best way to make use of an online press room is to make it an easy-to-find and user-friendly “asset” management tool for your media contacts. A place they can go to easy access information, images or videos about your company, its spokespersons and products/services.
In a typical press room, the media will appreciate the following information and materials:
- Media Relations Contacts
- Current Annual Report
– Annual Report Archive
- Company Backgrounder
- Company & Product Fact Sheets
- Executive Bios
- Image & Video Library
– Executive Headshots
– Facility Interior and Exterior Shots
– Product Beauty Shots
– Product Application Shots
– Videos (by type: education/how-to; promotional; social; etc.)
- Recent News Releases
– Archive of Past News Releases
- Resource Library
– Technical Papers
– Research Reports
– Company History
– White Papers
Ultimately your press room should be tailored to suit the specific needs of your media contacts, your business and PR/marketing objectives.
Publicity Placement Archive
For your company’s own benefit, you’ll also want to maintain a page within the press room that provides a detailed list of publicity placements (name of media outlet, title of placement, publish date, type of placement, author) along with a link to each placement (a PDF copy of the placement or link to the media outlet’s archived version of the article/video/audio placement).
Your Press Room’s Home
When communicating with your media contacts, you’ll frequently and consistently point them to your online press room to access information, images, etc. In electronic communications, you’ll include a hotlink (hyperlink) that takes your media contact directly to your press room.
But don’t stop there. Any great resource to the media becomes accessible day or night. You never know when a story idea will hit an editor, and if your press room is useful and memorable, he or she may just firm-up their story idea by taking a look at the information you’ve made easily available online. So, make sure that the URL of your press room is short, sweet and makes total sense. For example, “WidgetsUSA.com/pressroom.” Or, “WidgetsUSAPressRoom.com.”
Of course, you’ll make sure your press room pages comply with all of the basic search engine optimization best practices so that when a reporter searches Google for “Widget USA annual report” she’ll be a click away from your press room.
Finally, you’ll want to make your press room easily available from your site’s Home Page and About Us section. Intuitively, the media will look for a Press Room link on these pages.
For public relations counsel, press release (news release) development guidance, press release distribution or media relations support, get in touch with me.
Denise B. Hearden
Be Heard Marketing
