There’s good news for public relations execs, marketing
professionals and even one-man-band entrepreneurs: journalists
are surfing your sites looking for news.
It’s true – while some PR people spend months trying to win over
cynical reporters in order to wrangle a company profile or CEO
interview (and get nowhere), an army of journalists are
proactively hunting for facts, figures and interview candidates.
Now the bad news: these same journalists say most online press
rooms suck. Big time. If you’re thinking to yourself: ‘Uh-oh, we
don’t have a press room,’ chances are you’re missing out on
important media opportunities. If you’re thinking: ‘What’s a
press room?’ you need to act fast.
In an ideal world, a press room is a vibrant, constantly updated
section of your corporate website including company
backgrounders, executive profiles, news releases (with a
comprehensive, searchable archive), media mailing list and –
perhaps most importantly – clear and concise contact information
if journalists need to get in touch.
Want to see a great press room? As usual, Google pulls it off by
keeping things nice and simple:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/index.html
If you haven’t got the time or resources to put together a
world-class press room like that, here are a couple of strategies
that can help you in the short-term. But keep in mind these are
suggested as temporary measures – an accessible, professional
press room is no longer a luxury for a company that considers
itself professional, it’s an absolute necessity.