Best Practices in Online Media Relations: Utilizing Internet Newsrooms and RSS to deliver on Strategic Communications Objectives
Posted by Administrator on September 20th, 2005
By Dee Rambeau (DVCO Technology) and Chris Bechtel (iPressroom, Inc.)
A unique perspective:
Authors Dee Rambeau and Chris Bechtel are competitors - both work for firms offering Online Newsroom software to corporate, non-profit and agency clients. Yet, this article is not intended to be a sales pitch. We’re growing tired of the complaint from the media that PR professionals don’t adequately provide information to the working media in a timely and effective manner.
So, we have joined together to provide practical insight and best practices in online media relations, internet newsrooms and RSS (gleaned from actual hands-on experience providing online newsroom software and related services to hundreds of clients from small to large, private to public). We recognize that blogs, wikis, RSS, and the like are great technologies. We also recognize that you, as a PR professional, might be overwhelmed by all of it. Because of that, we’ve chosen to focus on a boring, old idea (4 or 5 years)… online newsrooms with real-time content control by the PR team. What a concept!
Because of the breadth of our combined experience, we are uniquely qualified to provide this perspective. If our tone seems pedantic, or even sales-driven, it’s only because we truly believe in what we say, and our beliefs have been validated by satisfied customers, site visitors, and journalists time and time again. Plus…you’ll see real, current examples of companies that are doing it right! If our tone seems light-hearted, it’s because we have fun with this. We love helping PR pros be better at their job…it’s a passion. Ask us and we’ll give you some clients to reference that have become good friends and fellow evangelists.
If you are:
- Looking to upgrade or evolve your Online Newsroom
- Satisfied with your current Online Newsroom, but want to improve your process
- Don’t know a thing about Online Newsrooms
- Or don’t think Online Newsrooms add any value at all
You should read on…
Chapter 1: The Fundamental Reasons to have an effective online newsroom or news section of your Web site.
- News deadlines are now 24/7. Journalists are getting to the punch quicker.
- Website content MUST be accurate and timely. No excuses for old content.
- Website is first point of contact during breaking news. They won’t call you!
- Crisis Communications plans must have online element. Stuff happens.
- PR professional must have direct control of content. Direct means now.
- Stop the Madness of emails with attachments. Complete waste of time.
- PR team must be able to track the traffic and results. Demonstrate your value.
- Everyone is doing more with less…on all sides. Your IT guys are busy.
- Website software today is better and more flexible. No excuses.
- The online newsroom products are specific to your tasks. Tired of your CMS?
Chapter 2: I’m a Journalist doing my job. This is my Life.
- Deadlines are now 24/7. The news waits for no one.
- Website is first point of contact during breaking news. I’m coming…
- Reporters covering specific industries doing research. My assistant is coming…
- Editors looking for story ideas or fact-checking. My boss is coming…
- Clicking through to your site from a news release. Immediately.
- Lots of consumer-generated media, such as blogs. I need the official take.
- What is the company’s angle during a crisis? Is your head in the sand?
- Technology and bandwidth is better in newsrooms. I have broadband…yippee!
- Hi speed connections at home. I have broadband…yippee!
- There are a lot more freelancers now. Working from home was never better.
Chapter 3: What your online newsroom absolutely can’t be without.
- Content that is absolutely accurate and up-to-the minute. That means now.
- News releases posted automatically from the wire. Automation = less man-hours.
- PR Contacts info by email and by cellphone. Remember the 24/7 deadlines?
- Archived news releases by year or topic. That last merger or acquisition…
- Entire site searchable by topic or keyword. Duh…
- Articles or headlines about your company and industry. What are others saying?
- Fact sheet, backgrounders, case studies, images. Easy filler for articles.
- Events Calendar. Trade shows, media tours, speaking engagements.
- Press Kit. Offer as a whole and as separate elements for cut and paste options.
- Opt-in registration for news alerts. Stop blasting. Be CAN-SPAM compliant.
Chapter 4: Some advanced features to consider (and yes, our tools have it…)
- Consider a high-resolution image gallery. You can control access if necessary.
- RSS or SMS alerts. Not many journalists are using yet, but they will.
- Streaming audio and video of VNRs, webcasts. Multimedia rules.
- Podcasts. It’s buzzy, but it’s relevant. Try it.
- “dark� sections that can be turned on in crisis quickly. Merck? Kryponite?
- Poll, survey, or appointment booking tools. How $$ was that last media tour?
- Access to clipping database. What are others saying?
- Subject Matter Experts. Direct contact endorsed by you.
- Urgent news notification by phone. Not everyone is on their computer always.
- Advanced Site Traffic Monitoring. Create more budget by proving ROI.
Chapter 5: Best Practices if you’re an Agency…
- Manage site content for client as a value-add. They’re busy.
- Train your entire team to write for the web. Value to client.
- Retention—you become integral to them.
Duh… - Account Growth—your client might pay you to do it. Duh…
- Competitive Edge—not many agencies are doing it. Truly, they’re not.
- Professional Development—open up your skill set. APR? How about EPR?
- ROI—prove your worth with good web metrics. Job security.
Chapter 6: Best Practices if you’re a Corporate Practitioner…
- Make the MediaRoom really easy to find from the site. Spoon-feeding…
- Make the navigation intuitive. Make it really easy.
- Make it a link in your highest level of navigation. Busy journalist…on deadline.
- PR team maintains autonomy over site…no approvals outside team. IT—whew!
- DO NOT require signup for access. Transparency is the buzz-word.
- Keep up with the industry features—RSS as a good example. New rules apply…
- Have pre-populated “dark� sections for crisis. Katrina anyone?
- Do “pre� and “post� metrics to benchmark campaigns. ROI
- Offer multiple signup opportunities to build lists. If you build it they will come…
- Password-protect sections for exclusives or image download tracking. Options.
Again, our goal here is to educate and to have fun. We’re of the belief that making webmasters out of PR professionals is a good thing! We hope you appreciate our serious, yet tongue-in-cheek approach. New technology does not have to be difficult. Making changes within your organization does not have to be difficult. Unfortunately, it usually is. We understand that…so we wanted to give you some ammo to help you effect that change. You CAN improve your internal process for posting news and media content. You don’t HAVE to be held hostage by a web team or a difficult content management system that doesn’t work for your specific corporate communications needs.
So how do you get started?
First, realize that it might sound complicated but it isn’t. An experienced consultant or provider can facilitate change effectively and immediately, helping you demonstrate the business value to others in your organization and minimize the impact on your resources and already limited time. In many cases, it can be a matter of only a few business days.
Next, walk yourself or your team through a high-level checklist or scorecard (or hire a consultant to do this for you). Feel free to use the content provided here as a guideline. Ask the questions: How does your current newsroom (if you have one) stack-up? Are you missing elements that may have a real and measurable impact on your overall communications program? Are you providing everything you can in as easy a manner as possible to a working journalist on deadline? Is our internal process for getting content posted to that site a good one? Be critical.
Then create a list of the objectives critical to your organization and see if any of those align with the features listed above. For example, if one objective is “be prepared in the event of a crisis” - then make sure you have a “dark area” in your Online Newsroom that is pre-populated with appropriate content and can be activated by a member of your PR team within minutes of any crisis.
Finally, talk to the journalists and other constituents that look to your website as a resource for information. If they get news from your competitors via RSS and you don’t offer the same service it may hurt you in the long run. Ask questions…poll your audience.
Technology facilitates communication and your presence on the web is the first stop for journalists when they need information. Journalists have stated repeatedly (to us anecdotally and in numerous surveys and studies) that their online experience of a company or organization’s website directly impacts their perception of that firm relative to the competition. Make sure you are prepared to impact perceptions in a positive way.
Will blogs and wikis become an important tool for PR professionals? That remains to be seen. Online newsrooms are an absolute necessity for the strategic online communications team. Build it, buy it, but get it done.
About the authors
Dee Rambeau is the founder and a Managing Partner of DVCO Technology, a Denver-based firm specializing in online tools for professional communicators. DVCO developed the PR Newswire MediaRoom product and Dee is the national product champion to PRN’s clients. A 20 year veteran of marketing communications, Dee is active in PRSA and other professional groups. He is an active blogger and evangelist of online tools for communicators.
Chris Bechtel has been a marketing and communications professional for more than 12 years, specializing in helping organizations (from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits) maximize the results of their marketing and public relations programs through the use of technology and strategic communications. He is presently the COO and Vice President of Marketing and Product Development for iPressroom Corporation, an online marketing and public relations software and services provider, specializing in Internet Pressrooms, virtual private press kits, RSS, Podcasts, and more. Chris conducts executive workshops and training, and contributes to the corporate Internet PR News Blog
September 20th, 2005 at 9:29 pm
Well done, truly comprehensive yet concise.
September 20th, 2005 at 10:54 pm
Dee and Chris,
I like it! The textook style was both easy-to-follow and entertaining to read.
Granted, I was pretty familiar with the points you’re making because I just got to experience Dee’s pitch in person (very thorough and convincing, I should mention), so this explanation supplements and reiterates the concepts I was exposed to last week with Dee’s presentation. Even without all this encouragement, however, I am a strong supporter of a well-run, up-to-the minute online newsroom.
I’m going on my fifth year as webmaster for an organization with about 170 members. The organization has events and meetings going on almost every day of every week. To keep people informed, I created a section of the site to serve as a perpetual source of information — with an interactive calendar, archives of documents, contact information, relevant write-ups about event details, etc. — all updated as soon as the information was released (sometimes several times a day). It became the one-stop source for all the members looking for any kind of information. It is, in essence, this organization’s internal newsroom.
Now … if a non-professional organization can get so much use out of a newsroom, don’t you think it’s even more important for a business to embrace this concept as well??
Of course! Members of the media need somewhere to go (quickly!) for accurate and specific information about your company. I strongly agree that it’s increasingly necessary to have a fresh, efficient and thorough newsroom.