Make the Most of Your Online Newsroom
Lisa Arledge Powell, President, MediaSourceEasy-to-navigate, comprehensive newsrooms are crucial in today’s crowded content world. You’ve got great content that you want to share with the world. What’s the best way to do it?
The online newsroom—a dedicated space for distributable information about a brand—is commonplace in today’s content landscape. The concept of the digital newsroom is not a new one; online newsrooms have been around since the early days of the internet, long serving as a way for corporate communicators and PR pros to target traditional media with resources such as press releases and kits, photos and video. As technology and the industry evolve, so too must a communicator’s approach to distributing content for clients. The goal of any PR pro, after all, is to maximize exposure for our companies and clients. The most effective way to do that is to make press materials as accessible to journalists—and consumers—as possible.The most effective approach to the online newsroom (and one we adopt at my agency, MediaSource) is to minimize the burden that journalists and consumers experience by eliminating unnecessary hurdles between them and the content they’re looking for. Make it as easy as possible for your audience to access and download the collateral—high-quality images, press releases, videos, etc.—and they’ll value their experience and keep coming back for more.Here are 3 tips to make the most out of your online newsroom and deliver results for your clients:1) Simplify AccessibilityHaving downloadable content on your newsroom is a MUST. All content should be easily downloadable via hyperlink, from the story itself to each individual downloadable element. With simplified delivery at the click of a button, your digital delivery system will ensure producers, editors and reporters—and even the end consumers—are getting what they need with just a click.See how brands like The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mayo Clinic get their content used by more journalists by offering it in easily-downloadable formats.2) Built for the Media — and consumersToday, most brands are communicating not only with journalists as they did in the past, but also directly to consumers. Your newsroom needs to be able to deliver content to both, or you are missing an important audience.3) PersonalizeIf you produce content for more than one brand, set up specific subdomains for each client to keep content together under one address. This will prevent journalists and consumers from wading through irrelevant content to find what they need.4) DiversifyA major distinction between an effective modern newsroom and outdated, traditional online press rooms is the wide range of content, file formats and quality offered with each. Where most newsrooms provide one file type, we see higher utilization of content when giving journalists options to download content in any number of forms. Our traditional content offerings include video, sound bites, photos, scripts, plus specially-edited content for social media in a variety of qualities that can be accessed and downloaded immediately.Refining and adapting your digital delivery system can help you get maximum exposure for your brand’s content. By doing this, we’ve learned firsthand that content is more likely to get accessed and utilized by major outlets, including CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX News, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, NPR and others.Developing an easy-to-use digital delivery system is pivotal to your success as a PR pro. Incorporate these elements to make journalists and consumers’ jobs easier, because a happy journalist is more likely to use your content—and come back for more.
Lisa Arledge Powell is president of MediaSource, an award-winning creative agency that specializes in content-focused public relations, content marketing and national media exposure for major brands. Connect with Lisa on Twitter: @LisaArledge
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