Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
This morning there is an article in the Wall Street Journal about social networking sites (Social Sites Don’t Deliver Big Ad Gains) and how the ad revenue from these sites has been disappointing. According to the WSJ, Facebook, Google and other players have been struggling to generate significant revenue from advertising.
I found the article intriguing and extremely salient. Communiqué PR has recently completed project work for Brad Hefta-Gaub, founder of Sweat365, a social networking site aimed at the everyday athlete. Brad has a unique vision for social networking. He believes it is important to provide people with relevant content so they have a compelling reason to repeatedly return to his site.As I read the WSJ article, I couldn’t help but think about the importance of knowing your target audience and what is important to them. Certainly, this is the name of the game in both advertising and public relations. I think Brad has stumbled onto something significant.Sweat365 users blog with the specific focus to help one another live healthier lives and achieve their fitness goals, whatever they may be. And they’re writing to inspire one another to get physically active. Given the specific focus of the site, I anticipate select companies will be more interested in placing targeted ads on his site. It will be interesting to watch what happens in the category as more and more social networking sites look to find a successful business model.
Recently, we provided a client with some suggestions on what kind of content to populate his company’s press room with. Given his company’s Web 2.0 and social-networking focus, we suggested some ideas on how to create an innovative, informative, provocative and interesting online media newsroom.
Before you delve into the tactics of creating your online media room, I recommend you take a minute to consider your objectives and ask yourself the following questions. Why am I creating this? How can I create a site that reinforces the right perceptions about my company? What type of news will we have?
After all, the look and feel of a newsroom for a social-networking company is going to be significantly different than the online newsroom for a company such as Boeing.
Here are some of my initial thoughts on what a company should include in its online press room.
- Press Releases – Clearly any press release the company has distributed should be included. These should be arranged by date with the most current at the top of the page and the least current at the bottom. Consider including an option that allows people to sign up for news feeds, podcasts or RSS feeds from your company. Example: The Body Shop
- In the News – Include links to the articles published about your company. This is a terrific way to extend the shelf-life of news and features, as well as leverage third-parties to reinforce the right perceptions about your company. Example: Farecast, Blue Nile
- Upcoming events – If there are events or conferences your company is participating in, publicize them in the press room. Example: Peet’s Coffee & Tea, SNAPin
- Executive Team – Most journalists want to know who is running the company and a bit about their backgrounds. Photos of key executives also add a lot. Example: MOD Systems, Zillow
- Artwork – Providing visually exciting and stimulating photos that can be easily downloaded is a great way to garner coverage with journalists because this information is easily accessible. This artwork can include photos of your product, your office, or screenshots of your technology. Example: Farecast
- Streaming video – If you have interesting video content consider including it on your site. Example: Whole Foods; Visible Technologies
- PR Contact – Lastly, make sure to include the contact information for members of your PR team so they can respond quickly and efficiently to journalistsí inquiries for additional information. Example: Expedia
In September 2007, Virgin Megastores announced it had created a new kind of social-media newsroom. If you have a minute, consider checking it out. (http://www.virginmegamashup.com/)
We found the site interesting and liked the breadth of content on the site, but found some of the pop buttons annoying.
LINKS
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=766588
http://www.virginmegamashup.com/