Strategies for Online Newsrooms

Almost everyone is bombarded with marketing messages.

Getting your message heard is a challenge with all of the background noise and the ability of the younger generation to filter.

To succeed, you have to find new platforms and not only listen to the conversation, but also participate.

One way to do this is by developing an online newsroom, which becomes the headquarters for all of your audiences, explained Ibrey Woodall, vice president of web communications services for Business Wire.

Her company conducted a survey of reporters and found that 77 percent want to find information on an online newsroom.

Reporters expect to find PR stories (88%); breaking news (87%) and PR contacts (80%). Fact sheets (64%) are regaining in popularity.

Also important on an online newsroom are images (63%), press kits (53%) and biographies (52%).

Woodall said reporters are looking for quotes in the stories, photos and interesting angles.

“It’s all about being able to download without having to contact you,” she said.

Reporters also want to see releases that go back several years. More than half (52%) said they want the releases to go back one to five years. Twenty-seven percent want sites to have a full archive of releases.

Woodall’s recommendation after five years to only post “milestone releases,” which are releases that share significant news about the organization. Releases about event and minor news should be removed.

Once you have your newsroom built, you need to promote it.

  • Include the URL for the newsroom on your business card.
  • Include a link to it in your email signature.
  • Link to it from the main navigation of your site.
  • Issue a media advisory about the site and encourage reporters to subscribe to it so they can receive an alert when new content is posted.

The Myth of Work-Life Balance

When asked about how she creates work-life balance, Melanie Liddle Healey, group president-North America, Procter & Gamble, bluntly told a group at a women and leadership conference, “I don’t believe in work-life balance. There is no balance.”

That doesn’t mean we should all become discouraged. She suggested three ways to have a happy life.

The first, she said, is to know when things in your life aren’t working. Once you recognize that, you can make changes.

Communicating expectations also is key. When she returned from maternity leave, she knew she wanted to be home to have dinner with her family. She spoke with her boss and explained that she would be 100 percent focused on her job between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. She also asked him to ensure that meetings ended by 6 p.m. He agreed.

Finally, she said to drop guilt. “It will eat you up,” she observed. Instead, she said you should delegate those things that don’t add much value and cherish those that mean the most.

It’s a good road map if only we would follow it.

How to Avoid Jargon Monoxide

I doubt there is a writer alive who hasn’t been told to avoid jargon, acronyms, company speak. We’re all guilty of it as some point, myself included.

To help you avoid it in the future, take the photo from this post, and place it on your computer. It’s from Polly LaBarre, founding member of Fast Company and editorial director of MIX.

When you avoid these words, you will begin to speak “human.”

If you want to speak human, you must avoid:

  • Buzzwords
  • Acronyms
  • Canned Biz Speak
  • Abstract technical terminology, such as incentivize or right size
  • Word barf
  • Verbal detritus (think outside the box)
(Polly LaBarre slide)

(Polly LaBarre slide)

Disconnect to Connect

I was at a conference recently and after finding the room of the workshop I sat down at one of the round tables and immediately engaged with my smartphone. I was aware of people sitting down at the table with me but I was focused on my screen.

And then it hit me…

2 people texting on their phones

Are you focused on your smartphone and not the human beside you? (Photo by Cynthia Price)

I’m at a conference, and I should be networking. Instead I’ve missed the human interaction because I’m too busy on my device.

I put my mobile down and introduced myself to each person. I then shared my epiphany. They all agreed they had done the same thing. We each committed to introducing ourselves at the remainder of the workshops we would attend.

Our mobiles are wonderful devices, but they are taking over. Consider the following:

95% of people use the phone for something just before going to bed at night

90% of smartphone users age 18-29 sleep with a cell phone

The average user checks their phone 110 times a day – that three hours and sixteen minutes a day

These facts are courtesy of David Fletcher’s presentation at the PRSA International Conference in Washington, D.C. He is the founder and executive director of The Mechanism.

Further proof that mobile is controlling the world:

I think it’s now the joint project of all of us to make mobile to answer to pretty much everything.

Eric Schmidt, Google

I love mobile. In many ways it has simplified my life. I am seldom lost anymore. I always have an alarm clock. I can reach a friend in many ways through my device – Skype, phone, email, text, Facebook messenger.

Sometimes, though, there is something to be said for being human. A greeting, a smile, a handshake.

Did you miss the human for your device?

How to Tell Your Brand’s Story Through the Lens of a Journalist

Plenty of jobs exist for journalists, says Brian Ellis, executive vice president for PadillaCRT.

The catch is that they are not with newspapers, but rather PR firms and companies that need storytellers.

It’s part of the strategy to use brand journalism to become your own news engine. It involves replacing the traditional approach to media relations. “It’s a mindset around what is news and what is appealing to consumers,” Ellis said.

The term is first credited to McDonald’s. Larry Light, chief marketing officer at McDonald’s, said in 2004 that mass marketing, which focused on brand positioning, no longer worked and that “no single ad tells the whole story.”

McDonald’s, he said, had adopted a new marketing technique: “brand journalism,” which involves multiple channels and journalism-style writing.

Here’s a comparison of traditional marketing and brand journalism that Ellis shared:

  • :30 commercial v YouTube video
  • Press release v unbiased feature stories and blog posts
  • Research presentations v infographics
  • Community events v Facebook conversations and Twitter promotions

Brand journalism should be tied to your business strategic plan. It’s important to evaluate the skills of those you hire as they need to be strong writers, preferably with a journalism background. They also need to be quick thinkers and naturally curious.

Brand journalism also involves breaking down silos. It’s critical to integrate marketing, public relations and the digital functions. The infrastructure needs to be built to support web and social media. Finally, it’s important to measure and track the actions of readers and viewers.

Ellis offers a word of caution: “Once you start down this path, it’s not easy to go back.”

An editorial calendar is essential for success as it allows you to track all of your platforms and how your content is shared. “You need to understand how to repurpose content,” he said. “You want to get everything you can out of a story.”

This means identifying the visuals that will accompany the story, as well as writing it simply so the story can be understood. Data points from the story can become graphic points.

Brandjournalists.com offers these tips:

  • Focus on the audience
  • Find a voice
  • Be credible
  • Keep it simple
  • Think visual
  • Unbrand your content