Online Press Room

As the Internet increases the ease of access to information, an essential part of WebPR is ensuring that pertinent information is easy to access. Making sure that journalists, customers and investors are able to find all key company information quickly and easily means that you are able to slip into that conversation that much more easily.

A 2003 Nielsen Norman study found that when a journalist uses a corporate web site to find basic information, they were successful only 73% of the time (Nielsen, 2003). Journalists often work to tight deadlines, and having the required information on hand could make the difference to whether a company is written about and not. An online press room can ensure a company is able to meet journalists’ needs.

An online press room must have: 

• Company history
• Key executive biographies
• Pertinent background information
• Logos and images in a variety of sizes, resolutions (for web and for print) and formats
• All press releases
• Multimedia gallery (video, audio and visual)
• Contact information
• PR representative
• Company
• Search function
• RSS / email alerts
• Tagging capabilities
• Information in a variety of formats

Keeping the information accessible and accurate saves time for both the PR team and for the researcher, and shows an openness to communication.

Pitching to bloggers

Although many journalists are bloggers, bloggers are not journalists. They do not have to answer to their editor or publisher. They generally do not write to pay their bills; they tend to write about things that they are passionate about. They measure success in number of comments, trackbacks and traffic.   To pitch effectively to bloggers, you need to understand these subtleties. There are many useful blog posts by bloggers who get pitched to often, that offer guidelines for the PR industry. The effective PR hack will take note.

As with journalists, building a relationship is the best way to pitch to a blogger. Remember, journalist or blogger, you are reaching out to an individual.

• Read their blog, and engage.
• Make pitches personal and relevant.
• Provide accurate key information. Be descriptive but concise.
• Do not try to spin a story.
• Show you are aware of who is talking about you, and who is talking about their blog.
• Be transparent.
• Provide links to images, logos and press releases. Never send large attachments.

In the US, the beauty PR industry has been noticing the power of bloggers, and some of the cosmetics houses send samples and swag (an industry term for gifts) to bloggers as well as journalists (Schaefer 2008). There is a difference, however. Journalists are generally restricted in the value of the gift they are allowed to accept, and tend to reveal when reviewed products are free samples. The publishing houses need to maintain an unbiased reputation. Bloggers, however, are self publishers, and can make up their own rules as they go along. Some of them accept lavish gifts in return for coverage – coverage that can appear more authentic as it comes from a blogger and not a journalist.