Online Press Rooms …

Website Press Rooms

Key PR/Promotional Tools

The media – local, national, trade and specialty – are, at various times, important targets for Softline’s online and off-line promotional efforts.  The online press room, resident on each of Softline North America’s websites, should be a major asset in Softline’s promotion of its website by reaching the press – paving the way for the use of the media in the promotion of products and services. The following are some ideas on ways to accomplish this ideal.

The website’s press room should be a welcome resource for reporters and trade journal editors – and it should be virtually a stand-alone site (everything they need is here – even if it’s also located elsewhere on the website).  At one site, they should have access to as much of the information they might need to tell the Softline story as we can pack in there.  And though some might consider it redundant, information found elsewhere should be “echoed” in the press room – so reporters and trade journal editors can find what they need without having to leave the Softline press room.  We definitely don’t want to encourage them to surf away.

An effective press room has several distinctive, effective features designed to meet the information needs of working reporters and trade journal editors.  These include posting both press releases and links to substantial supportive documentation, including downloadable illustrations (making reporters’ jobs easier). 

This depth of material, easily accessible by reporters and trade journal editors, will make it possible to generate coverage by distributing brief, provocative press (teasers) – an approach ideal for cost-effective brief wire-posted announcements – as well as faxed or e-mailed briefings or press advisories and announcements.  This becomes a cost-effective alternative to mailing out (or especially to posting to wire services) longer press releases and full-blown press kits.  Research indicated that, in addition to controlling the costs of press release distribution, this approach actually improved press interest – and coverage.

There is a very simple reason for this.  Reporters and trade journal editors tend to be overworked, underpaid, rushed and impatient.  A press room that, by design and content, does much of their work for them, is a pearl beyond price.  Reporters are not, by nature, "lazy" – but they are loathe to recreate the wheel.  When Softline provides them with usable material – assuming there is a legitimate story behind the material – they will strongly consider using that material.

Some key information in the Softline press room (more details on some key features follows the bullet-point list) should include:

·        Bios of the key players of each Softline North America operating company

·        Downloadable graphic images of the key players (as well as company logos and product packages – good, solid PR photos we’d like to see used)

·        A “story” of the company – one that should be updated with each change (for instance, the AccountMate story should reflect complete new management and a down-playing of the former management and its accomplishments)

·        Background (features and benefits, profile of target users, etc.) on each of the products (this may be on the website elsewhere, but it needs to be echoed here so reporters aren’t asked to navigate away from the press room

·        Captured web pages from the Softline South Africa website (to give them parent company background)

·        Softline NA and the Operating Company’s business philosophy (but in a literate, not “corporate,” style)

·        Kudos from satisfied business partners and end users (these will be developed through the forthcoming Leverage program, but we can start with what’s in hand).

·        Case studies from or about both VARs and end-users (including photos, etc.) with permission-to-quote from them (so reporters know it’s OK)

·        Screen-shot captures (or digital reproduction) of articles about Softline and the OC – these should be sorted by topic as well as by date (at least) – we’ll want to gain permission from the publications for each of these … a good way of doing this is to include complete contact and subscription information at the bottom of each article

·        Any business performance information (sales trends, etc.) we are permitted to include – while clearance might be needed from South Africa, Softline is publicly-traded and we should strive at all times to honor SEC rules on full disclosure … we should also strive to be aggressively forthcoming in order to earn the trust of the press

·        Press releases and press advisories (sorted by topic and again by release date)

·        Breaking Industry News (updated daily or better) – this can often be “bought” from a service that monitors news for just this purpose (cost may be an issue) – but it helps to give reporters and trade journal editors access to this kind of information

·        Links to background information on each press release (ideally, these links should lead to a frames page – so the reporters can see the material in the linked sites without leaving the Softline press room.

·        A geographical sorting of business partners’ websites (for times when they want to contact a “local” business partner (all the usual cautions need to be applied here about turning the press loose on our VARs without a head’s up to the VARs).

·        A calendar of upcoming (planned) events, including (where possible) launch dates of upcoming products – kind of like an editorial calendar … we’ll need to update this regularly as dates slip or change, etc.

·        Research findings from the website’s ongoing online survey (and other sources) – more details are below

·        Fun stuff (like downloadable or online Buzz-Bingo and Bullshit-Bingo games)

There are other things that could be included in the press room – this is just start (a template, so to speak) and something with which to begin discussions.

 In more detail, the Softline Press Room should include:

·        Optional Registration – if the press room is accessible only to "accredited" reporters (something that gives the press room a welcoming “exclusivity” some reporters seem to like), you have the opportunity to have them "register" and get information for future opt-in e-mailings and other communications.  Plus, you know how many reporters are using the site. 

No "reporter" should be turned down – approval should be automatic (you never know what a freelancer does in "real life"), but the appearance of exclusivity will enhance the perceived value of the site – and the registration will provide additional useful information to the site-owner and the PR agency.  (Caveat – experience suggests that media registration be encouraged but voluntary – we do not want to be in the situation of turning away reporters who are reluctant to register).

This will mean that some features in the press room will be echoed in the public-access site (prospects will also want to see case studies, read kudos or look at press coverage), but we might decide it’s worthwhile to have a reporter/editor-exclusive press room, too.

·        Hard-hitting, well-written (in accessible language) case studies featuring successful (and well known, especially at first) companies using Softline’s products and services to meet their important goals.  It’s helpful to have two or three for each kind of service (or benefit) we are trying to offer – you’ll never know what will catch a reporter’s eye.  This can be echoed (much of this can be echoed) from elsewhere in the website.  We want these case studies to be written in such a way that a reporter could just lift it and publish it (i.e., professional trade journal-style prose)

·        Breaking news relevant to Softline – this could be national or regional news, or it could be trade-industry news.  This will require monitoring the news or licensing access from a news service to give topical reporters a second- or third-choice for information they want and need in order to keep their constituencies informed.  There are low-cost information feed services that can provide a core of information – this is useful to the media; and it gives users and prospects a reason to come back to the website.  This really works – it helps you become a “portal” for trade reporters, which is definitely a plus for us (this feature would also be interesting to VARs, suggesting we might also want to have a VAR-only website section).

·        New organizational and product-line press releases, along with all appropriate back-up and supporting materials – including bios, position papers, financial statements, transcripts or minutes of meetings, etc., and links to supportive documents and related websites.  These should be updated regularly – try to put out three to five press releases each month (this suggests “activity” and growth to reporters – in Softline’s field, “activity” is a very good thing).  The importance of providing organized background information (bios, case studies, etc.) WITH the press release cannot be over-stated.  Reporters and trade journal editors are busy people – the easier we make their jobs, the more likely they are to respond to us.

·        Lists of useful spokespersons (within and without Softline), along with their contact information – this also makes the reporters' "digging" job far easier, and wins them as friends.  The ‘outside the organization’ spokespersons should be with impartial trade associations, or they should be respected academics (or similar).  By reaching beyond our own staff (though they absolutely should be included), we gain credibility, visibility – and the patina of credibility of those spokespersons will rub off on Softline.

·        Archives of all former press releases, grouped by topic as well as by date (and sorted by date within each topic) – these are often useful for reporters wanting to back-track information. Go one step further and add a search-by-keyword function – reporters really appreciate that.

·        Archives of all former press COVERAGE, grouped by topic (and by date, and sort the material within each topic by date – and have a search function here, too) – this provides a "balanced" counterpoint to the archived press releases, making this site a further benefit to reporters.  Every favorable mention should be included.

·        Full background information, including locations, officers, balance-sheets (because Softline is a publicly-traded company) and other relevant information on Softline and our products and services – carefully cataloged for easy identification.  Again, if the reporters do not have to dig, they can do a quicker story (and will be subtly grateful for the assist, ensuring more balanced coverage).  Companies with something to hide are red meat to reporters; companies with full open-door websites are seen as reliable and not the target of exposes.  Softline should seem open.

·        Include whatever the South African equivalent of 10k, 10Q and online annual reports, as well as for-the-record notices to stockholders and potential investors.  Make the site fully SEC-compliant and a one-stop location for those kinds of documents needed by reporters and others.

·        Bios of the site-owner's key players – top management, key research-and-development people, board members, etc. – along with downloadable photos, etc.  Include statements (quotable) they have made on key issues related to the product, the service and/or the industry.  If needed, we’ll make up those statements to make them sound both savvy (which they are) and in tune with the US/North American market.

·        Website survey “findings.”  Elsewhere on the Softline website, we can and should ask, in survey form, provocative questions of web-visitors – with a special focus on prospects (this can be achieved by focusing the questions).  This is yet one more version of the “factoid” approach I keep advocating.  Then, “announce” the findings (without necessarily mentioning that this kind of opt-in research has no meaningful scientific value, but still makes for great factoids).  Feed the media’s need for plausible-sounding statistics and quotes.

·        "Kudos" – favorable comments from users/readers/customers/clients who have benefited from, and praised in writing (or e-mail) – and who's bylined comments can be reprinted without further requests for specific permission.

·        Graphic illustrations that can be downloaded – corporate and product logos, photos of the products and the people, and other appropriate illustrations.  If you have charts-and-graphs that can be reproduced (with credit) note that on the site – and provide for their easy download.  The same holds true for self-tests and other crowd-pleasing tools and gimmicks. 

Promoting the site is important – if reporters don't know about it or use it, the best press room site on the Internet is worthless.  A few ideas that work include:

·        Not on the site itself, but in promoting it, use e-mail “teasers” to encourage reporters to revisit the press room site to view the site's response to emerging or breaking news within the company or within the industry.  These can be distributed to opt-in e-mail lists.  Colorful postcards are also low cost and useful in promoting reporter visits to the website, especially when not tied to timely breaking news.

·        Another time-tested website press room promotion strategy involves producing weekly “potential story idea” sheets and distribute to the media by fax, e-mail or other means (and post in the press room to catch reporter visitors).  Follow-up using usual PR response systems set up for handling media calls.

·        Related to that, but of a more individual nature, distribute individual or breaking story idea pitches to local, regional and national trades (ideally by e-mail to a standardized/customized opt-in list) to generate potential trade coverage – then make sure that all the info they need to follow up on the suggestion is easily found in the press room.

In summary, Softline’s online press room must become an inviting location for reporters to visit and use.  The site can also be a place where we (together) can build “virtual” relationships that will help make you better respond to press needs – and to generate more, and more favorable coverage for the website and for Softline.

·        Website Press Rooms – Key PR/Promotional Tools

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