Publicists: It's Time to Embrace the Technology of Online Press Kits
Publicists: It's Time to Embrace the Technology of Online Press Kits
As an online marketing strategist, I work with clients in the media industry on a daily basis. What I've discovered is that far too many publicists and press agents don't understand or appreciate the power of their own online press kits. In fact, they are still relying on emailing CDs to journalists as a main facet of their professional outreach efforts. This article seeks to elucidate why it's time for publicists and press agents to embrace the technology of online press kits.
First and foremost, readers should know that an online press kit consists of a set of links that lead to each page on your site. You can think of it as a navigation tool.
Let's say you have a press release and a media kit on your website. You create an online press kit with links to each of those two resources from your site's homepage. Now when you want to send this information out to the media, you simply need to send the link to the online press kit instead of embedding these items into the email itself. You can even add this link to your press release distribution list, and every time you send a new press release out, it will automatically include a link to your online press kit.
The main advantage of an online press kit is that it saves you (and your recipients) time. The average journalist receives hundreds of emails on a daily basis, many of which could be considered spam. How many emails have you opened lately that contained only a link? What if that link was to an online press kit instead?
Another possibility for publicists and journalists is the use of online press kits for story ideas. Let's say that you're working with a reporter who covers entertainment news and someone in the entertainment industry has just released a book. If you know that the reporter has a certain interest in books, then you can create an online press kit for this person that would include links to all of his favorite books.
If you have a handful of news releases, the benefit of creating an online press kit is that it allows you to collect all these items into one place. The same thing goes for media kits on your website. You simply need to make sure that these links are accessible under your contacts in your online directory of media contacts.
And finally, let's say that you're working with a writer who has also written an article about you or your company. Wouldn't it be nice to have a link to his article about you or your company on your media contact page?
As a creative marketing strategist, I believe that emailing CDs is outdated. It harkens back to the days when publicists and press agents were calling reporters in hopes of getting an interview. The fact is, if you want to remain relevant as a professional publicist or press agent in 2010 and beyond, then you need to embrace the benefits of online press kits.
If you'd like more information, please visit www.thepublicistblog.com .
Dennis Yu is the author of The Publicist Blog: A Quick and Easy Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Learn the Basics of Being a Successful Publicist or Press Agent in Seven Days or Less.
He is also the founder and CEO of YouSendIt.com, an online file transfer company with over three million registered users. In addition, he is also the founder and president of Invite Media, a real-time bidding advertising platform that recently won AdAge's "2009 Hot Startup" award. Prior to his current roles, Dennis was a management consultant with Accenture and has consulted for Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Intel, MTV Networks, ING Group and Caesars Entertainment. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Marketing/Strategic Planning and a B.A. in International Relations. Dennis lives and works in Silicon Valley, California.
Dennis Yu is the author of The Publicist Blog: A Quick and Easy Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Learn the Basics of Being a Successful Publicist or Press Agent in Seven Days or Less.
He is also the founder and CEO of YouSendIt.com, an online file transfer company with over three million registered users. In addition, he is also the founder and president of Invite Media, a real-time bidding advertising platform that recently won AdAge's "2009 Hot Startup" award. Prior to his current roles, Dennis was a management consultant with Accenture and has consulted for Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Intel, MTV Networks, ING Group and Caesars Entertainment. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Marketing/Strategic Planning and a B.A. in International Relations. Dennis lives and works in Silicon Valley, California.
http://www.freedomfourmedia.com/publicists-time-embrace-technology-online-press-kits/
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Interview with publicist Linda Graye: http://publishingperspectives.com/2010/11/linda-graye-on-the-history-of-the-publicist/#more-10177
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https://web.archive.org/web/20130922190927//http://www.publicistblog.com:80/_blog/_archives_content/_archive_articles//the_good_the_bad_and_the_ugly_of___
https://web.archive.org/web/20130715023124//http://www.wanderleymediaincorporateddba(dot)com
http://www.wanderleymediaincorporateddba(dot)com/
http://www.wanderleymediaincorporateddba(dot)com/contact-us
http://publicists.wordpress. com/2010/04/18/of-course-a-publicist-isnt-just-a-publicist/
https://web.archive.org/web/*/*/*publishersassociation(dot)com#page_1
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Public Relations and Social Media: Current Perspectives and Future Directions, (pp. 161–183).
Conclusion
The Public Relations and Social Media: Current Perspectives and Future Directions is a compilation of articles written by academic experts in the field of PR, technology, communication and journalism. The book was designed specifically for educators, students and practitioners interested in learning about social media platforms that are typically used by PR professionals. These platforms include blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube among others. The book is also designed to provide readers with expert opinions from scholars writing in the field.
The work discusses the importance of using social media platforms for public relations purposes as well as potential pitfalls that need to be addressed when using these platforms. This book also discusses how to use today's technology effectively so that organizations can achieve their goals better than ever before..