Brand newsrooms are becoming an essential part of any business venture, but too often they become a repository for press releases and marketing materials. With the right strategy and editorial direction, a brand newsroom can transform into an engaging content hub to help you truly connect with your readers. The question is, how to take your brand newsroom to the next level?
Carl Germann, B2C content lead at Monster, spoke on PR News’ Aug. 28 webinar "How to Create Online Newsrooms to Transform Your Brand" about Monster's editorial strategy and how they reach audiences with tailored, relevant content for every step of the sales funnel.
Here is some of his advice:
Create content around your customers’ journey
The ultimate goal of a brand newsroom is to attract and convert new customers. By providing relevant content around a customers’ journey and their pain points, you can strengthen the consumers’ relationship with your organization.
Germann said that at the Monster Career Advice blog, he and his team are attempting to help people who are unhappy with their job situations. The eventual hope, of course, is that readers will make use of Monster’s job search platform. By providing articles that complement Monster’s business—such as advice on recognizing a toxic work environment, updating a resume, interviewing and adjusting to a new role with a new boss—Germann’s team shows Monster’s customers that they truly want them to succeed.
Dare to be different
As brand newsrooms are becoming ubiquitous, it’s likely that your company is not the only one publishing content in your niche. It’s worth investing the time to find a way to make your newsroom stand out from the crowd. For example, Germann said that his team runs regular polls of Monster’s existing customers on the company website, and incorporates that data into the articles in the newsroom. This gives them a unique edge.
You may also consider working with influencers, who can help craft compelling stories around your brand and attract new audiences you may not have reached before.
Build a publishing plan
Germann stressed the importance of determining the cadence of your post schedule. Learn how often your audience wants or expects to hear from you, and if there’s certain information that calls for weekly or monthly posts. This will also come down to the resources on your team. A smaller team, for instance, may not have the ability to post every day. Or you may have a team of freelancers who need to be managed.
It’s also vital to create an editorial calendar that is easy for everyone on the team to use and follow. Germann uses a spreadsheet in Google Drive because it is accessible from anywhere and is an interface that most are familiar with or is easily taught.
Finally, choose which platforms you want to publish on. Which social media platforms will you use to publicize your newsroom content, and how you will adapt content for different channels.