Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
If you’re a vegan business owner you likely have an arsenal of promotional tools that you use to get the word out about your business. But is an electronic press kit one of the tools you are using?
In today’s digital world, newspapers, information packets, media kits and many other forms of traditional media and public relations documents are quickly moving to an electronic format – why? Because the digital versions can be distributed more quickly, inexpensively, and to a greater number of people. It’s likely that you have some experience with digital documents for your company…but are you using these documents on your website too? If not, think about it! Having an electronic press kit in the PR section of your site can be one of the smartest moves you make.
Having an electronic press kit on your website allows journalists and public relations professionals to access information about your company when they are doing research for an article, press release, or current event. Electronic press kits also enable current and future customers or visitors to access the information they need to make decisions about purchasing products or hiring your company.
Having the correct items in your electronic press kit is key. The first things should be the mission statement and company goals, a company backgrounder, and contact information. The mission statement will let people get familiar with your company’s business and customer relationship goals. The backgrounder is an in-depth biography of the company addressing why the company exists, who founded it, the locale and any other additional information that is relevant. Essentially, the backgrounder sheet is the company history up to the present day. Following these two documents should be the company contact information. If you have more than one executive you may want to consider having a contact information sheet that includes the top administrators of the company. When all these documents are ready for the press kit, make sure you have included the company logo in the heading of the documents. Establishing the logo is good for branding and will help customers, visitors and the media remember who you are.
The next set of documents you should include in the press kit are any press releases that have been written to date, recent press clippings, and testimonials from customers or clients. Press releases that have generated a lot of media coverage for your company are newsworthy documents that will build the company’s reputation and character. Recent press clippings, articles and testimonials will allow viewers to see how successful and productive the company is when taking on projects or producing a product that meets quality and customer satisfaction.
Next, include a business fact sheet containing noteworthy business achievements, business statistics, results from recent projects, unique qualities of your products, and business locations and headquarters. Interesting or important company information can be written in the fact sheet. In addition to the fact sheet you can add any brochures you have in electronic form, and a page created for listing company events such as seminars, webinars, project release dates for visitors to look forward to, or product production dates for new or improved
services or products.
An electronic press kit is an important aspect of a company website. Make sure you have all the correct documents in the kit for anyone—media or the public—to access for any reason. Sample work and high resolution photos will add an extra “oomph” to your kit – and will save you time when people are looking for quality photographs to do with your business.
Do you have an electronic press kit? If not, now’s a great time to create one!
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Alex Jaakola is a Public Relations Major with the Vegan Mainstream Internship. In her spare time she likes the outdoors, camping and rock climbing. Watch for more marketing and PR articles from Alex in the coming weeks.
