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Use Your Web Site to Support PR Messaging
by Tracy Chapman

Being in the online marketing business, I regularly read newsletters and ezines that write about various internet companies and products, obviously being promoted by PR and other marketing folks; yet so often I find that the company Web site is not supporting the messaging.

I know PR can be expensive - I’m in the business. I know what kind of effort it requires to develop messaging, spin it in the right way, utilize relationships developed with editors to get some positive press, and then follow up on those efforts to determine if they were successful in influencing target audiences. It’s not just the dollars themselves that can make PR expensive, it’s also the time, hours and resources required to run an effective campaign that can contribute to the cost. Whether you’re a CEO, CFO, Marketing Manager, PR Account Executive, or small business owner, you’ve probably spent some late night hours worrying about the bottom line and what kind of ROI your PR and marketing campaigns are providing.

Why then, do so many companies ignore their Web site? Especially companies with huge Internet initiatives? When you’re spending valuable time and money pitching stories, and getting some great press, why leave the Web site out of the mix?

Everyday I read really great articles on new products, interesting promotions, creative company partnerships, and things I’m personally interested in, but when I click through to the Web site, I can’t find the slightest hint of what I just read about. Not a link, not a "coming soon", nothing. Zilch, nada, squat. They HAD me. They got my attention, piqued my interest. And I took the bait, clicking through to the site to find out more, to order the new product, to sign up for the contest, to take the action they wanted me to take - and they lost me.

Do these companies really expect me to "check back later" to see if they’ve finally updated their Web site? Do they expect me to even remember who they are in a few days and why I clicked through to their site in the first place? Not a chance if the Web site hasn’t delivered the first time.

I am truly baffled by this all too common oversight. Surprisingly, it is often the dot.coms who are the worst offenders. Maybe there is a serious lack of communication between public relations departments and Webmasters. Maybe these companies haven’t yet grasped the term "integrated marketing" or maybe they don’t understand the true power of their Web sites as an effective communications vehicle. Whatever the case, as a site visitor it is a frustrating experience.

Let’s look at some recent examples:

In a Wired article titled "Newspapers Link to the Future", they talk about a really cool new scanner device being tested in South Carolina where readers of the local newspaper can scan in barcode enhanced URLs within the content of the newspaper, and go straight to those sites next time they login and upload the data to their PCs. I’ve wanted to see a device like that for a long time, so of course I was interested. The company who makes the scanner, GoCode, also had their URL listed in the story, so I went to the site to find out more. Turns out they don’t even have a site at all! What shows up is the Network Solutions page indicating that someone indeed owns this URL, but that they haven’t put a site up yet. Why pitch your story, promote your product and URL, but not even put up a placeholder page with your logo and some contact information? Why not include a simple form where I can enter my email address to be notified when the site is live, not to mention capture some information about me for future marketing efforts at the same time? (Note: the site finally did come online about a week after this article was written. The only reason I went back was to confirm the URL for this story.)

Digitrends wrote about a company called CinemaNow which mentioned a new sponsorship program they have created that will provide encoding and streaming services to deliver films from festivals to the Internet. This is big news for independent filmmakers who want to promote their films online, as well as enthusiasts who want access to these films that are otherwise hard to come by. I went to the site, sat there waiting for what seemed like an eternity for access to the site while an animated film reel rolled across the screen with the letters L-O-A-D-I-N-G reappearing on a continual loop, and finally got to the homepage that contained no information whatsoever about their new service. It wasn’t clear where to click to find the information I was looking for. I tried a few different pages, but left the site pretty quickly knowing that I had more important things to do.

To give you an "offline" example, I was listening to Rock News on the radio the other day, and was stoked to hear that members of two of my favorite bands, Pearl Jam and Blindmelon, were joining together to form a new band called Unified Theory. They mentioned the name of the label - 3:33 Music Group - so I decided to look online for more information. I was hoping I’d be able to give them my email address so I’d be notified when the album comes out this summer. I found the site easily by typing in http://www.333musicgroup.com, but when I got there, all I saw was a black background, and very large broken image with a pop-up window informing me that I needed a particular plug-in to view the content. You should know that 80 percent of site visitors will NOT download a plug-in to view content; but since I was so interested in this new band, I chose the "Get Plug-In" button where I was delivered to Netscape’s NetCenter to download what I needed. Turns out the "plug-in" cost $19.95. If I want to look at *anything* on this Web site at all, I’ll have to fork over the dough. No thanks!!

By now, I hope you’re asking the question - "What should we be doing to fully utilize our Web site to communicate effectively with our audience?" Here are some tips:

• Assume that you will get some online coverage that will include a URL. Even if it doesn’t include a URL, those who are very interested in your story will try to find it, so make sure that your site is easy to find in search engines, just in case interested parties weren’t aware of the exact address.

• Be sure your Web site supports and reinforces messaging, and helps visitors find what they are looking for. Take this valuable opportunity to connect with your site visitors.

• Assume that in most cases, a URL will link to your home page. If you are communicating a specific message, make sure that site visitors can easily find it. Either put the content directly on the home page, or place an obvious link to it from the home page.

• Ensure that your site is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and loads quickly. Resist the urge to implement "cool" flash-enhanced splash pages that make visitors sit through pointless animated, flying graphics that demonstrate how technically savvy your company is.

• Put an absolute priority on making sure the marketing department or agency is in close communication with the Webmaster so the site can be updated in a timely manner.

• Include a robust press room within your site that contains contact information, press releases, links to coverage, event information, executive bios, awards, partnership details, and links to other key parts of your site. Make it as easy as possible for an editor to write about you and link to current information. Use the Web site to enhance and extend your PR efforts.

• Measure your Web site statistics. Get a program like WebTrends and monitor who is coming to your site, how they got there, and what pages they view when they are there.

• Conduct online surveys from your Web site to better understand your site visitors. Be sure to include some kind of feedback mechanism, and encourage communication with your site visitors. More importantly, pay attention to the feedback and results you do get. They contain a wealth of information about your site visitors, their wants and needs, their attitudes, how they feel about your Web site, products and company in general. Utilize this information to improve communications with these visitors who are current and potential customers, employees, investors, partners, influencers and community members.

Understand the value and power of your Web site as a communications vehicle. Use it to your advantage. If you choose to ignore it - know that you are STILL communicating to your audience - but probably not the message you had in mind.