First Contact: Can the Press Reach You?

If you want to gain publicity for your company, your webpage and your company need to be accessible to the press. You may be the perfect interview subject for the story they’re working on. But if your website doesn’t provide an easy way to reach you quickly, they will turn to your competition for those expert insights. 

By making your contact information impossible to find, or eliminating it altogether, you're severely limiting your chances of reporters being able to find you.

A few crucial elements need to be included in every company website. Information about your company, products, and services you offer logically make the cut. Testimonials, company history and a mission statement are also obvious additions. 

Above all these, one of the most important pieces of information is up-to-date contact information. Yes, the idea of putting an actual email address on your website may send visions of a spam-filled inbox dancing in your head. And there’s always the chance of fielding more sales calls if you post your phone number all over your Web site.

However, that doesn't change the fact that if you're trying to get publicity for your company, the press will be trying to reach you at one point or another. They may want to ask you about a recent press release, or to seek you out for an interview.

Reporters want to know more about your business, and you want to tell them about it. Here are a few ways to keep them from getting a headache while searching your website for just one email. 

Make a clear contact page

Rule number one: don't make anybody, customers or press, hunt all over your home page looking for the "Contact Us" button. Mark it clearly on your navigation bar, and make sure the contact page has phone numbers, email addresses and your street address as well as the names of anybody the press would want to speak to. The Contact Us page should be accessible from every corner of your website.

If you've got a "press@company" email, check it.

Reporters like to find the email address of the specific person they want to talk to. A mysterious contact option like "For press inquiries, email press@company" makes them wonder if they'll ever get a reply. And more often than not, they don't. Route your "press" email address to your inbox or the inbox of your company's designated press contact. Make sure someone is responsible for check it daily at the absolute least. 

Don't forget auto-reply 

Yes, it's a machine. But an auto-reply with a brief message that gives a time frame for your response does two things. One, it lets the reporter know that his email got through. And two, it lets them know when to expect a response from you. It's vital that you make every effort to get back to them in that response time, though. Otherwise, reporters may assume that you're not interested, and may move on to the next name on their list.

Return your phone calls

Reporters are busy people too. Most of them are working on a deadline, so if they've left you a phone message, don't push it off as something you can do tomorrow. The story may be published tomorrow. If you call them back as soon as you get the message, it shows them their phone call was important to you. Again, let them know that you're interested in what they're doing, or else you may find one of your competitors being interviewed instead of you.

Prep your press contact 

If you're too busy to deal with the press yourself, make sure you've got somebody at your company who's equally knowledgeable about your business, your products, your services, and anything else the press might want to know about. Don't just dump the duties on your newest intern. You wouldn't treat a customer like that, so don't do it to reporters. They have the ability to seriously help your company, so a little respect wouldn't go amiss.

By following these few steps, you'll greatly reduce the hassle reporters have to go through to get in touch with you. A good press relationship can be mutually beneficial. If you make it easy for them to get to you and make it a priority to get back with them, you'll find that the reporters will hold you in a whole new light.