7 New Year's Resolutions For Your #BrandNewsroom

As the festivities fade and the dust settles on another year, many of us have vowed to better ourselves over the coming months. But what if we were to extend these new year's resolutions to simplify yet vastly improve our workflow?

To help boost your communications, content and coverage, here are my 7 recommended #BrandNewsroom resolutions to help you get started in 2016...

1) Create a content calendar

Similar to the classic "get more organised" resolution, having a plan in place can save you lots of stress and frantic last-minute, meaningless blogs and email blasts.

At the start of January, map-out content around your key dates for the year (annual events, seasons, product releases etc) so that you can have your content written in good time and have the best chance of aligning with relevant trending topics (and in turn, boost your reach!)

Furthermore, Google really digs fresh, quality and relevant content, so frequently posting blogs, press releases and news stories will not only help you populate your newsroom but also potentially boost your SEO rankings. Hurrah! 

2) Brainstorm blogs & delegate content

Just because you're the designated brand newsroom manager or content guru, it doesn't mean you have to do all the writing stuff - no, no, no!

A blog post from one of your fellow developers about your latest product update or an opinion piece from your CEO about your industry really helps to keep your content varied. 

Remember, interesting content keeps people coming back for more! So why not start an initiative to get your whole company involved with PR and news and increase the breadth of your brand's offering?

3) Manage & leverage your contacts

Wish you had more people to invite to your big event? Need some more names to include in your influencer circle? Or do you just need to better organise the names?

Our nifty little brand newsroom + our database of thousands of journalists = a whole lot of scope for reach, influencer engagement and coverage. Ask your account manager for more information...

4) Use analytics to identify your KPIs

Gaaaa! The thought of numbers and analytics often gets the most savvy of us quaking in our boots! But if, like me, you're guilty of checking for those little blue ticks on Whatsapp to see if your message has been read then really there's no excuse for not looking into exactly who is opening, reading and engaging with your content. Tut, tut, tut!

This year, try to lean on analytics to influence your work and help you set more meaningful KPIs. Our analytics tool is super super simple to use and pull stats and insights from! And, you can use this new found information to refine your content and tailor it to your audience. 

Once you've figured out what's important to you and your brand (e.g. open-rates, time spent on newsroom etc) you'll have a better idea of the goals you're working towards. 

5) Have fun with your content

No matter what industry you work in, your content can still be engaging and shareable. 

Pack your blogs and new pieces with visuals, such as videos and images, and link to relevant content that backs up or further advises on what you're saying. Keep your readers on the page, engaged and get them sharing your wonderful work!

6) Use related material 

Picture this... You've just written an amazing press release, your reader gets to the end excited and wanting more, more, more! So what now? 

Because you don't want them to drop off the face of your newsroom, relate your content to similar content that they might like to read next. Using related material to point your readers to other content in your newsroom will help keep them engaged for longer. 

7) Keep learning!

The brand newsroom approach is forever evolving and improving, so it's important that you keep abreast of the new features and best practice. And that's where we come in...

At Mynewsdesk we regularly run a series of Bootcamp webinars and events, designed to help you refine your skills and learn new ways to use the platform. Just ask your account manager for more info on this.

So, with a whole host of brand newsroom resolutions under your belt, I'm pretty confident you're going to have a pretty great 2016 (so long as you stick to them!)

Nick