MyNewsdesk launches Network

MyNewsdesk recently launched the preliminary version of Network, the latest feature on MyNewsdesk.com designed to streamline your PR activities. This service allows journalists, bloggers, and influencers to follow any company or organization they choose and become a member of that company’s network. This entails that both journalists and companies will now be able to interact with each other more effectively.

A company’s PR goals are always about creating and maintaining good relationships with their market and with those that influence their market’s behavior. Usually this has meant fostering relationships with journalists, as they are regarded as those with most influence on a company’s market. The actual networking process involved with this included sending general news releases using distribution lists, a still very common form of one-way communication.

As the web evolves, creating better networking possibilities, so too do the PR activities. MyNewsdesk strives to take advantage of the web’s nearly infinite potential to improve networking and exchanging information between companies and journalists.

Communicate directly within your own network

With Network, companies can send exclusive newsflashes, tips, or other alerts to a select group of journalist and influencers, before releasing these to the greater public. Journalists can, in turn, contact a select group of companies privately. Journalists can maintain an overview of all the subscriptions, alerts, and companies they follow in a new “dashboard”. These journalists can choose to join a network through the “Follow Us” button at the top of a company’s pressroom, through a company’s news alert, or through the “Search Companies” function. Moreover, the companies themselves can also invite journalists to join their network through an email form.

A changing PR landscape.

The main purpose behind Network is to facilitate and strengthen the relationship between companies and journalists, on their terms. This feature is designed to give both parties the possibility to exchange and share information, experiences, and knowledge effectively, whether they want this to happen publicly or privately. The goal is to have MyNewsdesk’s Network replace that old staple of the PR world, the rigid distribution list.

MyNewsdesk’s Network is available for all customers and the feature is now live.

An overview of the new functions

The preliminary version of Network includes:
-          All news releases that are sent through distribution lists now include information about Network and act as an actual invitation to follow the company in question.
-          These news releases also include more information about the company, as well as a “Follow Us” button.
-          If the receiver of this release chooses to follow a company, they will be removed from the distribution list and become a “follower” in that company’s network.
-          Each release will also include an opt-out button, meaning a receiver can choose to be removed from this distribution list.
-          Each follower will automatically receive newsflashes through a newsfeed on their dashboard, as well as through a daily email of collected news releases. By changing this default setting, a user could receive an email for each news release.
-          The dashboard and the newsfeed are new features available to journalists or any others who signed up to MyNewsdesk and are interested in receiving corporate news. The dashboard will give the user an overview of all areas of interest.
-          All followers of a company can use an email form to ask questions directly to that company.
-          A user can also follow a company by clicking the “Follow Us” button in a company’s pressroom or by using the company search function. Using this “search companies” field, a user can decide to follow instantly several companies within a certain industry.
-          Companies can view all their followers by clicking “Network” in the Publish section. They can see exactly how many and who they are.
-          The idea with this preliminary version of Network is to give a user (a journalist or influencer) the possibility to create and “market” their own profile, thus enticing companies they follow to share exclusive news, for example.
-          A company can, of course, send exclusive newsflashes to a select group of followers.
-          A company can manually invite a maximum of 30 potential followers each time.
-          Network also opens up MyNewsdesk to anyone who is interested in following companies and receiving corporate news updates, not just journalists. This can be customers, business partners, or even competitors.

For any queries or customer support, feel free to contact our Customer Service by telephone: +46 8 644 89 50, email: support@mynewsdesk.com, or Twitter: @mynewsdesk.

Would you like to know more about MyNewsdesk’s Network, please contact Kristofer Björkman, at Product and Business Development