One of the most powerful forms of third-party validation for brands is news media coverage. Your website visitors are more likely to believe your company is doing something right if you have attracted the attention of industry publications, local TV stations, or other outlets.
So how should you showcase this coverage on your website?
Three of the most popular ways are by sharing media logos on your homepage, highlighting media coverage on your blog, or by creating online newsrooms. Here's a bit more about each of these tactics:
- Sharing "as seen in" media logos. One of the quickest and easiest ways to show off media attention is an "as seen in" feature on your homepage or About Us page. Just as displaying customer logos demonstrates that you have earned the trust of buyers, sharing the logos of media outlets where your brand has been featured tells visitors that your company is not only legitimate, but newsworthy. While this trust signal can be a highly valuable one, keep in mind that many websites have abused it over the years. Claiming a product has been "seen on TV" is a common gimmick for companies that have simply purchased infomercials or ads. Similarly, some brands highlight that they have been "featured in Yahoo News" when Yahoo has merely syndicated a press release that the company distributed through Business Wire, PR Newswire or PRWeb. That's not a real media placement; it's an automated service that Yahoo and other new sites perform with thousands of newswire press releases every day. The best way to show your "as seen in" trust signal is legitimate is to link from the media logos directly to those outlets' stories about your company. Here's well-done "as seen in" feature from the Veretto Sport website:
- Showing media coverage on your blog. Another way to highlight media coverage is to write about it on your company blog. You could, for example, have a link from a media logo on your homepage to a blog post about the media coverage you received. We use that technique on the Idea Grove website with a badge from the PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR News that links to a blog post highlighting our achievement.
- Creating an online newsroom. The best way to showcase your media coverage -- particularly if you receive a lot of it -- is through a Newsroom or Press section on your website. This separates your press releases and news coverage from your blog content, and also creates a place for journalists covering your company to find assets such as high-resolution images of your executives. Some companies go further -- eschewing press release distribution services to direct as much visitor traffic as possible to their website newsrooms. With sufficient attention and focus, you can make your newsroom one of the primary entry points to your site. Below are examples of three technology companies that have effective online newsrooms, and why they work well:
HPE’s newsroom has different sections for featured stories, press coverage and blog content, with each section displaying a different design and splitting up the types of coverage in a digestible way. Get creative in designing your online newsroom, and think of it as a trophy case where you show off your best placements and content.
It goes without saying that Apple makes regular appearances in the news. As such, you might think the company would treat its newsroom as a media coverage hall of fame, but this is not the case. Apple’s newsroom is simple and straightforward, with no excessive design elements. Easy on the eyes and simple to navigate, Apple’s newsroom shows that you don’t always have to go big to hit home.
Computer manufacturer Lenovo does the online newsroom well with its Story Hub, a place where the brand shows off people, product and innovation stories as well as media coverage and press kits.
The value of positive media coverage shouldn't be underestimated. Nielsen’s Inpowered Trust Survey recently reported that 60 percent of consumers are less likely to believe brand-created content than third-party news coverage. Earning media coverage is definitely hard work, especially today, but for most brands the benefits are well worth it.