Media lists go social with Mynewsdesk

Lists of media contacts have always been central to PR. In the pre-internet era the PR executive’s address book would be their most treasured possession. Later, contacts were stored in databases and spreadsheets. Now, as news goes digital, online tools are moving centre stage.

In a way, building lists of contacts online is easy: data is often freely available, so no one can ‘own’ a particular contact. The challenge is finding the key influencers for your sector, niche or specific campaign. The most important contacts might not be the most obvious. They might be bloggers rather than mainstream journalists. They might be based overseas. And they might have little or no reach in print or broadcast terms, but be huge stars in social media.

Bringing your lists to life

At Mynewsdesk, we’re always developing new features to make the job of online PR a little easier. That’s why with our most recent update we’ve added social media integration that really brings your media lists to life, enriching your contacts’ profiles and making it easy to see who is most important to you. And we’ve also made usability improvements that make it even quicker to reach out to stakeholders and influencers with relevant, targeted content.

When you add a new contact, Mynewsdesk now automatically pulls in all available information from Twitter, LinkedIn and Klout, including job roles, areas of interest, influence scores and profile images. This data adds a completely new dimension to your network, transforming it from a dry database to a living community. You can put a face to each name and get a sense of what each contact is really interested in. You can also rank your contacts by Klout score, giving you an instant insight into which ones are the most influential online. As a result, you get to know your list, and the contacts within it, in a totally new way.

Want to know more about a contact's work history? Just click on their LinkedIn profile to get the low down - connect with them even. Or maybe you'd like to converse on Twitter? Your contacts' Twitter profiles are also just one click away, so you can schmooze by following and retweeting. 

Network aims to add a personal element to your online communications and help accelerate relationships with what previously was just an email in a list. 

On testing out the new functionality, PR consultant Tina Fotherby from Famous Publicity commented: 

"This update to Network adds another layer to my contacts. It's much more personal - a bit like going into a party of influential people! I can instantly connect with my stakeholders in social spaces and manage PR campaigns in a more targeted way."

Manage contacts with ease

To help you manage your contacts, we’ve also improved and simplified the layout of Mynewsdesk’s Network function. Everything is on a single screen, with a new menu to switch between views. Instant search and sort makes it easy to find particular contacts or rank them by social score.

We’ve also added many more time-saving features, including a new three-step process for adding contacts, simpler list management and a streamlined process for sending messages.

Test drive today...

If you’re not using Mynewsdesk yet, we’d love to show you around its features. Contact us today to arrange a demonstration by emailing uk@mynewsdesk.com or by speaking to a member of our friendly team on   +44 (0)20 7029 5785.