While researching online newsroom options for a client, I came across several articles discussing
how to make Facebook your company’s online newsroom.
With their low barrier to entry, high visibility and customization options, Facebook Fan Pages offer many great features for use as company newsrooms. While I do love Facebook, there are some important things to consider if you are thinking about using this social media tool as your only newsroom outlet.
The writings on the wall
A traditional online newsroom allows you to push out company information you want to share with customers, bloggers and media. Plus, it can be an effective tool for increasing traffic to your site and increasing business. Facebook, on the other hand, is an open network where all businesses can create a page and every user has a voice. Therefore, if you are going to use Facebook as your primary news outlet, you need to be prepared for possible negative comments that could come from “friends” as a result.
Posting – yay! Hosting – nay!
While a company’s newsroom can be a great place to highlight successes and company culture, Facebook can often be more engaging and entertaining than a traditional news site. But keep in mind, although you can post pictures and videos on Facebook, you cannot host documents. So if you are looking to distribute news releases or company fact sheets, Facebook isn’t the best option. If you already have that information available elsewhere in the form of a blog, press page or Twitter account, it can act as an information portal that directs fans to those sites through its option to automatically link all those accounts to your Facebook page.
Missing search
Unfortunately, Facebook pages also lack internal search features that a traditional newsroom would have. That means if someone comes to your Facebook page looking for something specific, such as a product announcement or charitable event, they have to search back through all your posts to find it. So if you’re a frequent poster, it can be pretty difficult for a visitor to find what they’re looking for.
Facebook can be a very useful tool for engaging and sharing information. When it comes to sharing company information, however, you will still need a back up. If you do decide to use Facebook for your news, I suggest you read
this post about using Facebook for media relations first.