Toprank Marketing posted today about the social media use of Fortune’s fastest growing companies. Their analysis of the top 5 show that only one of them is actively engaged on Twitter.
This post prompted me to look at something a little more basic- their online newsrooms. Even though social media is maturing and we’d hope that companies such as these would be more active in the field, good PR and providing corporate information to the media is something every company should be doing well.
The 2012 Online Newsroom and Media Relations survey shows that journalists and bloggers want:
- Immediately visible and easy-to-find press contacts
- Press releases by year and by category
- Visuals -ready-to-use images and video
- Graphics with financial information
- Embed codes with images and videos
- RSS feeds
- Links to all social content
- Tags on all content so it is easy to find in search
- Social sharing options
So let’s take a look at their newsrooms and what they offer, relative to what the media is asking for today.
#1 Allergan

Press Contacts: Yes
Press Releases in Categories: No
Visuals with press releases: No
RSS feeds: No
Image Gallery: No
Video Gallery: No
Embed codes: No
Corporate and expert bios: Yes
Connecting to social content: Yes, a link to their Twitter account. It was started back in 2010 and was inactive until recently.
Social sharing options: No
SCORE: 3/10
#2. Susser Holdings
Susser Holdings owns the Stripes convenience stores. Although Susser Corporate is not active in social media, the Stripes convenience stores certainly are. However, the corporate site could improve their online newsroom to serve both investors and the media.

Press Contacts: No. The contacts are on each press release, but not immediately visible in the newsroom.
Press Releases in Categories: No. And their press release are in PDFs, which require a download.
Visuals with press releases: No
RSS feeds: No
Image Gallery: No
Video Gallery: No
Embed codes: No
Corporate and expert bios: Yes – no tin the newsroom, but on the site.
Connecting to social content: No
Social sharing options: No
SCORE: 1/10
#3. CVR energy
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Energy is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer of high value transportation fuels in the Midcontinent United States. Their newsroom is very basic.

Press Contacts: No. The contacts are on each press release, but not immediately visible in the newsroom.
Press Releases in Categories: No. And their press release are in PDFs, which require a download.
Visuals with press releases: No
RSS feeds: No
Image Gallery: No
Video Gallery: No
Embed codes: No
Corporate and expert bios: No
Connecting to social content: No
Social sharing options: No
SCORE: 0/10
#4. Con-Way
Con-way Inc. (NYSE:CNW) is a $5.3 billion freight transportation and logistics services company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. Con-way is in the transportation and logistics industry and delivers services through its primary operating companies of Con-way Freight, Con-way Truckload, and Menlo Worldwide Logistics. Their newsroom has many of the features the media wants today.

Press Contacts: Yes
Press Releases in Categories: No
Visuals with press releases: No
RSS feeds: Yes
Image Gallery: No
Video Gallery: No
Embed codes: No
Corporate and expert bios: Yes
Connecting to social content: Yes
Social sharing options: No
SCORE: 4/10
#5. Huntsman
Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Our operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
Their investor relations section of the site has many more features than the newsroom. They could easily add the side navigation to their newsroom section too.

Press Contacts: No. There is a contact on the press releases but not immediately visible in the newsroom.
Press Releases in Categories: No. The releases are not divided by years either.
Visuals with press releases: No
RSS feeds: Yes, but it is not visible in the newsroom. It is only available from the investor relations section of the site.
Image Gallery: No
Video Gallery: No. there are presentations and webcasts in the IR section, but nothing in the newsroom
Embed codes: No
Corporate and expert bios: Yes, but only from the investor relations section. There is nothing in the newsroom to tell you it is there.
Connecting to social content: No
Social sharing options: No
SCORE: 2/10
If you’d like an evaluation of your newsroom and a demo of what a newsroom ought to look like visit http://www.press-feed.com