BUSINESS MONITOR
Read all about it
Marketing specialist Paul Clapham has a few pointers to help you get on the right side of the press…
N
obody ever gets too much PR. OK, John Terry might disagree from time to time but if you talk about sales and marketing with
many business owners, pretty soon the cry will go up “we never get any press coverage no matter how hard we try.” Sorry, I don’t feel much sympathy, because many businesses go about the PR process all wrong. The printwear industry wants coverage that reaches businesses. Yes, printwear specialists sell to the general public but the key communication is business to business. Because they want local business – quite reasonably – they focus on sending press releases to their local newspapers. And that’s where it goes wrong. Most local newspapers either don’t have a business section or if they do it’s often one of the weakest parts of the paper. There are honourable exceptions to that statement, but in general local newspapers, both dailies and weeklies, don’t address business issues unless they’re relevant to the broad readership – new factories, inward investment, redundancies. I have spoken with editors at local newspapers who say that they could fill the paper with business stories (doubtless an exaggeration), but the content of the press releases is aimed at the wrong audience so they get spiked. The solution to this is twofold. First, target publications that are read by business people and second, radically rethink how you address local press. Business readers are easy to find – they’re reading trade magazines, just as you are now. There are as many as 5,000 trade magazines in the UK, some weekly most of them monthly and some others bi- monthly. The perceived problem for a lot of smaller businesses, such as those in the printwear industry, is that they are virtually all national. How much of a problem is this in reality? Solid enquiries from people who have read about you are gold dust and thanks to modern communications distance really shouldn’t be an issue. There is a wide range of ways to approach trade publications, but the key point – as in all PR – is to make what you are saying relevant to the readership. New products are a good route to an editor’s heart and you could probably tell such a story every month but you have to make it relevant. That is likely to be difficult, since a publication focused on engineering (say) wouldn’t regard most new printwear items as being important to readers. With a bit of lateral thinking, however, you can make it work. High-vis clothing or safety gloves fall under the heading of health and safety at work and as such are important technical issues.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Demonstrate that an essential cost can be turned into a potential business builder and you have a news item, especially if there is a new product to go with it. I would strongly recommend targeting particular publications and sectors – you’ll never stay on top of all of them nor should anyone try. Nearly every business sector has competitive magazines, some of them – farming as a noted example – have lots of them. You are unlikely to be able to distinguish between the best and the also-rans, so ask someone who works in the industry (a client, perhaps) which they read most and if that’s generally regarded as the best. As far as possible, target business sectors that you have supplied regularly. Accepted that printwear is appropriate to all sectors, if you start with knowledge of what the readers are buying and why, you have a distinct edge. It’s also a good reason why an editor will listen to what you have to say. So, having selected the publications, get in the habit of reading them regularly. Either become a subscriber (usually free) or read them online. Also look at the features list. If a magazine is planning a feature on marketing techniques, for instance, that is a highly relevant piece for you to aim to.
April 2010 | 19 |
continued over
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80