BUSINESS MONITOR
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. . . a relationship with both advertising and editorial
departments will help ensure that you get the best coverage and the best available spaces.
One piece of work I would focus on is an article that tells people the benefits, costs and considerations of choosing printwear – in effect, why to buy and how to buy. You can go into some detail on this, explaining which colour combinations and decoration techniques work best, why you shouldn’t just go for the lowest price and so on. This can then be adjusted to fit each sector you are targeting. This sort of ‘expert’s guide’ content is exactly the sort of material a lot of editors like – it’s a good reason for people to read the magazine. The publications you choose may even have a regular section dedicated to just that. You might also suggest a product review, perhaps done twice a year (or more). This would be a showcase for the products you recommend for various purposes. It’s a good opportunity to make businesses look at a wider range of product options than the standard polo shirt they usually buy. It would feature plenty of photographs of clothing so it would be bright and distinctive, bringing a bit of light relief in a magazine that
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might be full of rather heavy technical matter. Editors do like to create a publication that looks good. So who’s going to do all this? In many ways, this is the $64,000 dollar question. I lie. That question is: can you write? Truth is, most people can’t write interestingly and convincingly for 800 words (the typical word count for a single page article). If you’re confident that you can, then fine. If not, get some help. This could be a local journalist (maybe retired) who will turn your words into good copy. A student of media studies or journalism might be available to you. Alternatively you might decide to recruit a PR agency. If you’re going down the latter route, the broad rule of thumb is to find a consultant who is used to business-to-business PR (not all of them are). My personal experience suggests that, for a small business, the best route is to find a sole trader. They would be supportive and interested in your business in a way that wouldn’t apply to lots of bigger agencies. It’s still not a cheap option. Talk to the editors of your chosen publications – they are flesh and blood and generally very accessible. They’ll tell you pretty quickly whether they’re interested in what you’re proposing and they are constantly on the hunt for good new ideas. Because many feature articles are provided by paid freelances you will have the price advantage that your article is free. Editors won’t just use your piece for that reason – it has to be good as well. Among the questions you should be asking the editor are deadlines for news pieces and when they are on production deadline so you leave them alone at that time. Since you will be targeting sectors that use the product regularly, you should aim to offer ideas regularly too. Some editors will throw you ideas of what they need. To keep the editors happy is not so difficult: send your material well before deadline, by email with a good sharp photograph. To make editors unhappy is equally easy: call them on deadline day, call and ask if they’re going to use your piece. Back to the local issue. Start with a local take. Follow up with a giving mentality. What you really want is to have your product on the front page of your paper. So give it away to an event that is going to achieve that: I know one printwear business that did good business by giving shirts to organisers of a charity fun-run on the premise that participants could come in and buy their own
shirts – which they did. Lots of PR coverage! An element of that is to be commercial as well as giving. All your local clients want the same local publicity that you do. Bring them together! Imagine a pic in the local rag that features ten small business owners, with quotes of how valuable their printwear has been. On its own this might not be a PR story. You might have to add some sexiness. How about looking for that charity element again? It’s quite likely that some of your clients look after pensioners for free or similar. Make that – or other charitable contribution – into your story. Finally, if you think those publications should carry your press release, shouldn’t they also carry your advertising? No advertising in a publication rapidly means no publication – they’re in business as well, remember. Equally, a relationship with both advertising and editorial departments will help ensure that you get the best coverage and the best available spaces.
l Paul Clapham is a marketing consultant with over 25 years’ experience covering a broad range of business sectors and a full spread of marketing disciplines. He works with small, medium and large companies alike to increase their profitability through marketing.
| 20 | April 2010
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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