Advantages of Publicity.

Properly planned and skillfully executed publicity
can accomplish these objectives at a low cost:
Produce quality sales leads.
Facilitate discovery and evaluation of new markets.
Spearhead penetration of marginal, and peripheral markets
    which cannot support a full promotional program.
  Enhance the depth of prospect understanding
    and awareness of your products.
Based upon editorial reaction and criticism, fine-tune
    or redefine the product presentation and positioning.
Gain the credibility of editorial (third party) endorsement of your product.
Complement other promotional efforts, providing a synergistic boost.
Article reprints get attention, get read, and get respect.

Disadvantages of Publicity.

News releases are quickly out of date. They only appear once.
    Ads can be repeated for greater impact.
You have no control over how, when, or in what edited form your news
    release appears.   (Once, our client's product photo appeared upside down.)
You cannot schedule the appearance of publicity.  In a monthly journal,
    for instance, you can expect a three to six month lag before appearance
    (if it ever appears).

Types of Publicity.

1. Literature Releases

This usually includes a photo of the literature piece and a 50-word paragraph that mentions the product, but more importantly, sells the literature and its usefulness. Literature releases can be submitted every time the piece is "updated" or "revised".

2. Product Photo Releases

This includes captioned photos, drawings, and cut-aways of new or upgraded products. A new "twist" on an old product also works well.

3. Product Application Stories

These are also called "case histories" or "problem/solution stories".
Some companies have a motivational and reward program for field personnel who submit and develop story leads. It is helpful to have a standard lead-form so that field personnel can more easily organize the story information. These leads may be submitted directly to a magazine editor for further research, writing, photography, and coordination of customer approvals.

In some instances, it may be advisable or necessary to complete some of the steps in the process before submitting the story lead to a publication.

The cardinal rule of the case history story is:
The customer must always be the hero.

4. Technical And Feature Articles

A technical article is more topical and less product oriented.
Technical articles can be based upon:
A new technique.
Helpful hints for product use and maintenance.
Product comparisons and selection criteria.
Regulations compliance.
Industry issues.

Who writes an article?

A technical article can be written by someone in your company, someone at the company where your product is in use, a magazine staff editor/writer, or ghost written by a publicity professional. Articles are usually offered to publications on an exclusive basis. Before an article is written, it is important to contact the editor and discuss whether or not he is interested in the article. Tailor the article based on the editor's suggestions. Use the same style as the magazine employs.

An article written by the magazine's staff (staff written) will sometimes be based on information supplied by both your company and other companies in your market.  Don't be afraid of sharing editorial space with competitors. A rising tide raises all boats. While usually more generic in nature, editors are frequently willing to use photographs, drawings, or schematics of your product. Some magazines have a policy of publishing only staff written material, but in reality, many staff written articles are merely expanded, embellished, or edited from material which has been supplied by others.

Encouraging employees to publish.

One of the very best and lowest cost methods of generating articles is through your own employees. By soliciting articles on specific subjects, your company will benefit from the publicity and the employee will receive recognition from his industry peers and his fellow employees. Professional assistance with photographs, drawings, and editing should be provided to the employee.

5. Editor Events

Special events, staged for the trade press, may include new facility openings, product introductions, or a "technical briefing" session by your product managers. Invitations can be sent to a number of editors. In some instances, partial reimbursement for expenses may be appropriate. Special inducements may be offered to editors of key publications. Information or literature packets should be prepared. It is usually a good idea to "mix-in" a number of key sales reps. This improves the breadth of input the editors receive and it also gives your sales force a better appreciation of the company's publicity efforts.

There are three distinct general objectives for these events depending on the nature of the publication. For the prestige publication in the field, try to arrange a by-line article for a product manager. For the case history publication, match up editors with field reps. to develop application stories. For the tabloids, work to get front page position with a color photo of your product.

Invite editors to tour your booth and talk with your people at trade shows.

Identifying publicity potential.

Most magazines issue annual editorial schedules which outline each month's features. When editorial plans are related to your product, be sure the editor is made aware of your product and offer to submit material for the editor's use. By cross referencing editorial calendars with your product's publicity potential, an annual action plan is developed for tailoring releases. It is important to balance a realistic view of a product's "news value" with imaginative ideas that spark fresh approaches to old stories.

Don't segregate advertising and publicity.

A magazine's advertising representative can be your strongest publicity promoter. If you are an advertiser or a prospective advertiser, talk with the magazine's sales representative about publicity. The rep. will usually be eager to act as your advocate to the editor. Send duplicate releases to editors and reps. When selecting magazines for advertising, consider the publicity purchasing power of ad placement.

Be patient and follow up.

With publicity, patience is important. Delays are the rule. Though persistence is often required, don't bug editors too soon or too often. Keep logs of publicity appearances by product and by publication. Tabulate responses to help evaluate publications for future advertising and publicity.

If a release has not appeared in a publication within six months, consider re-submitting it with an appropriate note to the editor. Ask the advertising rep. to find out why your publicity hasn't appeared.