By Maggie David Holley
Public relations has changed dramatically since the advent of social media. It used to be that courting the favor of journalists was the only way businesses could cultivate the goodwill of customers. Now they can directly engage those customers. They can create and upload videos, blog posts, and tweets just as often as they send out news releases, if not more.
Yet every business owner and PR practitioner I know still gets a buzz every time a trade magazine publishes his or her clip. After all, someone else writing an article about your business does more for its credibility than you writing an article about it. Especially if that someone works for a reputable trade publication.
So while you should definitely interact with customers directly through your website and various social media channels, don’t forget to engage the publishers and editors of publications relevant to your industry. They may not be your prospects, but they are in a position to influence your prospects.
Here are three things you can do to increase your chances of catching their attention:
Submit a case study, not a news release
When I was a practicing journalist, I hated news releases that simply trumpeted the accomplishments and awards of company executives, or the features and specifications of products and software. I knew it was my job to find out what exactly those facts meant to my readers, but it was a company’s job to help me by putting those details into context!
You can avoid giving editors headaches by handing them a case study instead. No other marketing communications tool beats the case study in its ability to illustrate what a product or service can do for its intended user. They give vivid answers to the “so what?” question that editors need.
Case studies are essentially stories about a “hero” facing obstacles that a publication’s readers also struggle with, and then coming out victorious. Editors are keenly aware that if they are to grow and maintain their readership, they better provide a constant supply of stories with characters and situations their readers can relate to.
Check out any business, industry, or trade publication and you’re going to see article after article about a company overcoming a challenge using another company’s (yours!) product or service.
Submit a case study that’s written like a feature story
The traditional case study format includes the following sections: The Customer Background, The Challenge/s, The Solution, and The Results. Business decision makers who regularly read case studies prior to making a buying decision are familiar with this format and thus might expect it.
However, you’re writing for trade magazines, and traditional case studies are likely too formulaic for most of them. Editors will almost always reformat your clip, so why not just do it yourself? Your piece might catch their attention not just because it’s already written like a magazine article, but because there’s less work for them to do!
The feature story format employs techniques such as a news-like headline (don’t be cryptic and overly clever), a strong lead sentence or opening paragraph, and descriptive subheads. Not only is this format more interesting, it’s also easier for readers to skim. (“Greater Project Management Efficiency” gives them more information at a glance than “The Result” does.)
If you must submit a news release, include an anecdote
Your anecdote should highlight the problem/s your product is designed to solve.
Have you noticed how often anecdotes are used to introduce newspaper and magazine articles? A story about a new hepatitis C drug would start by describing the everyday struggles of a mother with hepatitis C. An article about an anti-stroke campaign would set up the push by profiling a stroke victim. An article about a high-tech prosthetic would tell the story of how a young man found a lump (which turned out to be a tumor) in his foot.
Anecdotes are short human-interest stories, and stories are your ultimate marketing weapon. They engage people’s emotions, and emotional engagement is what makes text interesting, easily understandable, and memorable. That’s why it’s easier to remember the price you paid for your first car than the statistic your colleague had just cited several times in her presentation. Out-of-context facts are not only boring, they’re difficult to keep in your head.
Obviously, you can’t always submit a case study, such as when your offering is new and customers have yet to evaluate it. In that case, you’ll have to go with a news release. Help it stand out by including a story. Publishers and editors love stories.
The post 3 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Getting Published in a Trade Magazine appeared first on Maggie Holley │ Healthcare Marketing Writer.