DOUBLE YOUR ADVERTISING RETURN

As the editor of a popular magazine on building, I receive dozens of press releases from the market.

Many press releases do not stand a chance of being published in the media because the sender does not understand how news works.

The problem is how little attention is given to the style of press releases and editorial. The same applies to the quality of photographs supplied. Your editorial stands a much better chance of being published if it is supplied with a good quality image.  But with the era of DIY photography by smart phones and cheap cameras, press releases are often refused by editors due to bad photos.

The fact is: as advertiser you spend tens of thousands of Rands on booking ad space in the media. Does your artwork do this advertising expense justice? Or are you wasting money? As an editor, I can see this is often the case. And often the same advertisers follow it up with poor editorial content that comes with photographs looking like they were taken by a 9 year old. Advertising spend wasted.

Much the same rule applies to non advertisers. If you want your editorial published free in the magazines that serve your market or online, you really need to supply professional content.

It pays back. 

A well prepared editorial with photography could cost you R 5 000 to prepare and distribute. However if editors like what you send, that same editorial could be published 3 to 4 times over in the different media. This means payback by up to 1200% when compared with the cost of booking the page and placing your advert at a cost of R 15 000 for the full page (as an example).

Best you hire a professional in the preparation of such editorials. The stakes are quite high and payback is huge - if you get it right.






"Advertising for Free".

THE CASE FOR ACCURATE & PROFESSIONAL CONTENT

More than 50% of commercial and industrial clients still use print media publications as their informative source of reference. Of these readers, a large majority are in senior decision making positions - not having the time to learn and adapt to the messages of the social media on the web. Readers such these are looking for well written, informative content, supported by logical arguments. Electronic content is not always the ideal medium for this, especially with the evolution of smartphone platforms. How would you choose to address your serious technical message to someone reading the Twitter feed on their smartphone while on the airport bus?

Reliability of information.

This brings up the main point – how reliable is the information we receive? It's a fact that in this era of digital and other noise, content is king. For the firm of architects wanting to communicate their narrative of success, there is a desperate need for plain English. Well written content backed with photography that conveys a story. The same applies to a system or material supplier wanting their product or service offerings to be specified on the drawing board or bill of quantities. Effective communication with your desired audience depends on speaking to them in a language that

• Is of interest to them;
• Makes sense and;
• Is unambiguous and easily actionable.

Looking through some marketplace ads, it is often hard to see the point. Certain of these ads are prepared in graphics studios that know little about the end user and nothing about the technology. They are pleasant eye candy, that's all.

As a technical writer, photographer and professional content provider I have noticed many companies put serious well written content at the bottom of the pile in preparing their corporate and marketing communications. They seem to fall into the well worn trap of underestimating their audience. They need to bear in mind that readers expect a magazine to deliver content that provides relevance and solutions to problems.

Role of independent editorial.

How is this best done? Many publications, both online and in print offer opportunities for enhanced messaging via their editorial pages. Editorial is the news line of the magazine and readers expect useful information with relevance to their line of business. Editorial cannot simply be advertising that has been washed clean of slogans and logos. It needs to describe the importance of the subject generically to the interested person and then demonstrate impartially why your solution as a product, project manager, consultant or service provider met the needs of the client.

What does this mean?

This means plain but accurate English backed with decent photography, not simply a few images taken haphazardly with the smartphone.