One of the most powerful and influential tools used by public relations practitioners is writing articles for magazines that reach a targeted audience. It can reflect an expert’s knowledge or a CEO’s leadership. The article can create understanding of a difficult issue or a complicated product. It also can establish credibility, like advertising rarely does.
PR professionals measure the success of such placements by multiplying the advertising placement value of the space gained three times. So a full page of text featuring an individual or an organization in an article would be valued at $15,000 (given an ad rate of $5,000 per page).
What’s more important though is to produce a high quality story with valuable content and your key messaging–that is timely and relevant to readers. It is critical to ensure that the angle matches up with the editorial mission of the publication. Keep in mind you want to be invited back for a future opportunity.
The best PR professionals for this task are former journalists who have worked within the media. They know what editors are looking for, respect deadlines and are usually very good at identifying a strong story angle. The first step is to thoroughly research your target publication, examine their editorial calendars and then see how the client’s stories might fit into the story plans. A pitch is then created. This is usually no more than a paragraph or two that is prepared to be spoken by phone and also e-mailed. It may take several or more attempts to pitch and win the opportunity.
A lot of time is saved by doing the advance research because there are many publications that will never consider a submitted article no matter how great the pitch is. It is usually cost efficient to work with a PR agent who knows the industry you are in and has connections or can quickly make them in that segment.
After the opportunity is gained, the PR agent and/or his writers and editors produce an outline for the story which is then reviewed by both the client and editor. This is a good step to take because it can save time and money. If a 2,000 word article is written in fully and then rejected, you are back to the “drawing board.”
Before employing any writers, review samples of their work and ask them what questions they would pose, what sources they would tap, and how they would create the article. There is an art to succeeding with this PR tool; it takes planning, communication and coordination, as well as understanding of media.
After you are published, take advantage of this by ordering reprints to distribute to your customers, and note the article on your Web site.
