Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Hi

It rather depends what you are selling and who you are trying to impress. Let’s face it, most advertising has the intention of raising sales volumes, whether by increasing purchases directly, improving footfall in the retail trade or producing leads to follow up if you are in B2B or consumer direct selling. But we all know that some adverts appear because they “Enhance the position of the brand” when in reality, the Chairman just likes to see £36,000 of glossy advertising starring Kate Moss in the Sunday broadsheets!

When you talk about trade advertising, I guess that you mean the trade magazines such as “Process Products” or “The Caterer” . I’m also assuming that you will be advertising relevant products in trade magazines. There’s probably a place for advertising Gucci Loafers in “Meat Trade Monthly” or Armani Couture in “The Welder” but no one that I know of has yet had the courage to do it.

Here are my 10 reasons, in no particular order.

1. Readers of trade journals are often senior line managers who absorb brand imagery and the associated message over time far more effectively than when they hurriedly read their daily paper. This makes them more receptive to other forms of marketing. Remember the 7 hit rule – they need to see your message about 7 times for it to form a lasting impression.

2. Trade advertising is still the second most effective method of direct-response lead generation. (see 3) Almost all trade journals have a tear-off card allowing the reader to enquire about your products. Where the magazine prints all the adverts enquired after on your copy of the lead, you even know who your competition might be and if the enquirer is a literature collector. If the readers don’t use the reponse mechanism, they’ll use your phone number , your website or your email address from the advert.

The indirect brand benefits are the repetition of you company name and product range and the ability of the advert to drive traffic to your website.

3. Placing trade ads will virtually guarantee the acceptance of well written Press Releases with the added advantage that the publication will often waive the colour separation fee. Press releases are still the most effective method of generating B2B leads.

Never place PR in the same issue that carries your advert – get two bites of the cherry and go for the next issue!

4. If your products appeal to a number of different market sectors, say Food Technology and Building Management (No, I’m not joking – think data loggers, digital thermometers, industrial cleaning chemicals etc!) the cost of modifying the advert to fit the interests of the readership is small and the consequential benefits of increased response rates are large.

5. The cost of trade advertising is relatively low. The cost per reader may appear to be high in comparison to the news media, but it has the advantage of having a target audience which will almost certainly be interested in your products. In addition, unlike newspapers, professional journals get read from cover to cover, often by many members of staff. Remember it is their job to keep up to date with industry trends.

6. Being a regular trade advertiser, providing interesting and relevant copy will mean that you will be invited to contribute a feature at some time. Features in trade journals are valuable means of promotion and for raising both brand awareness and the appreciation of the technical merits of your company. They also provide leads and have a tendency to make the chairman purr over his breakfast cup of coffee. If he doesn’t notice your signature on the article and make suitable favourable noises, don’t worry. Some other chairman or CEO will.

7. Regular trade advertising makes you a member of a very exclusive club. Apart from the opportunity to get to know the editors and senior staff of the magazines, you will also be able to network with your fellow Sales and Marketing managers who also advertise. Whilst these associations are usually a bit frosty and caution is needed to protect your company’s interests you will have common cause in discussing the merits of various forms of promotion and lead generation. Where else can you swap off-the-record information about marketing success or failure, conversion rates and other areas of sales and marketing statistics?

8. Trade shows are attended by all the relevant journals and their hospitality is well known. A visit to their stand to discuss your future intentions will, if properly handled, result in some excellent deals for your company and the chance to obtain some off the record information from across the industry.

Be careful about accepting too much hospitality or your own unguarded comments will become someone else’s off the record briefing.

9. Publishers invite regular advertisers to their own in-house events. This provides an invaluable insight into the world of the trade journal and you can strike up relationships which will be to the benefit of your company and even to the benefit of your wallet. You won’t be asked to contribute a paid for article unless you are well known in the industry and getting acquainted from the inside is a fast-track route. Just make sure you can still stand, walk and talk at the end of the day!

10. Once you and your company have garnered all of the above benefits for a year or so, you will be regarded as a mover, if not a shaker in your industry. Tactfully handled, it will benefit your CV no-end. For the fortunate few, the CV will be unnecessary and the head hunter will call you. It’s an amazing boost to your confidence when the unexpected telephone call comes through to your home number or your mobile---“You don’t know me, but I’ve been following your activities in the trade press and I was wondering if you would like to discuss an opportunity a client of mine has asked me to put to you”

Good luck with your trade press campaign – some results come quickly, most build up over time, so don’t forget to record everything that you do on your CRM system and log every single lead which it generates, including the source. The statistics are vital when negotiating rates with the advertising managers. Also, track the leads through to visits, demonstrations, presentations, their outcome, quotes generated and orders won or lost.

Then you can prove that everything you spent didn’t actually cost anything to the company on balance and show them the turnover and profit you contributed. You can then have one of those “What about my bonus / prospects / the hand of your daughter (son) in marriage” conversations.

Steve Alker
Unimax Solutions

Doesn't it depend on what your objectives are, what kind of product you're selling, and how important the trade factors (distributors, retailers, etc.) are in your industry and product category?

There are categories/industries where trade advertising is probably a waste of money. There are others where it's the only game in town. Net, there probably are not two reasons -- let alone ten -- why trade advertising is a good idea for every company.

That said, in categories where pro-active trade involvement is critically important, advertising to them may be the best investment a company can make. When the distribution system is effectively the gatekeeper, and where their support/recommendation is the most important determinant of an end-user sale, a manufacturer would be remiss not to make sure the key trade elements are fully aware of their positioning, key features and benefits, and any supporting information.

One way -- maybe the best and most efficient way -- to do that is with trade advertising.