Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Computation Of Monetary Value For Press Editorial

Posted by Anonymous on 2/10/2012 at 6:31 AM ET 250 Points
I'm proposing a success-based agreement to a perspective client and I want to know how much to charge for a successful press editorial. Do I charge per page (or the amount of space in each)? What if it's on-line press? Does the advertising value come into consideration? What kind of package (to avoid one-off fees) would be fair to both parties?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 2/10/2012 at 7:00 AM Accepted
    It depends on the target audience (for your client) and the product/service category. An article about a candy bar or a tube of toothpaste is probably not worth as much as an article about a new car or a private jet.

    And who knows what the readership will be, how motivating the copy will be, or whether short is better (or worse) than long.

    In a nutshell, there is no objective way to determine the monetary value of a press editorial. A better approach would be to see what the client thinks it's worth. And failing that, just charge a flat fee.
  • Posted by Andy Fracica, MBA on 2/10/2012 at 9:47 AM Accepted
    Isabel,

    Remember that a fair price is what the two parties involved agree to. Things to consider are what is your time worth, how much knowledge and expertise do you bring to the table, and what does your customer hope this editorial will do for them. A good way to determine what to charge is to look at the value that press editorial will have in terms of what it can do for your clients business and charge a percentage of that value.

    If there is a cost involved in placing this editorial, there is a formula that you can use that will help you come up with a starting number. The formula is this:

    ((Cost of Placement) + (hours of work times your hourly rate)) X 2 = equals your starting number. If the number is looks high to you, don't worry about it. Your client is coming to you for your expertise otherwise they would do it themselves, they expect to pay for good service.

    Remember to include any outside expenses that you will incur and include them in the cost of placement part of the equation.

    I hope this helps,

    Andy Fracica
  • Posted on 2/10/2012 at 10:11 AM Author
    Hello MGoodman and Andy,

    Thanks for your responses.

    To answer your questions-- the press editorial will be targeted to specific newspapers/magazines so the audience will be clear to me before I pitch for the editorial--- this will not be paid for. I''ll be using my press contacts.

    The product and objective will be to introduce a fashion jewellery brand (so not a tube of toothpaste) into a new market. Therefore the value to my perspective client can be huge as people (individual clients or retailers) will be reading this. Whether or not this leads to actual orders being placed, there is brand awareness for them.

    Thanks once again for your feedback.
  • Posted by Andy Fracica, MBA on 2/10/2012 at 10:25 AM Member
    Isabel,

    Be aware that press editorials can only do so much and you are at the mercy of the editors as to whether or not your editorial will appear. If you can find publications that cater to customers interested in jewellery, you might want to contact them and consider running a paid advertorial. This will have multiple benefits, in that because you pay for it you are sure it will run, it will be in a targeted publication so you know that you will reach your target audience, and you will have more control over what gets published including pictures. If you go this route, then you want to make sure that you include the cost of publication in your pricing structure and include mark-up because there will always be things that come up that you missed and this way you don't have to go back to the client for more money or take a loss on the project.

    I hope this helps,

    Andy
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 2/10/2012 at 11:01 AM Accepted
    Your client is going to want to know how the editorial can help, so trying to price based on this may make it more attractive to them. Number of pages isn't that useful by itself, but number of readers who saw the newspaper that it was run in may be. You should be able to get a media kit for the newspaper that gives this, and usually even more of a breakdown so maybe see how many of a more important subset to the client (certain age groups, certain income levels, etc.).

    Once the number of readers is in, then maybe the number of pages could also play in, as obviously a small placement isn't as useful as a larger one.
  • Posted by sl/fc on 2/10/2012 at 11:16 AM Accepted
    Isabel,

    i have been in PR biz for 23 years. Seen all kinds of ways to get compensated, i.e., retainer, project basis, stocks, per clip, #of impressions, etc. it all starts with your hourly rate; as Andy indicated, it is amount of time x your hourly rate. Now, very rough format is your desired per year salary x 3, salary needed to survive x3 and pick the middle or somewhere near the middle. then you need to guestimate your editorial placements per year. divide that by # of hrs should get you the per clip rate. Make it simple and draft a list of media by the category that $ figure will be attached to, whether it is one word mention, to full article. the clearer terms you define at the beginning, less expectations management and less argument. After couple of years, you will be able to offer a slightly lower rate of yearly retainer. Tell your client that less time calculating impressions and more direct PR work. In the end, it is about interpreting the client''s business plan into a strategic communications plan, then choose tactics that are fit for that plan.

    hope you have a tight contract. one nugget, add a sentence in the contract that invoiced amount is final one months after the receipt.

    good luck.
  • Posted on 2/15/2012 at 10:48 AM Author
    Again, thank you for your comments. Unfortunately, this is not the information I need to know.

    To SL/FC: I can NOT compute my hourly rate etc because it will be SUCCESS-BASED

    To ANDY: Advertorial is not an option. I''m aware that I will have a lot more control with an advertorial for the simple reason that I''m paying. Unfortunately, the agreement is for EDITORIALS...hence I''m offering my press contacts as the pull/attraction to get this client

    To PETER: I do have the media kits and all the necessary information on readership, circulation, etc etc.

    I''ve been told that there is a standard formula to compute for PR value of an editorial based on the Advertising rate of a publication. I want to know what that is. I hope the question is clearer this time
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)