A few years ago Trade World Communications was commissioned to undertake an unusual writing project; we were asked to write press releases for a number of a particular trade magazine’s advertisers.

Why is that unusual?

The magazine had space to run industry press releases, complete with color photos, and no one was sending releases in!

Imagine you are press releasing a log debarding machine... would this photo tell the reader more or...

Think about that for a moment.

A typical trade journal is mailed to a very high percentage of an industrial manufacturer’s potential client list.  The magazines are read by a reasonably high percentage of those getting the magazine, albeit not necessarily when the magazine arrives.  In the forest products industry, for example, magazines arrive throughout the year but, in the summer and fall a contractor is working 24 – 7 during the appropriate weather windows so a magazine may go unread until winter when more time is available.

A typical press release might consume an eighth of a page or so in the magazine with a headline, a photo and a description of a product or service highlighting its advantages.

Depending on the magazine it might cost hundreds of dollars to run an eighth page ad in a typical trade magazine but the press release runs for no cost at all save the manufacturer’s cost to write it and provide the photo.

That means each time a manufacturer fails to write and send a press release that manufacturer is choosing to throw several hundred dollar bills in the trash.

Does that make any sense at all?

A good press release has a fairly simple structure.  To save time and energy I’ll assume the reader is writing the release and will use the pronouns “you” and “your” in the following.

First, a headline.

If you send a release without a headline the magazine will write the headline for you so you should write your own headline to increase the chances your message will be presented as strongly as possible.

An example might be:  Trade World Communications Offers A Press Release Service To Increase Market Reach For Manufacturers.

The headline might be too long for many magazines so they will shorten it and you’ve lost nothing but, if a magazine does replicate the headline you’ve gained.

Next, a photo. 

If possible provide a clear, high resolution photo of the equipment in the spotlight actually in place and, if action can be photographed, show the action.  A picture of a grinder, for example, shooting ground up material into a truck is more dynamic, and, thus, more likely to produce interest than a photo of that same grinder sitting in a parking lot might be.

Would the reader be more likely to react to an action photo?

Third,  tell the story well.

Most press releases, as they actually run, are about 100 – 125 words long but, sometimes, magazines have extra space so they will print something longer if it doesn’t mean more work for them.

To “tell the story,” think about what you look for when you read a new product description in a magazine.  You want to know what the product can do for you.

In the first 100 – 125 words explain the benefit the service will provide the reader.  Don’t write, “We are offering a bigger widget than we had before.”  Instead, write, “My company’s new widget will increase your production by 23%, your down time, compared to the competition by 16%, and, based on field trials, reduces fuel consumption by 18%.  Notice, the numbers are not divisible by five.  Even if your studies show a 25% increase in production, the claim that a 23% increase is possible sounds more like you’ve actually examined the issue.  Using numbers divisible by five gives the impression that you’re just making the numbers up.

In a future blog Trade World Communications will examine additional factors important to optimizing your press release effort but, one last bit of advice:

When you turn in a press release you will almost certainly be contacted by salespeople for the magazines you’ve sent the release to.  They deserve the same respect, and their products deserve the same consideration, you would like your own salespeople to receive when contacting a potential customer.

Especially if you are on a limited budget, but would still like to advertise, ask that your ad not run in the issue the press release runs in but, rather, in the issue following.  Recognition and response to any advertisement increases with multiple views.  By running the ad in the issue succeeding the issue the press release runs in you’ve multiplied potential viewer ships and, potential response.

Build Business With Blogs

You’re a manufacturer providing a product to the industrial marketplace. 

Over time you’ve built up a great customer base and you are aware how vital it is to stay in touch with each and every customer, both because aftermarket sales are important, and to assure that when new equipment is needed, you are the first company contacted.  After all, companies are sold, project engineers change jobs and, a dozen other issues can break the chain of awareness that is so important to maintaining a long term relationship with your customer.  You also want to make sure your website is visited when a potential customer not familiar with your company decides to move ahead with a project requiring a product like yours. 

In the world of modern marketing, a company blog located on your website can help you effectively stay in touch with existing customers as well as reach out to the larger marketplace.  Properly done, existing customers will consider your blog a value added service even as the blog functions to attract new traffic to your web presence.

A blog is a section of a company website updated regularly by whomever you choose to be your blog writer with content generally more informal in nature than the more structured content on the rest of the site.  Blog viewers are generally not only allowed but, encouraged, to interact by commenting on the material posted on the blog.

For some companies, a blog can function as a substitute or virtual website, directing readers to other social media sites or performing other necessary tasks.

Blogs are very low cost; the primary cost is the time and effort needed to post regularly.  A new post should be written and “on the air” at least twice a month.  Readers visiting a page and finding everything to be old and stale are unlikely to come back.  A company is better off not having a blog if a commitment to keeping fresh material posted regularly cannot be made.  Your blog writer, whether a single person or a number of people assigned to keep the blog current, must be instructed to write and post on a schedule to assure the work gets done.

Blogs allow a company to show its human side.  A good way to look at them is to consider the blog to be the salesperson.  The associated website represents the company brochure or catalogue.  

Blogs serve a second function, one important in attracting potential customers who may not be familiar with your company to your web or social media sites. 

When your customers, or potential customers, decide to investigate the marketplace they ask Google, Bing, or some other search engine, to search the web for sites featuring the product or information they are seeking.  Imagine, in the case of this site, you enter in the term, “build business.”

The web search engine filters the billions of options on the web looking for the words build and business or similar terms that may be appropriate.

Google’s programmers have developed ever more sophisticated search engines, able to discriminate, better than ever before, between appropriate content and chaff.  If you are not posting new blog content regularly or the content is old and out of date, the search engine is likely to ignore your offering but, if you are writing lively blog content on a regular basis the search engine will move your site up on the list, enhancing the odds your target audience will browse to your site.

Because your potential customers are entering search terms specific to you it is important your blog writer have a list of appropriate terms likely to be typed in by a potential customer and then use those terms when writing the blog but, don’t go overboard.  A Google publication titled Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide points out that while optimization is important, “Focusing too hard on specific tweaks to gain ranking in the organic results of search engines may not deliver the desired results. Search engine optimization is about putting your site's best foot forward when it comes to visibility in search engines, but your ultimate consumers are your users, not search engines.”

In today’s world a well written blog is a must, acting as your on-line salesperson and, keeping you in touch with your existing customer base.

Start blogging!