It must be true ‘cos I read it...

Or what about that new computer you want to buy? ‘Computer Guide’ mag said in a recent survey that the latest ‘Oojit’ computer is by far the best value for money around right now - so that must be right. After all everyone knows you can’t believe advertising or do they?

And if so where does this leave the perennial discussion on the worth of editorial coverage versus advertising? Amounts from three to 13 times the worth of advertising are bandied about with regard to this but how can you put a figure on something so intangible and difficult to measure in real terms?

Buy/believe/talk

After all even though you may get a double page spread in a publication that boasts of its 350 000 readers a week, does that mean that those 350 000 will rush out and buy/believe/talk about your client’s product? At the same time a mention in just one paragraph of a well respected financial weekly aimed at exactly the right target market may see people breaking down the door to certain businesses in their eagerness for a share in the latest ‘happening’.

So what this boils down to is whether you can judge the effectiveness of a public relations media campaign simply by multiplying the cost of an advertisement against the cost of the campaign – probably not. But as someone who receives direct feedback from stories written, people do believe what they read between editorial covers and let’s face it PR is a lot cheaper than advertising.

The other good news is that there are now so many more vehicles for editorial than ever before with over 151 custom publishing magazines and literally hundreds of consumer titles.

Fresh new angle

This doesn’t mean it’s easy to get copy placed, but these pages do have to be filled and if proper research is done and a NEWSWORTHY STORY with a fresh new angle relevant to that publication is offered you’ve a good chance of getting it in.

As a media trainer my main theme when teaching journalists is ‘TELL YOUR READERS SOMETHING THEY DON’T ALREADY KNOW’! This isn’t always easy when you are trying to talk about a new way of wrapping tomatoes or the latest type of airbag safety, but there is always an angle and a place for your story – just look properly.

And remember even though you may not be able to quantify the cost precisely you are reaching people who talk to other people and say “Do you know what I read…?”