A PR pro asks,"Why advertise in the trades?"

B to B advertising has been hit hard of late (don't I know it!). An advocate has emerged from an unlikely source, Caryn Cohen, a partner at Wall Street Communications, a PR firm that is missing the credibility that media trade brands bring to a market. Why more PR firms have not taken this stand I do not know. Every time an online or print product from a trade brand dies in a market the PR professionals serving it lose a valuable tool. Caryn's post appeared on her company's LinkedIn group. I thought it was too good not to share: 

Many companies have either cut advertising or drastically reduced their spend in the trades for obvious reasons.... the economy. However, I'd like to make a case for why it is important to try to find the funds to continue to advertise, even just a little bit, in the trades - even in tough times.

It is not because advertising will help you sell your product or services, gain market share, or any of the other marketing 101 reasons you might think.

Why advertise? Because we need to support the trade media brands (print or online, whatever) so they stay in business! I am not talking charity here.... I am making a case that it is good for your business to make sure these media brands stay in business.

Why do you care if they stay in business? These brands provide credibility to your marketing messages. Their readers, subscribers etc. are loyal to these brands because they provide them with information about the products and services in their respective industries that they need to know about to make decisions. These media brands have the thousands of subscribers they have because they are viewed as a credible resource for information. So when your company is covered by a journalist in the trades, that information has much more credibility than if the company provided it on it's own to the reader.

As a PR professional, it is my job to get my clients covered in the media. But if the editorial outlets don't stay in business, where can I push my client's messages? Direct to customers? Social Media? Sure, those things are fine as PART of the marketing mix - but do not under estimate the value the credibility of the media has for your business.

I hear of too many PR agencies telling clients to invest in PR or social media campaigns instead of advertising. I think this is so wrong and really doing a disservice to their clients and to their respective industries now and for the future.

We must support the trades so they stay in business to carry the valuable editorial information about you to your customers. It doesn't matter if it's print or electronic - it is about the media brand (and the journalists that make it up).

You don't need to run an expensive ad plan... if everyone just found some money to run in the trades it would make a difference.

Great journalists are looking for work because these brands are suffering. We all need to act like a community and support each other.

Please let me know your thoughts on this!

Comments

[Caryn Cohen]

Thanks Josh. I'm not sure I was really advocating print specifically but rather the credibility the media brand brings to the market whether it's via their print, on-line, or even social media entities.

[Caryn Cohen]

Thanks for the clarification Josh on the earlier intro... that's is not just about print but about credibility!

[new york city pr company]

I'm not sure on the part that PR agencies telling clients to invest in PR or social media campaigns instead of advertising is a wrong idea.

-Baron