https://www.constructionequipment.com/521g

Some 20 years ago while working with a PR director, the difference between editorial space versus advertising space was explained to me. Editorial advertising is accreditation offered by a neutral or expert nonbiased third-party.  It carries substantially more credibility than advertising which is a paid promotion by a corporation promoting its own product or service. The PR director went on to say that an ad space equivalency ratio is commonly used to evaluate a cost comparison. At the time, the ratio he quoted me was 11 to 1. In other words, if a full-page ad cost you $3000, the same full-page of free editorial space was valued at $33,000.

In preparation for writing this blog I did a little bit of research because I am certain that my evaluation numbers from 20 years ago are probably outdated. Equivalency ratios are still being used, and I’ve heard numbers anywhere from 3 to 1 and as high as 7 to 1. The Huffington Post offered up yet another way of evaluating editorial space in this age of social media. Rather than just looking at an advertisement equivalency, the Huffington Post suggests that the more critical factor is audience reach.

In late 2017 I was engaged to photograph images for  Construction Equipment Magazine field test. Later that day the assignment was canceled and then the following day it was reinstated. I’m an assignment advertising commercial photographer, and though it’s not unusual for assignments to be postponed or delayed, outright cancellations are uncommon. Even more uncommon is to have one cancel and then re-book, so I asked the editor to explain why it had happened.

The corporation originally scheduled for editorial review decided to cancel the field test of their equipment. Without naming names, it is fair to say that they are a dominant manufacturer in the industry.

I believe they missed a golden opportunity, because this editorial was scheduled to run during the National Farm Equipment Show, one of the largest annual trade shows for this industry, which would greatly increase audience reach.

If I had to pick just one magazine edition to be in, the one that’s given out to everybody at the annual tradeshow would be high on my list. CASE CE was offered and immediately accepted the vacated space and put up one of their pieces of equipment for evaluation.

Having photographed several field test assignments for Construction Equipment Magazine, I can testify first-hand to the ethical integrity of the testing. The evaluations and tests are conducted by expert equipment operators with decades of experience operating that type of equipment. And then their honest opinions are video recorded. These operators are trying their best to break the equipment and to challenge any assertions that the CASE CE product manager offered during the initial introduction of the equipment.

I wonder why the other manufacturer passed up the opportunity of being evaluated in the publication that’s currently at the National Farm Equipment Show. On the other hand, I believe that CASE CE made a very wise decision.  Having a third-party accreditation publicized in this year’s National Farm Equipment Show was an excellent example of PR mastery.

The next question will be whether CASE CE enhances and expands the effectiveness of the editorial reach by properly utilizing and harnessing social media as suggested by the Huffington Post.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-chesnut/how-to-deal-with-travel-w_2_b_6383280.html

Although this post is a bit dated and in a different industry, the fundamentals of editorial are still valid. If anything, sectors of traditional advertising are being replaced by social media advertising, which makes the post even more relevant. I think it’s fair to say that social media marketing should be a major portion of your advertising budget if you wish to maintain market share. I believe that corporations would be wise to maintain the same visual branding quality for their social media as they do for their traditional advertising.

Traditional advertising in quality trade publications like Construction Equipment Magazine are still extremely vital. I’ve singled out Construction Equipment Magazine is because they are doing it right. Not only are they producing a quality trade publication that has a substantially longer shelf life than digital, but they also are hitting on all cylinders with social media as well. For that reason, it is an outstanding publication … if you’re lucky enough to be offered editorial space. This reinforces the outstanding decision of CASE CE and reinforces my decision not to buy stock in the company that passed on the opportunity.