The value of features to your business

In the world of traditional media, there are two ways to get your message out there. The first is the classic press release, timed to coincide with breaking news in short time frames. This can be demanding, as it requires you to link your products, services or business in general with constantly changing stories in order to be on the cutting edge.

A feature, however, is different to a news story. For one thing, it is longer, where news articles are meant to convey the vital information in the shortest possible time. Features are intended to be read more slowly and analytically. They make up the meat of glossy magazines, and, if they are any good, are stuffed full of relevant information, part of which your business can provide.

Why use features?
Really, there are two main reasons why features are useful:. First, a feature in a monthly or quarterly magazine is more likely to be kept on someone’s desk, used as a reference point, and passed around than a short news feature. This means more exposure and for longer, rather than that afforded by a quick flash-in-the-pan story. Second, getting your point across in a feature presents you and your business as a thought-leader and an industry expert, rather than simply another company churning out PR. This in turn creates consumer trust and respect.

How to get into features:

1) Obtain the forward feature lists: After identifying the key publications for your sector, such as fashion, computing, retail, or consumer finance, you need to obtain the forward feature lists. This is a plan produced by the editorial team of a magazine, detailing the themes of each issue and the features they will include.

Knowing what they will be writing about in advance is a great advantage, as it gives you time to come up with a link to your business and prepare your viewpoints before you offer your information. It is highly unlikely that a magazine will simply run a feature on your company – the same piece may contain references to your competitors in fact - so the best you can do is fit yourself into the feature they are already producing.

To get a forward feature list, you can try searching online, as some publications make these public on their websites. Others are more cagey, so you can try contact the editorial team directly and asking. Alternatively, membership of media sites for journalists and PRs often give you access to magazines’ forward feature lists, although membership of these often requires payment.

2) Assess the feature: Once you have selected the feature you would like to be included in, look closely at it and identify the key points the publication will look at. Try to identify the message. Though until it has been written there will be no conclusion, look at previous features from the same magazine to estimate what angle the publication will take on the topic, and then see if this is an angle you can provide a view on.

3) Making contact: Call the editorial department of the magazine to get more information about the feature. Find out who is writing it and check out some of their previous work to give you an idea of their style and how it could complement your message.

4) Contact the individual: It is more than likely that the editor will leave the feature up to one journalist, and so leaving messages with the editor is not the most effective way of communicating. Contact the journalist themselves and discuss how you can provide insight for the feature.

Often, and particularly if you are contacting a freelancer, you may need to pitch your information in an email. If this is the case, make sure your pitch is short, sharp and to the point, referring tightly to the synopsis of the feature.

If you have not heard anything back for a few days, don’t panic. Rather than ignoring you, the journalist may well be very busy and have not read your email yet. If they are worth their salt, they will follow up every lead with an email at least.

5) Make it fit: once you have the main points of the feature from the journalist, identify how your business, product or service can fit with each/any. Features are built on stepping stones to educate and inform the reader, so try to fit something into each point. To do this, use various formats, such as case studies, data and statistics, arguments, insights and photography.

6) Go for an interview: Make yourself as available as possible to the journalist writing the feature, and give the impression that you are willing to give a full interview. This can cement your place in the feature, as quotations and opinions from industry people can give a feature real weight and appeal.

7) Check out the final product: Once the feature is published, get yourself a copy and see if and how you have been presented. It is unlikely that anyone would go out of their way to misquote or misrepresent you, but sometimes this happens. That aside, it is good to see how well your message got across.