Exclusive marketing

Rule one of the marketing handbook suggests you should try and use a wide mix of appropriate channels to promote your product. Tailored, of course, but never relying solely on one outlet.

Sound advice – in the constantly evolving world of communication, the way we communicate with our potential audiences must meet their requirements.

Mrs Jones may prefer to get her information on your production online, while Mr Smith may prefer the weekend paper and Miss Green may download the latest information onto her iPad. All potential customers, all with different delivery methods, but all wanting to know what’s on and if it’s worth spending their time and money on.

Ensuring your message reaches its relevant audience in the manner they prefer may not be the easiest thing to judge but, in times of increased competition for attention, it is vital.

So would you ever limit distribution of your message to just one media? It may seem a retrograde step in a multimedia world but one that some organisations seem to be actively considering, and in some cases implementing.

While being able to offer an organisation a period of ‘exclusivity’ on your message is nothing new, and can indeed help target your marketing to a specific audience, is embargoing your entire output to favour a single outlet a wise move?

By offering that first shot you hope to guarantee prominent coverage, but what if your target audience doesn’t read or view that particular publication? What happens if a bigger story comes along on the day your news breaks and you get bumped down or even dropped? What happens if the organisation runs a negative piece on your production?

What about the impact of your coverage in other publications – can you realistically expect a story or review to run in other media several days after the exclusive?

There’s also the question of what happens when that exclusivity deal expires. Priorities change; a publication may think it a good commercial move to partner you at the moment, but that may not always be the case. Then what do you do – go to those organisations that have had to rely on embargoed and second-hand information and try to persuade them that you now deserve coverage?

Have you also considered the sectors of your customers who don’t use that particular publication, are you going to lose their custom if they no longer feel they are being kept informed?

A breaking news story has a limited shelf life – the saying that today’s news is tomorrow’s chip wrapper has more than an element of truth. If that story from yesterday has already been treated as an ‘exclusive’ by another organisation, there is little value in another publication covering it and if they do it’s unlikely to be top of their agenda.

It is a tempting thought in a competitive world to try and get guaranteed coverage but there’s always going to be a cost. Does an exclusive deal really offer you and your audiences the best deal?