As the founder and previous Editor of Beer & Brewer magazine, David Lipman provides some pointers on PR for brands reaching out to magazine editors, understanding magazines and what magazine editors really want, so you can gain some editorial about your brand. This article is specific to a beer magazine, with some relevance to food and drink newspaper sections / supplements and liquor trade titles.

• Who needs who?

Generally magazine editors don’t need content, there is plenty out there, so if you are contacting them as a cold email, they see you needing them, for a free plug. However sometimes when your brand has won an award, achieved great sales, done some great collaborations with charity or with other suppliers, or you’ve been shortlisted for inclusion on a feature, or you’ve come up with a great pitch for an article that the magazine editor loves, then the magazine editor needs you, and you will find them contacting you.

• Advertising

Given trade magazines are free, as the trade don’t tend to want to pay for them, then its funded by advertising meaning the commercial nature of the editorial sometimes is compromised to who is advertising. Consumer magazines that have paid for circulation are funded either equally or more by sales rather than advertising, and tend to have more of a church and state between editorial and advertising.

If you are advertising in a trade magazine, then you are more likely to receive editorial in some way, just not every issue. If you advertise in a consumer magazine, while advertising is crucial to the magazines cash flow, the magazine editor needs to ensure the balance of articles are not repeated or skewed in some way away from the editorial flow, just to appease an advertiser. If you advertise over time, I’m sure the magazine editor can find some way to support you in due course.

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