Continuing Education in Architectural Record

One of my clients recently participated in an Architectural Record multi-sponsor continuing education article. For the same price as a full page ad, my client got the ad, plus a product spotlight, plus 25 percent of the coverage in a themed continuing education article, plus other marketing exposures. The continuing education article remains online for a year, generating prospects. My client has gotten a good response from the program -- over 260 people took the course in the first week alone! Not only a nice number, but a number that represents highly motivated prospects that spent up to an hour of their own time studying your product category. This is in addition to readers that viewed the pages in the magazine and online without registering for credit.

The magazine has several multi-sponsor continuing education courses scheduled in the coming year. I can't guarantee that the deal is still in effect; the magazine was very motivated because they had three buyers already and needed one more. But it is worth asking about.

One final caveat: Architectural Record uses freelance writers to compile the articles. Although the authors do a fine job, they can not be expected to invest the time and energy necessary to fully understand your product and how best to tell your story. Make sure you have your own PR consultant involved in the process to help shape the message.