Mainstream vs. Trade Press: A PR Breakdown

What is “Mainstream Media”?

When considering the media at large, mainstream media hold the industry’s majority market share. Publications like The New York Times, CNN, and Insider (formerly Business Insider) are among the most widely read publications in the nation, if not the world. For this reason, they tend to be coveted placements from a publicity perspective.

Here is a list of the top 100 newspapers in the United States, sorted by circulation size, as of 2010. And this list includes the top ten daily print newspapers as of 2020.

However, because these publications are household names garnering daily attention from millions of readers, they’re often the most difficult media coverage to secure. Also, these outlets cover a broad range of topics, from a more generalist point of view. In other words, they may have an oil & gas beat reporter, but they naturally do not cover the industry the way an oil-specific magazine would. 

These publications are typically part of a syndication network, meaning other news outlets share or republish selected stories to their respective platforms. This model furthers an outlet’s reach, as one published story may be picked up by a number of other reputable outlets, in turn putting it in front of more eyeballs. 

Take BBC, for example. The international publication received more than 438 million visitors every week in the first three months of 2020. The monetary value assigned to stories filed at this publication versus a trade outlet is immense, sometimes resulting in millions of dollars in earned publicity. 

Despite the vast and undeniable power of these publications, limitations exist to filing stories at mainstream media outlets, so they are certainly not the only guiding stars for successful PR.

What are “Trade Outlets”?

Trade outlets are smaller, niche publications oriented towards specific industries or specialized topics. Topics covered by trade outlets focus exclusively on the ins and outs of a given industry, with little variation. Unlike mainstream media, these outlets are extremely detailed in covering a narrow topic, tending to provide niche stories of interest to niche audiences. These organizations devote their reporting to specific industries and topic within those industries (i.e. The Drum reports on marketing and media news, Oil & Gas Journal obviously focuses on the oil industry). This exposure may reach fewer people than mainstream outlets, but the value of these niche audiences can in fact exceed the wider scope mainstream media provides. 

Marketing Dive, for example, reaches 260,000 readers, primarily holding industry-specific, marketing positions. Stories that run in this outlet reach a targeted audience of marketing leaders and decision-makers. So, despite a smaller readership than a mainstream publication, the efficacy and weight of the news tends to be greater if the goal is generating sales leads or brand awareness among an audience of likely customers.

Mainstream versus Trade Media Publicity

In public relations, mainstream media is often considered more valuable than trade publications because of the brand name and corresponding audience (i.e. a story placed in The Washington Post is perceived as more valuable than a story placed in AdWeek). As are most cases with PR, it all depends on your target audience goals. If, for example, you are an investment management company seeking to engage with financial advisors, a placement in InvestmentNews offers more PR value than a placement in USA Today.

Of course, other reasons often emerge in considering engaging with media, and mainstream invariably plays an important role. A placement in an outlet such as Entrepreneur, for example, lends a lot of weight to brand credibility and notoriety. These placements can be leveraged to fuel advertising and social campaigns, simply by borrowing brand equity from the media outlet. 

Where should I place my story?

It depends. If your target audience is industry-specific, a trade outlet will most likely offer the appropriate option. However, even if your topic is inherently niche but applies to a broader audience, mainstream may be the best option. Because of each story’s uniqueness, all news outlet options should be vetted to determine the appropriate course of action. Successful media strategies incorporate both trade and mainstream publications, as each play a distinct role in telling a story and engaging with audiences.