PR 101: Featured vs. Topical Articles
What does it mean to be "featured" in a publication like Forbes?
Certainly, everyone would agree that Forbes's article Meet The Iranian Immigrant Who Became A Covid MedTech Billionaire features the individual who is the focus of that article. This type of article is called a "full-feature" article.
However, what about the article 6 Ways To Protect Frontline Employees With Better Experience Design, which references a statement by Tom Goodmanson, the CEO of customer experience software provider Calabrio? Could Goodmanson say he was "featured in Forbes?" He could, but we wouldn't call the article a full-feature, because the article is not solely about him or his company. This article is focused on a topic, or might be called a "topical" article.
It is much easier to make your way into a topical article vs. a full-feature article. Some publications prohibit their writers from submitting full-feature articles unless they're assigned the task by an editor (or they happened to get the chance to interview Elon Musk or a similarly high-profile individual).
If the goal is to simply get into a publication so you can put the logo on your website or say, "We were featured in Forbes!" then a topical article is the way to go. It's easier if you're doing your own PR, and cheaper if you're hiring a PR firm.
However, perhaps you have a reason to want the full-feature type of article. You may be raising venture capital, building your company's or your personal brand in a big way, or you have something you need to promote in the headline of an article. It's not impossible to get a full-feature, it's just harder, and therefore it will take you more time or money.
At Canvas, most of the guaranteed articles we place are topical articles. While we guarantee full-feature articles as well, we can do so at only a select few publications (Forbes being one of them) and the cost is multiple times that of a topical article.
If you'd like to know more about our guaranteed placements at Forbes and other publications, whether featured or topical, contact us.
