Business or pleasure?
There are a couple of distinct differences between the general habits of reading for business or for pleasure.
People looking at trade or business media at the office tend to read with an eye to obtaining information directly related to the job. Whether they’re looking for info on general economic trends, finance or industry specific news, they tend to go through their feeds and magazines quite rapidly. They have a quick look at the headline or lead paragraph and make a yes/no decision about whether to spend time on reading down the page.
When it’s for pleasure, the reading mindset is completely different. The reader is looking to be entertained or generally, rather than specifically, informed. This reader spends considerably more time reviewing the content.
Interestingly, studies show that the business people who read business media at home spend up to 50 per cent more time on them than those who only read articles at the office.
So the goal for PR professionals is to target media outlets that the people will use from their homes, or to make their stories so compelling that readers will bookmark them for weekend reading.
But that’s a tall order. It’s difficult enough to track what media people are using. Knowing when they consume it is even trickier. Until website traffic reporting becomes more sophisticated we’ll have to continue to rely on our experience and instincts as PR professionals. Write short, sharp copy for business readers, and excellent compelling stories for weekenders. It’s just that easy! 
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Filed under: public relations
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