Given the nature of commercial investment property you frequently need to create editorial that is released in balance with your marketing campaign.
The newspaper media that you choose for your editorial should be that which reaches your target audience.
Editorial is free advertising, but the newspaper media outlet will reserve the right to edit the material, place the material where they like, or not place the material at all.
You have little control when and after you pass the editorial on to them.
The only reason they will place the material is if it is of interest to their readers; on that basis you have to write the editorial for that single focus; that is to help the paper strengthen its credibility in commercial investment property and sell more newspapers to those readers.
At the end of the day the newspaper editor wants to sell advertising and your editorial has to help with that.
It is no secret that the newspaper media has limited and lessening benefit in the marketing of commercial property.
The benefit lessens each year as the internet takes over as the major channel of choice for real estate brokers advertising property for sale and for lease.
Most business people just want a property for investment or occupation; they will go to the internet first and then the newspapers later on if at all.
Let's face it, a newspaper only has a few days of benefit to promote the commercial property; the internet has unlimited impact over a long duration and it is cheap by comparison to newspapers.
Even a signboard on a busy main road has a better impact than the newspaper media.
The internet has changed what we do in the promotion of property.
The press release that you do today can be sent to the newspapers, but it should now also be sent to blogs, websites, and similar internet outlets.
Let's look at the format of a great press release.

1. Create a 'slug line' at the top left hand side of the page that grabs attention.
   Use the property's history or known identity to build the 'slug line'.
   
2. Place your name and office contact detail in the top right hand side of the first page.
   
3. Limit the size of the editorial to no more than two pages.
   
4. Double space the editorial so that it is easier for the editor to scan.
   
5. Place the word count in the top centre of the first page.
   
6. Consider the main identity of the property that people know it for locally, and which has the widest element of appeal.
   Ask yourself if this would be a valuable point of focus to use in the editorial.
   
7. Use paragraphs of an average of just 3 sentences to simplify the content and make it easier for the reader to scan over.
   
8. Get some professional photographs done of the property to support the editorial.
   
9. Build the editorial around and in the order of the well know AIDA marketing principles which are:
   • Attention - something to draw in the reader
   • Interest - what makes the property interesting
   • Desire - generate some real desire for the reader
   • Action - call the reader to action which in this case will be to call you or inspect the property.
     
10. Editors cut stories into the available space from the bottom up.
    That means your widest topic of appeal should be in the first half of the editorial.
    
11. Make the editorial easy for the editors to use.
    Some brokers and agents will get a story written by professional copywriters, which is not a bad idea.
    

A well written editorial can never replace your print, electronic and outdoor advertising, but it can be a powerful tool to augment your initial marketing budget across your target market.
Remember that it is not just a notable property that you are selling or leasing and there might just be a landlord or tenant's story that you can use to give your article that extra lift in the media.