Contents

1. Why doesn’t the trade press print your press release?
2. How does a trade editor decide what goes into the magazine?
3. Which mistakes cost the most coverage?
4. Why is your competitor in every other issue?
5. What works better than a press release?
6. How do you get your story to the editors?
7. How can you tell that things are changing?
8. Frequently asked questions

The trade press won’t print a press release when the editors can’t find a story in it for their readers. That sounds harsh. But it’s the most honest answer to a question we often hear from marketing leads in machinery and intralogistics. And the next question usually follows right behind it: What do I tell management when they ask what all this is for?

Picture the desk of a trade editorial team. A small crew fills a magazine every month, plus the website. Often there’s a newsletter on top. Lots of press releases land there every day. Nobody reads them all to the end. The decision happens at the headline and the first paragraph. If that spot holds an anniversary or “another milestone,” your release is out before the second sentence.

Editors aren’t being dismissive. Trade media live on reader trust. Decision-makers in industry pick up a trade journal because they find expert information on their own problems there. They want to know how others rebuilt a warehouse. They want to know what matters in an investment decision. A release that only celebrates the sender doesn’t fit that promise. That promise is your way in. Give the editors something that fits it.

Then there’s the calendar. Trade journals work with editorial calendars that they often publish for the whole year in their media kits. An issue focused on order picking wants picking material in spring. Send a release on charging technology that month, and you’re fighting uphill. Even if your story is actually good.

And there’s one line many people underestimate. Editorial and advertising are separate. Section 7 of the German Press Code, issued by the German Press Council (Deutscher Presserat), requires publishers and editors to ensure a clear separation between editorial content and content published for advertising purposes. Booking an ad therefore doesn’t buy you editorial coverage. Reputable trade media stick to this rule.

The language is advertising. “Innovative,” “leading,” “holistic” and “unique” are claims without proof. Editors cut them. Or they set the release aside right away, because they would have to rewrite the whole thing.

The facts are missing. New conveyor technology without throughput, dimensions, application area and availability can’t be assessed. Trade media readers want numbers. So do the editors.

The benefit is buried at the bottom. Many releases start with the company and end with the result. Editors read it the other way around. The most important point belongs in the headline and the first sentence.

The material is unusable. A 72 dpi product shot, a cut-out rendering with no real environment, no caption, no credit line. No printed magazine can work with that.

The distribution list is too broad. A release that goes to the business press and twenty trade titles at the same time is written for none of them. A trade editor spots that instantly.

The schedule replaces the story. “We send something out every month” is a plan for the sender. In a month with no story, you get a release with no story. After the third of those, the editors stop reading the fourth closely.

Competitors who show up in the trade press all the time offer editors more than press releases. That stings when you dutifully send out your release every month and still come up empty. Look at what your competitor delivers instead:

• Case studies, in which a customer explains what has changed in their operation
• Bylined articles, in which an expert answers a question many in the industry are asking
• Experts as sources, whom editors can contact for market overviews and background pieces
• Topics that match the editorial calendar, pitched in good time

Behind this there’s usually a way of working that doesn’t need a big budget. Someone in the company or at the agency knows the editorial calendars and the people in the newsrooms. That person knows which issue is looking for which topic. The press release then becomes just one tool among several.

Two examples from our work show what this can achieve. For Wiferion, it generated 256 publications in 2025. For Safelog, the count came to more than 676 clippings over three reporting periods, including coverage in Handelsblatt and FAZ.

Finished content that editors don’t have to build themselves works better than a press release, such as a case study or a bylined article. The press release is still the right format for real news. Think of a new product, an acquisition, a major order or a figure the industry cares about. For almost everything else, there are better ways into the magazine.

• The case study tells the story of a real customer deployment, from the starting point to the result. Quotes and images come from the operation. Trade journals like to print it because readers recognize themselves in it.
• The bylined article answers a question that goes beyond your product. For example: What matters when planning an automated warehouse? It is often written exclusively for one publication.
• The editorial meeting brings an expert with a topic to the editors. You don’t need a finished text for it. Interviews and background pieces grow out of it. Often you’re left with a contact that lasts for years.

If you use these formats, you need fewer press releases. And the ones you still send get read more closely, because the editors know you by now.

You get your story to the editors with a personal pitch to the right person at the right time. Above all, that takes preparation. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Frame the topic from the reader’s point of view. One sentence: What will readers learn that they didn’t know before?
2. Choose the right media. Five titles whose readers fit exactly beat forty that fit somehow.
3. Check the editorial calendars. The media kit shows which issue has which focus and when the editorial deadline is.
4. Find the responsible editor. The masthead or the website lists who covers what. An email to the general newsroom address is the weakest route.
5. Keep the pitch short. Write three or four sentences on the topic, why it fits now, which format you offer and what material is available. Don’t attach a finished text on first contact.
6. Have material ready. You need print-quality images with captions and the data. Add a contact person who can be reached.

If the editors say yes, deliver on time and at the agreed length. If they say no, ask why. The answer will help your next pitch more than any checklist.

You can tell things are changing by the coverage you get. The number of releases you send tells you little. Three things are worth watching:

• How many articles appear and in which media. A case study in a leading industry title carries more weight than ten short items on online portals.
• What form they take. Do only shortened releases appear, or are full articles and interviews coming out?
• Whether editors approach you on their own. That is the clearest sign that your company is seen as a source.

And that gives you your answer for management, too. They are right to ask what press relations deliver. A list of publications in the right media answers that better than any mailing statistics.

If you’re looking for support: Our press relations for B2B companies start at exactly this point. For our work for the Open Logistics Foundation, we won the German Agency Award 2026 (Deutscher Agenturpreis) in the “B2B / PR” category.

Contents

1. Why do so many LogiMAT exhibitors get so little press coverage?
2. When should press work for LogiMAT 2027 start?
3. What does the timeline up to the fair look like?
4. What belongs in a LogiMAT press kit?
5. How do you get editorial meetings at your stand?
6. Which trade media matter for LogiMAT?
7. What happens after the fair?
8. Frequently asked questions

So many LogiMAT exhibitors get so little press coverage because their press work starts too late. Sound familiar? Stands and exhibits are planned for months. The press release, by contrast, often gets written in the final two weeks. For many editorial teams, that is too late. Their show previews are usually planned by then. Many of their meeting slots are already taken.

Plenty of marketing managers in intralogistics know what happens next. The stand is busy. Most visitors, however, are passers-by and competitors. The company does not appear in the trade media. And in April you sit across from management, looking for a good answer to the question of what the fair delivered.

Yet LogiMAT is an important stage for intralogistics. Trade journalists arrive at the Stuttgart exhibition centre with a clear brief: find new products and gather stories for the months ahead. If you gave them a topic in advance, you are on their list. If you hope to catch their eye at the stand, you are relying on luck. How many releases you send hardly matters. What counts is whether an editor sees why your launch is relevant to their readers.

Press work for LogiMAT 2027 should start at the end of November 2026. That sounds early. But it is exactly the lead time the trade media need. LogiMAT 2027 runs from 16 to 18 March 2027 in Stuttgart. Counting back from the opening day, press work needs around 16 weeks:

• four weeks for the story and material, until shortly before Christmas
• two weeks off over the holidays
• four weeks for the press release and the previews, mainly in January
• four weeks for invitations and scheduling, in February
• two weeks for the final run-up to the fair, in early March

That does not leave much slack, especially with the holidays right in the middle. Trade magazines plan the topics for their show previews several weeks before publication. The exact editorial deadline is listed in each title’s media kit. So checking it is a job for week one.

End of November to Christmas (16 to 12 weeks before): clarify the story

• What are you launching? Why does it matter to companies that run warehouses and production?
• Who speaks for the company? Ideally someone from engineering or management who is comfortable talking to journalists.
• What material do you already have? Think images, data, application examples or a customer willing to talk.
• Check whether to enter the launch for the LogiMAT “Best Product” award. The organiser publishes the conditions and the submission deadline.

December and January (up to 7 weeks before): pitch the trade media

• Send the first press release on the launch to the trade media, with images and technical data.
• Check the media kits for preview issues and offer topics that fit them.
• Where it makes sense, offer a technical article for publication after the fair.

February (6 to 3 weeks before): schedule meetings

• Send personal invitations to editorial meetings at the stand, each with a topic.
• Finalise the press kit, in digital form and in print for the stand.
• Prepare your speakers with key messages and the three most likely questions.

Early March (2 to 1 week before): final run-up

• Issue a second press release if there is news, such as a premiere or a customer.
• Confirm meetings and brief the stand team. Who receives journalists? Where can you talk undisturbed?
• Prepare LinkedIn posts for the fair.

16 to 18 March 2027: at the fair

• Hold the editorial meetings. Capture photos and short video statements.
• Note who promised what and who asked for what.

Until early April (up to 3 weeks after): follow up

• Deliver the promised material and agree on articles. Approve interviews.
• Collect the coverage and evaluate it.

Above all, a LogiMAT press kit needs material an editorial team can use straight away. Picture the editor who stops by your stand on day two, between two appointments. She wants to pick up what she needs for her article in a few minutes. That means:

• the current press release on your launch
• a short company profile in German and English
• one or two product fact sheets with the key technical data
• print-quality product images and portraits of your speakers, with captions and usage rights
• a press contact with a phone number who can also be reached during the fair

Online, the kit should have its own page on your website so that journalists can find it before and after the fair.

You get editorial meetings at your stand by offering a concrete topic, not an invitation to drop by. In February, every editorial team receives dozens of emails that say “Visit us at LogiMAT”. At the fair itself, editors usually have little time and receive many requests. A meeting happens when it is clear what you will discuss and why it matters to their readers.

Here is how to go about it:

• invite the responsible editor personally by email
• name a concrete topic, such as the launch or a customer application
• offer fixed slots of around 30 minutes spread across the three days of the fair
• prepare speakers who can answer technical questions

A press conference only pays off for a launch with genuine news value. For most exhibitors, one-to-one meetings achieve more because each editorial team gets its own angle. For smaller marketing teams, individual meetings are also easier to manage than one big event.

For LogiMAT, the key German trade titles in intralogistics include LOGISTIK HEUTE, DVZ, MM LOGISTIK, f+h and dhf Intralogistik. For conveyor technology and cranes, Hebezeuge Fördermittel completes the list. Depending on the topic, titles covering production or automation come into play. For software topics, the same applies to IT media. Choose your titles by whose readers match your launch most closely.

Do you also sell internationally? Then you need an English press release as well. LogiMAT draws trade visitors from many countries. International media also cover the fair. A good translation is usually not enough. Technical terms and number formats have to suit English-speaking readers. The same goes for the examples.

Press work carries on after the fair. Much of the coverage only appears in the following weeks as follow-up reports, technical articles, interviews and case studies. This is exactly where many exhibitors give away what they worked for at the stand. The crates are barely unpacked when day-to-day business takes over. The business cards stay in a pile.

Three things decide whether conversations turn into articles:

• follow up, ideally in the week after the fair
• deliver promised material such as images or contacts at the customer
• measure the results: how many articles came out of the editorial meetings? Which enquiries came in through the press?

These figures are the best answer when management asks what the fair delivered. You walk into that meeting with a list rather than a gut feeling. The figures also show where the next LogiMAT can go better.

Is your team already stretched by the stand and the exhibits? If you are an international exhibitor and would rather not handle LogiMAT press work on your own, take a look at our packages under PR for LogiMAT 2027 exhibitors.

PLC, OEE, MES, OPC UA. Lost you already? A technical post can be accurate and still miss its audience. This happens above all when it opens with product features, abbreviations, process details or technical metrics before it is clear why this information matters at all. To experts, the connections may be obvious. Everyone else is left with one question: what’s in it for me?

This is where corporate influencers take on an important role as translators: they put specialist knowledge into the context of their audience.

Corporate influencers know more than the technical connections. They often also know the questions these raise in everyday work with projects and customers or across the industry. This closeness to practice is their strength. They can explain where a topic actually becomes relevant and which challenges come with it. They also know what matters in the solution.

A clear post sets one focus, for example a specific problem or a change in day-to-day work. An insight from practice works just as well. Technical expertise provides the foundation. Your own perspective frames the topic so that readers can understand and discuss it.

This way, the corporate influencer avoids sounding like an advertising channel or a technical data sheet. Five tips help them give their audience reliable orientation in a complex technical field.

Before you write a technical LinkedIn post, a short editorial step pays off: narrow down the topic. You should be clear about who the post is for and what this audience should take away from it. On this basis, you can pick the relevant technical details and leave out everything that does not support the core message.

A simple rule of thumb shows whether the focus is sharp enough. Can you state the core message in one sentence? If not, the topic may still be too broad. A guiding question can sharpen the focus further, for example on a concrete problem or a practical effect. An insight from a project can also serve as the anchor. Here too, not every aspect has to fit into the post. A clear focus usually has more impact than an attempt to cover a topic completely.

Your own expert perspective matters just as much. Which observation or experience lies behind the message? Your view can stay measured, as long as it makes clear how you arrived at your assessment. This gives the post a solid framework.

An opening built on an observation or a question usually sparks more interest than a technical definition. A concrete challenge works well too. The hook should make readers curious and match the content. A sharp statement only convinces if the post then delivers on it.

Sketch the starting point briefly: why is the topic relevant now? This gives readers enough orientation without the post drifting into technical detail.

A case from day-to-day work or a typical question from practice can make abstract connections easier to grasp. An observation from a project does the same. The example should illustrate the central message and keep to a single story. If there is no suitable example, you can skip this step.

Your own assessment follows from the context or the example: what does the case show? What do you find remarkable about it? A concrete observation or a reasoned evaluation gives the post a profile. It also shows the value the post adds beyond pure information.

The close can sum up the thought concisely or name the consequence. If the post is meant to spark discussion, ask a concrete question that ties in with readers’ own experience.

Some technical topics contain several insights or challenges, often with lessons learned on top. Packed into one LinkedIn post, they compete for attention. The central message easily gets lost. In that case, it makes more sense to split the material.

A series of posts could, for example, start with the initial problem and then explain the solution or approach. A final post puts the experience gained into perspective. Each post needs its own single focus and has to make sense on its own. In other words, every post must be able to stand alone.

A technical term that belongs to a topic does not automatically add value for readers. If they need it to follow the post, introduce it at the point where it comes up and explain it briefly. Spell out abbreviations on first mention unless they are widely known.

Figures need context too. A measured value or a percentage says little on its own. Readers need the comparison behind it and the change it shows. And what does it mean in practice? A short explanation makes the value understandable without overloading the post with additional detail.

Telling technical content clearly as a corporate influencer comes down to the essentials: the right context and a clear message. Both need an assessment readers can follow. This turns specialist knowledge into a post that does more than inform: it gains meaning for its audience.

The Corporate Influencer Playbook by additiv (available in German) shows how corporate influencers build their own expert voice step by step. For programmes with several experts in your company, additiv works with you as a social media agency for industrial B2B companies.

Stay and keep browsing, or click away? When that question comes up, many people first take a look at the LinkedIn profile. What is often underestimated is that the profile is far more than a digital CV. As a personal business card, it provides the context for your own posts, comments and conversations. It also lays the foundation for a recognisable expert voice.

A generic job title, an outdated photo and no hint of topics, stance or added value quickly make the first impression fizzle out. A coherent profile shows at first glance what sets a person apart, what they talk about and which company they are connected with.

The key question for any profile check is therefore:

Would someone recognise from my profile alone what I stand for and which company I represent?

If the answer is not clear, it is time to revise your profile.

People trust people more than they trust logos. Corporate influencing thrives on employees who keep bringing their expertise into relevant discussions, share their experience and remain visible as personalities. This gives the company an expert voice with a stance of its own, distinct from interchangeable brand messages. The aim is long-term credibility, trust and thought leadership. Short-term reach is secondary.

Anyone taking on this role should therefore first clarify:

• What expertise do I bring?
• On which topics do I want to offer orientation?
• And how is my contribution connected to the company?

A good LinkedIn profile therefore has to do two things at once:

1. It has to make the person recognisable as a credible expert voice.
2. It has to make the link to the company clear without looking like an advertising channel.

The profile photo is where trust begins. It should be professional and up to date, show personality and suit the role. A clear, high-quality photo with a fitting expression therefore works better than an interchangeable application photo. It supports the impression that posts and comments convey, without having to explain the positioning.

The banner on a LinkedIn profile sets the visual frame for the positioning. A suitable motif, a short thematic statement or a pared-back style can show at a glance which industry, topic or company context the person is connected with.

Less is often more here: a banner full of claims, logos and buzzwords quickly looks like advertising. A clear thematic focus with a discreet reference to the company strengthens the personal positioning.

The profile headline is the quickest positioning test on LinkedIn. It appears not only on the profile but also next to posts and comments and in search results. “Managing Director at Company XY” describes the function, but says nothing about why anyone should follow this corporate influencer on LinkedIn.

A good headline therefore sums up what the person stands for professionally, which topics they put into context, which perspective they take and what others can expect from their content. The full career belongs elsewhere in the profile. The headline should create a clear expectation that the profile and the posts then fulfil.

Quite a lot for one line? Don’t worry: the headline is only the opening. In just a few words, it makes people curious about the content to come.

The About section goes one step further and provides the context behind this first impression. In a few sentences on their LinkedIn profile, a corporate influencer can show where their expertise comes from and which experience and stance shape them. They can also show what makes them who they are as a person.

A professional focus can still sound personal. Interests and hobbies can show who is behind the expertise. Sometimes they build a natural bridge to the core topic. For example, anyone who talks about artificial intelligence and enjoys gaming can draw exciting insights from it.

In the Featured section of their LinkedIn profile, a person can back up their positioning as a corporate influencer with concrete evidence. A few carefully chosen pieces they have already contributed to the topic are enough. Examples include a strong expert article, an interview, a case reference, a talk, a publication or a hands-on project.

The section works best when it stays selective. Every proof point should make the professional competence tangible and fit the profile.

A good LinkedIn profile for corporate influencing makes the connection between person and company visible without turning into a constant sales pitch. Role, banner, projects and concrete practical experience are often enough to establish the link. The profile only becomes credible when the person does more than repeat corporate claims. They put topics from their working day into context, show a stance and engage with the community. That way they remain an independent expert voice as a corporate influencer and make the company visible at the same time.

In a profile check, the key question is therefore: “Is it clear what independent contribution this person makes to the professional discourse as a corporate influencer?”

Corporate influencing is a long-term undertaking. A credible voice emerges through continuity, relevant content and genuine dialogue. If the first impression still holds up at second glance, the most important foundation has already been laid.

In five steps, additiv’s Corporate Influencer Playbook (in German) shows how profile, positioning, content and interaction work together. When you build your own corporate influencer programme, additiv supports you as a B2B social media agency for industry.

If you can answer these questions convincingly, you have laid the most important foundation for a strong first impression and a credible corporate influencer presence.