Neat PR share their tips for successful retail PR.
Our (not so secret) recipe for successful retail PR includes creativity, strong attention to detail, great media contacts, and gallons upon gallons of tenacity. Check, check, check, check? Then you’re all set to whip up a storm for your brand or products. The next question is how you do it… here are our top tips:
1: Before identifying your method, it’s key to define your objectives
Whether you want to drive brand awareness, boost traffic to your website, increase your sales or launch a specific new range, it’s crucial to spell out exactly what it is you’re after. Then you can work out your strategy (the ‘how’), agree on your key messages, pinpoint your target audience, and set some deliverables (desired outcome).
2: Give the media what they want, when they want it, in the way they want to receive it.
Journalists are busy, so the easier you can make their job, the better. When sending out press releases, consider timely stories and write what the journalists will put on their page. Do away with the fluff and meaningless detail – bring key information front and centre, keep it short and punchy, and most importantly, make it visual. It’s key to embed crucial information in the body of an email in the first go, rather than as an attachment – they’ll be sure to ask for more information if interested! Also consider a budget for press samples. Occasionally publications shoot their own content, whilst Bloggers, Vloggers and social media influencers will always want to touch and hold something before they endorse it.
3: Create brilliant content
From high resolution, cut-out images to fun GIFs or video content, it’s all about how your products look to the outside world. Blurry, poorly shot pictures on a grey background will never get picked up for a magazine’s shopping page, and no influencers would bother sharing long, commercial videos on their social media channels. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what you choose to like and share on Instagram! Most importantly, always ensure assets are properly named, especially product shots, with name, price and outlet. There’s nothing worse than seeing one of your SKUs with a link to Amazon when you’ve done all the hard work!
4: Be relevant
Timing and topicality can be the difference between great coverage results or nothing at all. Try to hook products or brand stories onto a key moment or season in the British calendar to encourage media to cover it. You might also spark a new idea for a column that they might not have considered!
5: Be realistic
You can’t expect a national daily newspaper to hold the front page for a 10% Black Friday discount, or for every upmarket, glossy women’s magazine to include last year’s advent calendar! Try to highlight fresh, new and exciting products and new news. If you struggle to be enthusiastic about your sell-in, then the chances that they will be is slim to none!
Hear more great PR tips at ACE2018 where Nicole Rose and Hilary Frohlich from Neat PR will be running a seminar on Thursday 1 March.
