I do a lot of work with product based businesses from cake makers to jewellery designers and retailers. Today I wanted to highlight three PR opportunities that you should look out for if you are a product based business.
1. Product Pages
Probably not a surprise but this is a great one!
These are pages that have images of lots of different products (generally with a theme), their prices and where you can get them from. These product pages appear in a range of media from magazines to newspapers and online.
For example, the magazine Stylist does a selection of products that they love and it is called “Stylist Loves” where they share 50 products that their editors have picked and that they love! They can be in beauty, fashion, home or even themes such as ‘coastal’, ‘contemporary’, ‘sustainable’ – so many different angles!
Basically it is an image of the product and the stockist information and they will put a call out for those different themes throughout the year.
These are great opportunities to get started in your product PR!
TIP – do your research and find the publications that are relevant to you and your business so you can be ready to send them your information on your products! Also make sure you have great product photography, both lifestyle shots and ‘cut out’ images which can be put onto any background (see the Stylist option for this type of image).
2. Collaborate with Other Makers
This is a way to link up with other makers or businesses that are within your niche to give yourself a hook to be relevant at a certain point in time. For example, when I worked on the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, they had 150 designers and makers from around the North across a wide range of skills. At that time, they all had something in common. They were all exhibiting and selling at this massive event in Manchester at a specific point in time, which gives them a very newsworthy angle.
If you find yourself involved in any type of event like that, where there is somebody promoting a whole event, you can link in with them and make contact with whoever is doing their PR. Equally if you are working as a partnership with someone you can join forces and double your PR output and your visibility.
Or even if you are selling through a certain website that sells multiple different makers/designers then they will have their own PR people who are trying to promote that business as well!
It all comes down to making relationships with potential collaborators or exhibiting at events with others. You are giving yourself a reason to be newsworthy by going bigger than just you and linking with more people.
TIP – Who do you know that you could collaborate with? Could you start joining some online or in person groups with like minded individuals you could partner with?
3. Seasonal Opportunities
These are particularly good if your product has a certain point in time that it is very relevant in the calendar e.g Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Teacher presents.
The media will be putting gift guides together for those events during that period. In order to get those gift guides pulled together they will be gathering the information in advance. They will be looking for a selection of products that will fit with the theme/event of their gift guides.
By being able to use those key calendar events you are getting your message out there at the right time to the right people – what PR is all about!
TIP – think about when your product is relevant throughout the year and then work backwards from that date to when the media may be calling in samples and starting to pull together their gift guides. This will allow you to be organised in enough time with your product information and photography so you can start to pitch yourself for those opportunities.
Glossy magazines typically work 6 months in advance, which is why you may have heard about Christmas in July! The big brands start to put on their Christmas shows and start promoting their big Christmas ranges for that year. That is because they know that journalists will start thinking about what they are going to cover 6 months out.
To see my live video talking about PR opportunities for product based businesses, click here.
📣 If you are a product based business owner and want help to start using these opportunities sign up for a 2-hour Cheerleader PR Strategy Session with me 📣.
Book now here.
