Diy Pr Tips For The Retail Industry

Want to PR your business but don’t want to shell out for an outside agency to handle it for you? It’s always possible to handle some PR activity yourself.

There is a wealth of opportunities to gain coverage for your retail business in your local press and online. There are three main areas you should consider covering: press releases, products and digital.

Press releases

If there’s been an exciting new development in your business that you want to tell everyone about, then you should draft a press release to send to your local newspapers. Keep your release simple and to the point, try and include a quote from someone in the business and always get someone else to proof read it for you.

If you think a good photo would strengthen your story, it’s worth considering paying a professional photographer to take some shots for you.

When your press release is ready, call your local newspaper (avoid calling on the newspapers’ deadline day if possible). Explain briefly who you are, why you’re calling and what the press release is about, then ask who the best person to send it through to via email would be.

Remember – journalists are often very busy and may not have time to discuss your press release in detail; you need to strike the balance between ‘selling your story’ enough to pique their interest, but not taking up too much of their time.

You can put in a follow up call a few days later to find out if the journalist has been able to use it and, if not, if they can provide you with any feedback that might prove useful when it comes to putting together future press releases.

Products

Local publications might be interested in featuring your products if they’re putting together appropriate features.

Again, think about commissioning a photographer to take some good quality photos of your products, and then send them to your local paper via email – they can then keep the images on file and use them in any suitable features.

Digital

The internet provides plenty of options when it comes to promoting your business.

If you have a website, make sure it is updated regularly and is easy for your customers to navigate. You should also consider setting up a Twitter account or Facebook group. 'Add' or 'follow' people from your local area and keep it up to date so they can easily find out what’s going on with your business.