Getting press coverage for your online store is a good way to reach potential customers. The good news is that, while it may sound daunting, there are many ways in which you can achieve this. For instance, you can write a press release in response to media questions about your services or products. You can use this press release to get featured in media outlets, magazines, and blogs to promote your brand image.
When you’re featured in major publications, you’ll gain more than visibility. Your brand will acquire credibility, referrals, and potential clients. As a result, media coverage can also boost sales. When choosing the media outlets to partner with, ensure your content or product is relevant to their audience. That’s a critical factor to consider if you don’t want to waste your campaign efforts.
Example:
To understand this, consider Fabletics as an example. They have a press section on their “About” page. They’ve been featured in Instyle, People, and Elle, among others. When you click on any of these outlets, the article they’re featured in pops up. This is social proof that they’ve been covered by that particular publication.
When clients see this proof, they begin to trust the brand. Additionally, the brand benefits from the credibility of the media coverage. Furthermore, the quality of press coverage is also vital to consider. This is because quality coverage helps the brand develop clout.
Tips for press coverage
1) Know where to find your audience
Do you know where to find your audience? Locating your audience is an important step when choosing the media outlets to target for coverage. Once you’ve drawn up a buyer persona, start by identifying the blogs and magazines they like to read. You really need to take your time with this step because the success of your media outreach depends heavily on it. After all, it’s no use wasting resources to get your brand published on channels where your target audience doesn’t spend any time.
Let’s make this simple with an example. If you were promoting a fashion product, it would be a waste getting published in TechCrunch, a magazine that covers new innovations in the tech world. That is, unless you had launched an app to go along with your product. For example, some companies have leveraged NFT technology to offer their customers a virtual fitting experience that is similar to what your customers would get in your brick-and-mortar fitting rooms.
If you have no idea where to look for your target audience, you can organize an online survey for your customers. In this survey, you should ask your current customers questions regarding what publications they prefer, and where they go for advice on the products or services that you sell. Once you’ve identified specific publications or platforms that many of your survey respondents have agreed on, you can create content that aligns with their editorial standards. After you’ve created this content, you’ll still need to reach out to the publication.
According to statistics, close to 50% of reporters prefer to get business press releases in the morning. In fact, Tuesday happens to be the best day of the week to send your release. If you send your press release but get no response, feel free to follow up after you’ve sent the first email. While following up signals to a reporter that they’ve missed something important from you, you don’t want to turn into an annoying nag. This is why PR experts recommend following up a maximum of two times. If you still don’t hear back, you can safely assume that the journalist or editor isn’t interested in this particular story.
2) Create a media list
A media list refers to a list with contact details of target journalists, publications, and media outlets. It will be resourceful when you’re ready to start your outreach process. With this list, you’ll know who to target and why they’re a good target. A media list also helps you to remain organized. Media outreach can be chaotic, but a media list can help you categorize all the target journalists and publications on your list so that you can keep track of who you’ve contacted, who you’ve heard back from, and who you still need to follow up with.
3) Develop a business relationship with journalists
Building a relationship with target reporters or journalists isn’t hard. The simple goal is to make sure that your name rings a bell and evokes positive memories when you start pitching to them as part of your media outreach. You can start by following the journalists on social media platforms where they’re active. Whenever they post something that relates to your niche, you should react or, better still, comment.
The idea here is to get their attention. Remember, you’re looking for a lasting relationship. You don’t want to give them the impression that you just want to get featured in their publications, so a little authentic engagement with their content goes a long way. They should know that you’re a reliable source of information, so don’t be afraid to contribute to their content by sharing your thoughts or initiating a discussion. Avoid pitching anything to them at this stage, when you’re still getting to know each other.
Once you’ve gotten their attention, you can also ask for advice on certain topics in your niche. Your priority should be to get to know them while giving them an opportunity to get to know you.
Once you’ve established a rapport, then you can pitch your content to them knowing that they’re likely to look at what you’re sending and consider it for a story.
4) Send custom emails
The easiest way to blow your chances of being featured in a news story is by sending mass emails to all the reporters on your media list. While this may seem like a convenient shortcut, it can make it seem like you don’t really care about what each reporter has to offer. Heck, you don’t even care enough to learn their name.
While you can personalize mass emails via mail merge or a similar tool, this also opens you up to the possibility of making so many mistakes. For example, you may address the journalist by the wrong name or you may forget to change their company name. These kinds of errors will send your email straight to the journalist’s trash folder. And it’s hard to come back from a mistake like addressing a journalist by the wrong name. In fact, they might not take any future pitches that you send them seriously.
When you’re pitching content to a journalist for press coverage, you’re not paying for this coverage (most of the time at least!). The least you could do is personalize your email. By sending a journalist a custom email, you’ll make them feel special and appreciated. And that can go a long way towards getting you press coverage.
5) Send free product samples
Getting a reporter’s attention is no walk in the park. However, if you offer them free samples, this will pique their interest. That’s because sampling the product in person will help them determine for themselves if it’s the right choice for their readers.
6) Publish your features
The primary role of getting featured is boosting trust, and most importantly, improving your credibility among the clients. Therefore, if your press releases get featured in any publications, you should feel free to show off. You can publish your press coverage on your press page as proof to target clients.
7) Perform some media monitoring
If you’re targeting multiple media outlets for press coverage, then you should track your progress. You need to monitor each of them and identify where you’re getting featured. You may need an online tool for this.
8) Be responsive
Some journalists may require more details than what’s available in your press release. If a journalist reaches out to you for more information, you should respond promptly. Remember, reporters work with deadlines so a delayed response could cost you the same press coverage that you’re aiming for.
Conclusion
Are you ready to get press coverage for your online store in 2023? Well, you now have all the tips to start this journey. However, when you’re already running an online store, you might appreciate some help with media outreach.
If this is the case, then you should reach out to the experts at Pressfarm. With a targeted media outreach strategy, they can generate press coverage for your online store. When you sign up, the team at Pressfarm starts by creating quality content for your brand. This includes press releases, guest posts, and media kits that will highlight the most exciting aspects of your products. Once they’ve created this content, the PR specialists at Pressfarm then identify media outlets that are likely to be interested in your news. They then pitch your content to these media outlets with the goal of securing press coverage.
Finally, the account executive builds a media list to help you do extended media outreach long after they’ve wrapped up your campaign. With a package from Pressfarm, you can get press coverage for your online store.