PR Strategy for Shop Retention – Part 2

A sustainable PR strategy means knowing how to spread the word about your Spreadshop. Ready to take over the world with your T-shirts? While we can’t guarantee world domination, we can at least clue you in to some important elements of Public Relations. Mary and Eike from our PR department have compiled everything you need to know. Ready to go from noob to “PRo”?

In Part 1 of our PR Tips, Mary and Eike explained what PR is and how you develop your own PR strategy. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of PR: How do you connect with the press? How can you share your story with magazines, blogs and social media? And how do you ensure sustainable PR?

Feeling lost? Don’t worry, these steps will help you to build and maintain your relationship with the public.

PR strategy #1: Introduce Yourself

Public Relations isn’t so different from any other human relationship. When you encounter a new person you’d like to get to know. What is the first thing you do? Say hello! Try to seem nice and interesting. Try not to say anything awkward or spill your coffee on their shirt.
You know what they say about first impressions. Well, on the internet, that matters even more. People on the internet are like goldfish: short attention spans, swimming around aimlessly, easily distracted by the next yummy bit of fish food to float their way. They won’t stick around or remember your product unless you make an immediate, lasting impression.
You’ve got to be the hook. When a potential customer lands in your shop or on your website, you only have a few seconds to make yourself seem interesting. Think carefully about what makes you and your shop interesting and how you can present it for the goldfish-people of the Internet.

The bait for your Spreadshop? A short intro text, your logo, and photos or other visuals. Turn your Shop into a memorable brand!

Other places to hook your goldfish-people?

in your Spreadshop description (Shop edit > Page options > About us)

on the “About Us” pages of your website, Facebook, and other social media

in a Press Kit

What’s a Press Kit, you ask? Read on.

PR strategy #2: Make Headlines

Want to talk to a newspaper, a blogger or a radio station to reach your target group? Go for it! Let’s get people talking about you.

How do I find the right medium?

First step: ask yourself who might be interested in your story. Take a look at your local city or neighborhood newspaper or city magazines. Journalists love a local success story! Think about publications that reach your niche. If you have a shop with dog designs, for example, go for dog magazines; or if you illustrate goldfish, a fishing blog might be just the ticket.

Then try to find a direct contact (e.g. “local editorial office”, “cultural section”). You will often find the contact details in the imprint. Some good old-fashioned Googling can also help.

How do I address journalists and bloggers?

Editors usually work on several stories at the same time and deal with tight deadlines. You are one of many people trying to get their attention (more goldfish-people). Make your story sound relevant and fascinating in your very first contact.

Think about trending topics. For example, let’s say you design T-shirts about reducing plastic waste in your city. Save the Koi fish in the local park’s pond! Stop throwing trash in the river! Great! It’s topical, it’s important, and journalists would be able to connect it to other global and local topics. Another thing to consider: is there an upcoming event near you that relates to your Shop?

If you want to stay in the media spotlight over the long term, it’s a good idea to create a press kit. This makes you seem very professional and makes life easier for journalists.

What does a press kit include?

A short text about you and your shop, including important links

Relevant data, facts and figures about you and your business

Your logo (in RGB format for digital publications, in CMYK for printed publications)

Photos or other imagery (which you own the rights to) that you can make available to journalists free of charge.

Videos or video links, if you have them

You can provide your Press Kit as a link to your website or as a PDF file.

How to keep in touch?

Once you’ve been featured, maintain that connection with the press. Write to the journalist who wrote about you to update them: What’s new? What is planned? What exciting developments are underway? This is exactly what PR is all about: building and maintaining long-term relationships.

PR strategy #3: Blog, Post, Respond, Repeat

What applies to your press contacts also applies to your customers and followers. You’ll only build up a long-term, stable fan base through interaction. Increase your reach with these three steps:

1. Create relevant content

To be found on Google or other search engines, you have to create relevant content. For example, if you sell plant designs, you could write a blog post about how to make DIY flower bombs or how to propagate your houseplants.

“Write small posts or blog articles on topics that aren’t directly related to your shop, but are still of interest to those who don’t know you. That way, you guarantee that your articles will be shared even among those who don’t know your shop yet.”

2. Involve your personal network

Every follower counts—especially when you’re just getting started. Get support from your friends and family and ask them to share your posts or write you a review. Kit them out with your awesome products to turn them into walking brand ambassadors.

3. Be part of the conversation

Respond to feedback from your followers—be friendly and courteous. You should also follow your social media channels closely. Has anyone written a comment and praised you? Then thank them and return the favor, if possible.

You can also think about specific hashtags, competitions, features and promotions that your fans can use to stay in touch with you.

“At Spreadshirt, we regularly feature great projects from our Shop Owners and designers on the blog in the form of interviews. Feel free to apply! On Instagram we use the hashtags #spreadshop and #spreadmystyle. We check back regularly and feature Instagram posts that we especially like on our own @spreadshirt account.”

A little example of how hashtags can work to your advantage: In March 2019 we did an interview with Eleanor from eph designs and followed her on Insta. She posted a picture of a poster for sale on her Spreadshop, and we liked it so much that we wanted to feature her. We commented with the #spreadmystyle hashtag, which Eleanor now uses to bring new people to her Instagram feed. Thanks for that, Eleanor!

View this post on Instagram

♡ ♡ ♡ NEW! Venus design available on store now! ♡ ♡ ♡ . . . Join the poster club! Designs available as posters! ♡ ♡ ♡ . . . . . . . . . #art #artwork #illustration #fashion #giftideas #gift #cute #leavemealone #typography #graphicdesign #manchester #england #spreadshirt #spreadshirtshop #tshirt #fashionillustration #internationalwomensday #mothersday #giftsforher #illustrateddoris # #womenartists #spreadmystyle

A post shared by eleanor parry-hensley (@eph_designs) on Apr 2, 2019 at 4:57am PDT

We wish you the best of luck with your PR in the future. Good luck hooking those goldfish-people.

Do you still have questions or ideas about PR? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy fishing!