A Quick Guide to Public Relations for Retailers

Paul Franson paul@napalife.com

Ten Basic Hints

I spent 15 years in corporate and agency public relations, I’ve worked for four magazines over 13 years, editing two, and written as a freelancer for more than 15 years. I find that most retailers are very weak at promotion. For those that can’t hire professionals to help, I offer these tips on public relations to help you promote your store.

 

1.      Communicate with the media. Don’t leave it to chance.

2.      Decide what’s special about your store and tell people.  

3.      Make a list of the few writers who are most important to you, and try to meet them in person. In a relatively small town or city in Napa Valley, only a few matter.

4.      Develop a longer list of calendar and other writers who might write about your store and its activities.

5.      Notify the media when you have news, including changes in your offerings or staff, remodeling, big sales, awards and other news. The biggest hits for many stores are special events. Take advantage of events put on by associations and also stage your own occasionally

6.      Use e-mail for releases and news unless told otherwise. Place text in message or use Word documents. Don’t send large attachments, Acrobat (.pdf) files, or especially pictures of releases (.jpgs) which will have to be retyped or scanned.

7.      It’s great to send FaceBook, evite and Twitter reminders of events, but if you want publications and websites to use them, send them in text or Word in  emails.

8.      Note that writers have different interests. Few write about retailing full time.  

9.      Many writers can’t or won’t accept freebies.

10.  Respond quickly. Writers usually have short deadlines.

Design Your Web Site for the Media as Well as Customers

The Internet allows companies to bypass editorial “gatekeepers” they think first ignore them, then distort what they’ve said. Now those companies can say what they want directly to viewers who visit their Web pages.

That makes web sites very important for most retailers. Be sure to have a website with information about your business. For most stores, it’s more of a marketing vehicle than a sales channel. Many people look at you site and then drop by; few buy over the Internet from local outlets.

In the rush to use the Internet to bypass the press, however, many retailers miss an opportunity: to make it easy for writers to get the right information in the first place.

As a free-lance writer who needs to collect information, I’ve found the Internet, especially the Web pages, can be an immense timesaver. But not always.

Many stores overlook basics that could help them tell their story better and maybe even get favorable press coverage. They should remember that their Web sites are really advertising and promotional material. They should receive as much consideration as ads. I suspect one reason many Web sites are so bad is that many sites are created by people who aren’t trained communicators.

Here are some suggestions to improve web sites. Most help prospective customers, investors or employees visiting your Web site just as much as writers. 

1.      Be on the Web even if it’s only a simple page containing your contact information. But a good site should be a high priority.

2.      List your address, phone, fax, and your e-mail – and check and answer your email.

3.      Provide your current product lines on line. If they change frequently, note that they are just typical. Try to include specials and keep them up to date!

4.      Don’t go crazy with graphics, much less video, audio and multimedia. People who seek your web site are usually looking for information, not entertainment. 

Some hints for writing press releases

A news release is simply a document that tells a writer, reporter or commentator about something that’s happened – or will happen. If you’d like your material used, make using it as easy as possible. There are a number of conventions that make it easy for busy writers to use the material.

1.      Provide the facts, the five “W’s”: who, what, why, where, when -- and you might include a sixth—who cares? Most writers need prices, too. A news release isn’t an article, a letter to customers or distributors, an ad, an e-mail promotion or a brochure. Don’t try write an article; leave that to the writer.

2.      Write a simple headline that gives a summary; don’t try to be cute, especially if it hides the news. You can provide a subhead if you want to expand on a few important points.

3.      Provide a dateline with the place the release originates, and the date you send it out.

4.      State the significance of the release in the first sentence – what you’re announcing. Don’t sneak up to it in the third paragraph, and don’t brag.

5.      Stick to the facts. Forget the flowery phrases and especially all the superlatives. In general, avoid first (“we, our” and second (“you”) person.

6.      If you include quotations from your executives or staff, make them punchy and meaningful. Most quotes in releases are unusable drivel: “We’re happy to announce that we’ve hired my talented daughter as CEO…”

7.      It’s best to provide all the basic information in one page. You can include more information if you want, but a release rarely justifies more than a couple of pages. It’s better to provide background material in other documents.

8.      The best way to handle artwork like photos is to provide a link to a high-resolution art on the Internet that someone can download if he or she wants. Thumbnails are useful, too. Don’t e-mail large attachments. Let people request them if they want.

9.      Above all, provide a contact who will be available for clarification, amplification or other information. Include name, phone number and e-mail address. And answer inquiries!

Some Common Style Errors and Suggestions

These are rules from the Associated Press Style Book, used by virtually all newspapers and most magazines and other publications (including NapaLife except in its calendar listing, where some things are condensed).

1.      Don’t assume the reader will know industry terms, abbreviations and jargon.

2.      Forget the “pleases” (e.g., “Please call 777-1200.” Just say “Call 777-1200,” or “The telephone number is 777-1200.”)

3.      Use a.m., p.m., not PM or pm.

4.      Write out most symbols. Use “and” for “&,” “percent” for “%”  but use “$”before a price, not “dollars.” Son’t use @ except in email addresses.

5.      Don’t abbreviate most words. This includes days of the week.

6.      Abbreviate “St.” “Ave.” and “Blvd.” when in addresses with numerals (but not if they’re used without numbers,  i.e., “The market is held on Main Street”).

7.      Write dates as Sept. 11, 2008. Don’t include “th,” etc., and abbreviate longer months (Don’t abbreviate April, May, June or July).

8.      Don’t use extra zeros with money( $5, not $5.00) or times (10 p.m., not 10:00 p.m.), but obviously 10:30 p.m.

9.      Use conventional state abbreviations (“Wash., Calif.,” not two-letter postal codes after cities in text. Use the codes (WA, CA) in listings and tables. Write out the name if you’re referring to the whole state: “Washington wine.”

10.  Write telephone numbers as 258-0159 (not 258.0159). The AP prefers 1-707-258-0159, but NapaLife doesn’t include the 707, though it obviously does for other area codes.

Formatting and Distribution of News Releases

1.      Don’t use ALL CAPITALs, or Capitalize The First Letters Of All Words, or underline text or use bold. Use normal fonts and forget color. I recommend popular Times Roman or Book Antigua (Palatino) font. Avoid “arty” fonts and italics. Punctuate normally.

2.      Use e-mail and possibly a paid news wire to distribute the release. Don’t use fax. Most writers don’t want fax or paper versions. Think about it: you have to retype anything that comes as fax or printed releases or try to scan it, which is time-consuming and introduces errors.

3.      It’s best to send releases as an attached Word document, but be sure to include a subject and note in the email text telling what it’s about. A lot of people won’t open unknown attachments (and for good reason).

4.      Don’t use Adobe Acrobat files (pdfs), Microsoft Publisher files or other unusual formats for releases, and don’t ever send a photograph of the text (a jpg or tiff). Make it easy for a writer to cut and paste, which encourages him to use it. It also minimizes mistakes.

5.      It’s great to send FaceBook, evite and Twitter reminders of news and events, but if you want publications and websites to publish them, send them as text or Word via email.

6.      Make releases and artwork available on your web site the day you post it.

7.      Be familiar with deadlines and don’t send in announcements of events too late.

 

An Example of a Basic News Release

 

Contact: Paul Franson (707) 258-0159 paul@napalife.com

 

Vaca Bicycle Shop Moving

 

NAPA, Calif., Aug. 18, 2009 – Vaca Bicycle Shop is moving from 1234 Trancas Ave. to 4321 Lincoln Ave. in Napa effective Sept. 28.

The new 1,000-sq.ft. shop will have an expanded showroom, a larger repair shop, and a café where customers can enjoy coffee, cold sports drinks and tea. It will also have a computer available for customers and free WiFi access.

A special feature of the shop is a section offered information on torus in Napa Valley, with complimentary maps of rides from easy trips to grueling mountain climbs.

The store carries a wide range of bicycles, from basic bikes for beginners to Goldplated, the bicycle ridden by Lance Armstrong in his winning Tour de France in 2008.

The shop has been owned by George Murphy for 12 years.

The shop plans an open house on Oct. 12.

Vaca is at 4321 Lincoln Ave t. in Napa. Its phone number is (707) 555-1200. Its web site is www.VavaBike.com.

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Other PR Materials Available

Napa Valley writers and media

There are more publications and writers based in Napa Valley than you might imagine. Here’s a recently updated list of those that cover Napa.

If you want any of these files, send an e-mail to Paul Franson at paul@napalife.com. There’s no charge or obligation.