PR TIPS FOR DESIGNERS

words by Karolina Barnes

As an editor, I get around 150-200 pitches a day. And as I said many times before, I ignore 99% of them. Why? The biggest problem for me is that I can’t do anything with the material presented to me.

If you want to be featured in a publication, the first thing you need to do even before you can start a press pitch campaign is to have the best quality tools available to you. It’s very simple: no tools, no results. Poor tools, poor results. Surprisingly, most pitches I get are actually highly researched. They clearly understand what stories I'm looking for. It’s very frustrating when I know that someone spent time researching but didn’t invest enough time, resources and thinking into the presented content.

As magazine publishing is going through challenging and changing times, it’s more important than ever before to grab people’s attention through emotion. We need to feel connected.

YOUR PRESS TOOLKIT

1. Your project / product story packaged in a press release The most important element of successful press pitching is your story. No other designer or brand can be like you. Brand storytelling goes well beyond your USPs. It needs to be relatable, inspiring, educational or motivational. Hence, the focus of your story should be on the problem and how you solved it. If you're an interior designer, this might mean building your story around the changes and improvements you make in your projects. If you're an artist or brand, build your story around the emotion / lifestyle, giving a few key points from before (problem) to after (solution).

2. Your background story Every press pitch / press release should have a little story about you and your own professional journey. Please include your contact details as well as website link and social media handles.

3. Founder’s quote Always include relevant quotes about the project or product, service or collection. Think about how you, as the founder, feel about it. Share your thoughts. This helps a lot when journalists work with the content provided in press releases. It saves them time to chase you and ask you for it.

4. Photography Without great photography, you cannot promote your brand effectively. Always invest in best photographers and teams who understand your brand – your values, ethos, purpose, mission and vision. A wedding photographer will not deliver on-brand promotional imagery required for storytelling features unless they have a commercial and marketing mind.

Your toolkit should include: Lifestyle Shots, Detailed Product Shots (to support the story) and Founder Profile Shot (available in colour and black & white). All images should be available in portrait and horizontal formats, high and low resolution. If applicable, product shots on no background should be saved as .png (not jpeg).

PITCHING TO PRESS

When you have your toolkit ready, it's time to do some research and start pitching to relevant publications. The research stage may take some time, but if you are clear on your brand positioning, you will most likely have a good idea about the publications you want to target. This stage is all about analysing their content and figuring out ways of how to "fit in" and what story angles to take.

Once you have defined the angles, create an email template (most pitching is done over email these days), which you will need to change slightly, depending on the publication and the research you have done. All contacts can be usually found inside the publication on the credit page or the publisher's website under contacts. Some publications offer to submit a story / feature, so look out for the CTA in the website's footer.

Your subject line and first 2-3 sentences must be written cleverly to catch attention. Overall, short 2 paragraphs are enough but always include links to your press toolkit (usually created in Dropbox where everything is clearly labelled and presented). It's also helpful to include one image (small size), so when scanning the email through, it triggers further investigation.

MORE TIPS CAN BE FOUND ON ESTILA.CO/BUSINESS-ADVICE