• 24 Sep 2019
  • 5 Min read

5 of the best ways to get your products featured online

Getting your products featured in the media can be a great way to increase sales, gain exposure for your brand, and boost your SEO through backlinks. However, contacting journalists and editors can seem overwhelming, and it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Plus, contacts for national magazines and newspapers often receive a huge number of emails, so it’s important you provide value and stand out amongst the crowd. Here we’ll talk you through five ways you can get your products featured online.

Media requests

Media requests can provide a simple and effective way to get your products online exposure. Journalists, editors, and bloggers often send out requests for help with their features. These opportunities can range from comments on topics to full interviews, but also commonly include product send outs.

Replying to these is a great move, as you’ll be getting in touch with people who are already planning to write a piece, and actively looking for brands to work with. There are many paid-for services that will provide you with high-quality media requests, but many journalists, editors, and bloggers put out product requests on Twitter, too.

Before responding to a media request, ensure your product is a good fit and will genuinely help with the contact’s request. This will save time for both you and the contact and help you to build a good working relationship for future opportunities.

It’s also vital that you keep your emails succinct. Introduce yourself, your brand, and refer to their request. Then introduce the product(s) you’d like to suggest and be sure to explain why these would make a good fit. You should always include imagery that presents your product well, along with the name, price, and a direct link to it on your site. Presenting relevant products in a clear and visual manner will provide the best results.

Gift guides

Magazines, websites, and newspapers will often publish seasonal gift guides. Christmas is the most obvious and popular time for gift guides, but many sites publish these for other seasonal events, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, and Father’s Day.

Getting your product featured in gift guides is not only a great direct call to action for readers to make a purchase, but it can also get you coverage in some of the bigger publications.

Many publications will put out media requests for their gift guides, but there are other ways to get involved. One option is to look into who has previously published this kind of feature, so you can get in touch to suggest your products for this year. Alternatively, you can look for recently published guides and get in touch to suggest additions. If your email is timed well, many editors are happy to update their piece if your product is a great fit. We would recommend getting in touch no later than a week after the guide was originally published.

Product roundups

Product roundups are features in which editors showcase the ‘best’ items within a certain category. They’re very similar to gift guides, as they are often published around events, seasons, or trends, but they can be trickier to predict.

Try to get ahead of editors and pitch products before awareness days happen, while trends are on the rise, and in advance of the seasons. Begin pitching summer products in the spring, Autumn/Winter fashion in late summer, or Veganuary products in December. Most publications will typically also put out Black Friday and Cyber Monday features, which offer a fantastic opportunity to publicise the deals you’re going to have on.

Alternatively, you can pitch your products for inclusion in existing roundups that have been published recently.

Competitions

If you have enough stock and the budget to do it, working with a publication to send out a product as a competition prize can be a great way to gain a backlink and some exposure for your business. And, if you collaborate with a niche or industry-specific site, you can ensure your product is showcased to your ideal target audience.

Of course, you’ll have to cover the cost of the product(s), as well as the postage and packaging. But the brand awareness this can create is often worth it.

When contacting an editor about a competition, let them know why you’d like to work with their site specifically, why your product would make a great fit for their readers, and what you would like to offer. Include plenty of imagery and the value of the prize. For maximum SEO value, you should also negotiate for the competition to be archived on the website, so the link remains indefinitely.

Editorials

If your product is unique or exciting enough, you may be able to convince an editor to build an editorial around it.

Create a targeted list of publications you would like to be featured on, which are relevant to your product and business as a whole. Get in touch with an email that briefly describes your product, explains its USPs, and outlines any important information on pricing and availability. Add imagery and offer comment from a brand spokesperson, explaining why the product is unique.

You can also end the email by letting the contact know you’d be happy to provide an editorial or arrange an interview around this. It’s best to make it as easy as possible for someone to write about you and your products.

Tips and considerations for getting your products featured online

While there are different ways to get your products featured on external sites, there are some thing you always need to consider. So, make sure you keep these points in mind:

  • Expect to send out samples. Many editors and journalists will want to see the product for themselves and test its suitability.
  • If you are sending out a product, weigh up the price point against the SEO or exposure value. Ensure you only send out high value items for opportunities that will reward this.
  • Check that features will be running online and that you’ll receive a backlink. Many media requests are for print, so it’s best to check this before spending time and money on opportunities.
  • Create visual and concise email pitches that let your products speak for themselves.

Getting your products featured in online editorials and roundups is a great way to gain exposure for your brand. However, it does take a lot of time and energy. Our SEO agency offers an outreach service, which is designed to build backlinks to your site, and one element of this is promoting your products online. So, if you would like us to help you market your business in this way, get in touch to discuss your requirements today.


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