Are you struggling to get your home decor, furniture, or fixture brand noticed? With so many competitors in the market, it can be challenging to get publicity for home product brands.

However, with the right strategies, you can get your products and brand in front of the right audience and create a buzz around your products.

As a publisher and a marketing consultant to design brands and professionals, I see both sides of this – the publishers who are bombarded with requests from brands, and the brands who want publicity to grow their business. In this article, I’m combining both sides to help you get publicity for your products and brand!

We cover

• how to build a strong foundation for publicity
• what you need to have in place to get your products in magazines
• how to approach editors and publishers
• how to leverage your media mentions (and why it’s critical)

Let’s dive in!

Building a Strong Brand Foundation

To get publicity for your home decor brand, you need to build a strong brand foundation. A strong brand foundation is the backbone of your brand. It is the core values, mission, and vision of your brand that sets it apart from others. Building a strong brand foundation involves defining your brand aesthetic and creating a cohesive product line.

Defining Your Brand Aesthetic

Your brand aesthetic is the visual representation of your brand. It is the style, color, and design that you use to communicate your brand’s message to your audience. Defining your brand aesthetic involves understanding your target audience and creating a style that resonates with them.

To define your brand aesthetic, consider the following:

• Who is your target audience?
• What are their preferences?
• What is your brand’s personality?
• What are your brand’s core values?

Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience and brand personality, you can start creating a style guide. A style guide is a document that outlines your brand’s visual language, including color palette, typography, and design elements.

Creating a Cohesive Product Line

A cohesive product line is essential to building a strong brand foundation. It involves creating products that are consistent with your brand aesthetic and values. A cohesive product line ensures that your customers can easily recognize your brand and its products.

To create a cohesive product line, consider the following:

• What are your brand’s core products?
• How can you expand your product line while maintaining your brand aesthetic?
• How can you differentiate your products from your competitors?

Creating a product roadmap can help you plan your product line and ensure that it is consistent with your brand aesthetic. A product roadmap is a visual representation of your product strategy and can help you prioritize your product development.

Why is Brand Design important for getting publicity?

Because editors, just like consumers, want to see complete concepts because it helps them to design the articles that they create and placements for your products. When you do your brand design, you essentially need to think about the users of your products, and this ways, make them as appealing as possible for your audience.

Developing a Publicity Strategy

To get your home decor brand noticed, you need to develop a publicity strategy that aligns with your brand’s goals and values. This strategy should help you identify your target audience, craft your message, and create a media kit that showcases your brand’s strengths.

Identifying Your Target Audience

The first step in developing a publicity strategy is to identify your target audience.

• Who are the people you want to reach with your message?
• What are their interests, needs, and preferences?

By understanding your target audience, you can choose the right media channels to reach them. No point in showcasing your luxury home decor collection in a magazine created for outdoor activities.

Crafting Your Message

Once you know your target audience, you need to craft a message that speaks to their needs and interests. Your message should be clear, concise, and compelling. It should highlight your brand’s unique selling points and differentiate you from your competitors.

To craft your message, you need to understand your brand’s values, mission, and vision. You should also consider your audience’s pain points and how your brand can solve them. Your message should be consistent across all channels, including your website, social media, and marketing materials.

Creating a Media Kit

A media kit is a collection of materials that showcase your brand’s strengths and achievements. It includes things like your brand story, product descriptions, high-quality images, and press releases. A media kit can help you build relationships with journalists, bloggers, and influencers who can help you get your message out to a wider audience.

When creating a media kit, make sure to include all the information that editors, journalists, and influencers need to know about your brand. This includes your brand story, product descriptions, high-quality images, and contact information.

You should also consider including testimonials from satisfied customers and any awards or recognition your brand has received.

Getting Published in Magazines

If you want to get your home decor brand noticed, getting published in magazines can be a great way to achieve that. Here are some steps you can take to get your brand featured in relevant publications.

Researching Relevant Publications

The first step to getting published is to research relevant publications. You want to make sure that the magazines you are targeting are a good fit for your brand and your target audience. Look for magazines that cover topics related to your brand, such as interior design, home decor, or lifestyle.

Once you have identified a list of potential publications, do some research on each one. Look at their website, social media channels, and previous issues to get a sense of their style, tone, and content. You should also look for submission guidelines, which will tell you what kind of content they are looking for and how to submit it.

Media Options To Choose From

Most media houses have multiple options you can choose from. They have

• Traditional Product Placement: This is the most common form of product placement, where a product or brand is integrated into a magazine, TV show, movie, or music video. It can involve the prominent display or use of the product by the characters.
• Expert Panels & Quotes: Magazines are always looking for experts to interview, if not for long interviews, but to get short quotes and point-of-views. This is probably the best way to get mentioned in articles, and it doesn’t cost you any money!
• Sponsored Content: This refers to paid content that appears within media outlets, such as articles, blog posts, or videos. It can be written or produced by the media outlet itself or in collaboration with the brand.
• Influencer Marketing: Collaborating with social media influencers who have a significant following in a specific niche. They can promote your product through dedicated posts, reviews, or mentions in their content.
• Celebrity Endorsements: Enlist celebrities or well-known public figures to endorse or use your product publicly. This can be done through social media, interviews, or public appearances.
• Branded Entertainment: Creating original content like web series, short films, or documentaries that subtly feature or revolve around your product or brand.
• Event Sponsorship: Sponsoring events such as concerts, festivals, sports events, or charity fundraisers, where your brand receives visibility through signage, logos, and announcements.
• Guest Appearances: Collaborating with TV shows, podcasts, or YouTube channels where your representatives or experts can make guest appearances and discuss relevant topics while subtly mentioning your product.
• Native Advertising: Creating advertisements that blend seamlessly with the content format of the media outlet, appearing like regular articles, videos, or infographics while promoting your brand.
• Advertorial: Advertorials are editorial contents that clearly promote the brand. This can take place, for example, as founder stories and other types of articles that are written to promote the brand.
• Content Partnerships: Collaborating with media outlets or content creators to develop co-branded content that aligns with both parties’ interests and reaches a broader audience.
• Product Reviews: Sending your product to relevant bloggers, vloggers, or journalists for reviews and featuring their opinions on their respective platforms.
• Social Media Mentions: Encouraging social media users to talk about your product or brand by creating engaging campaigns, hashtags, or challenges.
• User-generated Content: I’m adding this one here too, because it’s a great way to get publicity, particularly on social media. Empowering your customers to share their own images using your product is a great way to get more publicity.

Pitching Editors Directly

Once you have identified a list of relevant publications, the next step is to pitch editors directly. This can be a bit intimidating, but it’s important to remember that editors are always looking for great content to feature in their magazines. Here are some tips for pitching editors:

• Start by introducing yourself and your brand. Be clear and concise about what your brand is all about and why it would be a good fit for their publication.
• Personalize your pitch. Show that you have done your research by referencing specific articles or features in their magazine that you enjoyed or found inspiring.
• Be specific about what you are pitching. Include details about the content you are proposing, such as the topic, format, and length.
• Include high-quality images. Editors are always looking for visually stunning content, so make sure to include high-quality images that showcase your brand and your products.

Creating a Compelling Pitch

To create a compelling pitch, you need to make sure that your content is unique, interesting, and relevant to the publication you are targeting. Here are some tips for creating a compelling pitch:

• Focus on a specific angle or topic. Don’t try to cover too much ground in one pitch. Instead, focus on a specific angle or topic that will be of interest to the publication’s readers.
• Highlight your brand’s unique selling points. What sets your brand apart from others in the industry? Make sure to highlight these unique selling points in your pitch.
• Be creative and innovative. Editors are always looking for fresh, innovative content, so try to come up with something that is new and exciting.
• Keep it concise. Your pitch should be clear and concise, with all the important information presented in a straightforward manner. Keep in mind that editors are busy and don’t have a lot of time to read through lengthy pitches.
• Make it timely. If you want to get featured in a magazine, then figure out what themes they have, and create your pitch to match them.
• Be ready for visibility. You need to have all the media assets ready when the opportunity comes knocking! Editors want your materials yesterday, so be prepared to send them ASAP.
• Make it unique. Each media outlet wants unique content, so don’t just copy-paste the same pitch to all media outlets.
• Make sure you own the rights to use images. This is big – you need to make sure you own the image rights! Check your contract with your photographer that it covers using images for pitching AND publishing, and all relevant media channels.
• Understand lead times. All media outlets have lead times, and some might be long. Don’t pitch your Christmas products in December unless you want them to appear in the magazine the following year (don’t do it; wait until August-September to send your pitch).

Look For Opportunities

As mentioned earlier, getting featured in an article as a guest expert is one of the easiest ways to get publicity that you can leverage to get more publicity and a bigger reach for your brand.

One place to find opportunities is HARO – Help A Reporter Out.

HARO is a great place to find opportunities for becoming featured as a guest expert in different media outlets, from big publishers to small ones. It’s this simple (it takes some time)

• Sign up for HARO as an expert
• Receive daily press requests
• Pick the ones that make sense for you
• Pitch the editors directly
• Wait for the publication to air
• Share with your audience and thank the editor!

Remember to be persistent and keep pitching, even if you don’t get a response right away. With a little bit of effort and creativity, you can get your brand noticed by the right people.

Prepare to Tell Your Creator Story

As a home decor brand, your story is what will capture the attention of potential publications and customers. Storytelling is key when it comes to growing your brand. Here are a few steps to help you tell your creator’s story:

Identifying Your Unique Story

Your brand story should be unique and authentic. Identify what makes your brand stand out from the competition. Consider the following questions:

• What inspired you to start your business?
• What challenges have you faced as a home decor brand?
• What values does your brand embody?

Always have your creator story ready!

Crafting a Compelling Narrative

Once you have identified your unique story, craft a compelling narrative that will resonate with your audience. Consider the following tips:

• Be transparent about the adversity your company has faced and own it.
• Don’t forget about your story’s status quo and resolution.
• Use emotional language to connect with your audience.

Your narrative should showcase your brand’s personality and values.

Creating an Image Vault For Your Home Decor Product Images

As a home decor brand, having a collection of high-quality images is essential for getting publicity and showcasing your products. Creating an image vault is a great way to organize and store your images, making it easy to share them with the media and potential customers. Here are some tips for creating an effective image vault:

Organizing Your Images

Before you start uploading your images, it’s important to organize them in a way that makes sense for your brand. Consider creating folders based on product categories, seasons, or themes. This will make it easy to find the images you need when you’re pitching to the media or creating marketing materials.

Tagging and Categorizing Your Images

Once you’ve organized your images into folders, it’s time to tag and categorize them. This will make it easier to search for specific images and ensure that you’re using the right images for the right purposes. Consider using descriptive tags like “living room,” “bedroom,” or “holiday decor” to help you find the images you need quickly.

Sharing Your Image Vault with the Media

Once you’ve created your image vault, it’s time to start sharing it with the media. Consider creating a press kit that includes a link to your image vault, along with a brief description of your brand and products. You can also share your image vault with bloggers and influencers who may be interested in featuring your products on their platforms.

Add The Link to Your Media Kit

Your media kit needs to have a link to your image vault so that the editors and journalists can easily find all the relevant images.

Leveraging Media Mentions

One of the most effective ways to get publicity for your home decor brand is by leveraging media mentions. When your brand is mentioned in the media, it can help build brand awareness, credibility, and trust with potential customers. Here are some ways to leverage media mentions for your home decor brand.

Tracking Your Mentions

The first step in leveraging media mentions is to track them. You can use tools like Google Alerts or Mention to monitor when your brand is mentioned in the media.

This will allow you to keep track of your media coverage and respond to any negative mentions. You can also use this information to see what types of media outlets are covering your brand and adjust your media outreach strategy accordingly.

Sharing Your Mentions on Social Media

Once you have tracked your media mentions, the next step is to share them on social media. This can help increase your brand’s visibility and reach a wider audience.

You can share your media mentions on your brand’s social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Be sure to tag the media outlet and the journalist who wrote the article to increase the chances of them sharing your post with their followers.

Using Mentions to Build Credibility

Media mentions can also be used to build credibility for your home decor brand. When a reputable media outlet mentions your brand, it can help establish your brand as an authority in the industry.

You can use these mentions to promote your brand as a trusted source of information and products. Be sure to highlight these media mentions on your website and in your marketing materials to build trust with potential customers.

But, isn’t all publicity good publicity?

No. You need to think about the brand association as well. Do you want to be associated with certain brands, such as certain media brands, and would you rather not be associated with some other brands? You need to decide this in advance!

I sometimes meet business owners who buy media placements in all kinds of publications and environments, and I can clearly see that those placements are only going to devalue the brand, even if the thinking process for the media placement was to get maximum reach, and that “visibility never hurts”. Well, it can hurt!

Getting Publicity For Home Product Brands

There are so many ways of getting publicity for your home products and brand. Choose the methods that make sense to you and start practicing!