Independent retail businesses, both online and bricks and mortar, now have the chance to be featured in the local, national and trade media — free of charge, following the launch of a new platform.
Newspage enables retail businesses to create their own publicly visible and fully branded media centre – something the vast majority of them don’t have – in a matter of minutes. They can add as many contactable ‘experts’ as they wish, create tags for their areas of expertise and add any content that could be of use to the media.
They then receive ‘NewsAlerts’ ‘in app’ to breaking news stories that they could contribute to and are able to add news stories of their own. The Newspage team will promote stories it believes will be of interest to the media for free.
To date, the platform has secured valuable media exposure for a wide number of small online retailers, from Teddo Play and T & Belle to Cornucopia Emporium and Planar Watches. Keisha Shah, founder of the Milton Keynes-based educational resources provider, Teddö Play, says: “Newspage is a godsend for small businesses and a great place for them to share their stories with the world.”
Newspage evolved out of The Great British Bounce Back, which was launched by PR agency, Rhizome Media Group, during the first national lockdown to help small businesses that would never be able to afford a traditional PR agency have their voices heard and stories told.
Maddy Alexander-Grout, founder of the Southampton-based small business national discount scheme, MyVIPCard, explains: “Like us, Newspage exists to promote small independent businesses. Since its launch, it has been invaluable in helping small independent retailers raise their profile and generally have their voices heard throughout the pandemic. It gives companies who would never use a regular PR agency the chance to be featured in the local and national media for free. This can both raise awareness and drive sales, which is more important than ever in the current climate.”
Dominic Hiatt, founder, Newspage, adds: “With Newspage, we want to give small and independent UK retailers, which have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, the chance to have potentially important exposure in the media for free. Since the pandemic began, we’ve had small independents on the BBC, in almost all national newspapers, and in countless local newspapers and websites. It’s important that small retailers remain visible and we intend to ensure they do throughout 2021 and beyond.”
