Here’s how to create a successful beauty PR campaign for beauty and cosmetics products
Gone are the days when beauty PR and cosmetics companies had limited options for getting their products noticed. With the rise of social media and influencer marketing, there are now countless strategies available to these brands. From collaborating with popular bloggers and vloggers to hosting product launch events and creating engaging social media campaigns, the possibilities for gaining exposure are endless.
If you own or represent a beauty company, you should learn more about beauty public relations so that you know what works for your company.
To shed some light on the matter, we asked professionals from the top beauty public relations firms for their thoughts on how to improve beauty communications. This guide will walk you through how to create successful public relations campaigns for beauty and cosmetics products, as well as provide you with some pointers on:
- How to do PR for beauty brands
- The best way to get media contacts for beauty journalists
- How to partner with leading beauty PR firms
What is the most efficient way to spread the word about a new cosmetics line?
Given the number of goods and brands available in the beauty industry, public relations is often an effective approach for helping these businesses to stand out. This is, of course, assuming that everything is done correctly.
Public relations for any product isn’t a single event. Rather, you should have an ongoing strategy that you keep adjusting based on the results you’re getting.
In order to build a winning PR strategy for your beauty and cosmetics brand, you need to start by asking yourself a few basic questions:
- What distinguishes this cosmetics brand from others?
- Do you have a positive impression of the company or the spokesperson? If not, how do you create a positive image?
- Do you think the spokesperson has the credibility to deal with a variety of beauty-related issues?
Having an exciting spokesperson and a distinct brand story may make the difference between getting an article written about you or having your pitch ignored.
To obtain the media attention your beauty business deserves, you’ll need a creative (and persistent!) approach.
Pitching beauty writers will become easier in the future if you have a defined PR outreach plan in place from the start. Make a plan for communicating with the rest of the world about your beauty company in the coming months by determining what you want to say now. Following that, focus on building and maintaining connections with members of the media.
Maintain a methodical strategy and make a concerted attempt to pitch just to journalists who you know. Maintain contact with the media by documenting your contacts and following up when necessary. It also helps to send a friendly email or two without a pitch attached to it. These emails are helpful for relationship building.
In order to conduct effective media outreach for your brand, you need to do the following:
Maintain your flexibility at all times
Ideas that are both relevant and significant get greater media attention. In order to get exposure in the beauty business, you must link your pitch to current events and the operations of media outlets. By newsjacking, you can create content that your target audience can easily relate to.
Keep an eye out for major events and the period leading up to them.
If you want to conduct effective beauty PR, you must start by advertising appropriate cosmetics and goods. For example, advertising a thick foundation in the summer may not be the greatest idea. Similarly, using a light moisturizer in the winter may be controversial.
Here’s what one PR specialist has to say about a PR campaign run by the PR campaign they ran for their brand.
Following the online event, a press release featuring product pictures and information sheets was created and sent to media attendees, along with thank you notes. They also told their contacts in the cosmetics and skincare sectors about the launch.
Over twenty Allure and Bella writers and editors and prominent freelancers from the Health, Real Simple, In Style and PopSugar publications attended the Zoom premieres. Meetings in New York City would have needed at least three days on-site, with travel, accommodation, food, and other expenses surpassing $10,000 USD. Furthermore, the activities we participated in were much less costly. The event was a success, and the team is thinking about doing it again in the future.
Draw attention to your cosmetics company
Generating publicity about your business may help you stand out if you operate in the beauty sector. Product launches and announcements, aesthetically attractive press releases, well-executed social media campaigns, and user-generated content are all effective ways to increase your visibility and gain media attention.
Here’s what one PR pro has to say about how a press release can help you draw attention to your products:
For as long as I’ve been doing award-winning public relations, I’ve realized that a press release is an essential instrument for distributing product information. It’s the most efficient method to pique people’s interest in your concept and start a discussion about it. It is critical to optimize your press release by including links to the picture of your beauty product, website, blog, and social media profiles.
Establish an active social media presence
The most successful beauty brands connect with their audiences on social media as well. This helps you to earn trust from your target audience. In fact, 63% of health and beauty consumers trust brands more if they have an active Instagram account.
Beyond connecting with your target audience, a well-curated social media account can help you attract the influencers that you want to partner with. Establishing professional profiles online will help you convince these people that you’re a credible company with quality products.
Make use of cosmetics endorsements
If a cosmetics company wants to stand out in a competitive market, it cannot afford to ignore advocacy opportunities.
The words “advocates” and “social media influencers” are not interchangeable. Even if you don’t have a big social media following, you may still be a valuable partner if you collaborate with other industry experts like hairstylists, makeup artists, and writers.
When you’re collaborating with other people in your field, it’s really important to make sure their audience aligns with your target audience. As one of the PR experts we spoke to says:
Conduct market research to identify who your target audience is, then approach them right away. Describe your company, founders, and products in a concise yet informative manner. Personalize your pitch by including some fascinating facts about the company’s founders in the body of the paper. This has far-reaching consequences beyond product assessments and public relations. Customers who enjoy your goods are more likely to tell others about them.
Make room in your budget for samples and freebies
You can recruit influencers to promote your products in a number of ways. You may either organize an event (online or in-person) or present them with a public relations package that includes samples to entice them to try and promote your cosmetics and beauty goods on their social media accounts. Many journalists and editors will only write about your brand if it’s clear that you have an excellent public relations plan in place. Working with well-known influencers is a good way to convince them of the potential of your brand.
As one PR specialist put it:
Cosmetics and beauty product manufacturers should plan to send out a specific amount of samples each month, even if it costs more. Before covering your goods, in a story journalists, thought leaders and influencers will need to handle, see, smell, and evaluate them. If they haven’t experienced your product for themselves, then how do you expect them to help you sell it?
There are a few options at your disposal when you need to get in touch with members of the beauty media. As an example, consider the following avenues:
- A public relations media database can provide you with a list of beauty journalists with a few mouse clicks.
- Connecting with media contacts online can help you build mutually-beneficial relationships with people who you can count on to produce quality content covering your brand.
Your budget will determine what kind of contacts you can access for your brand. If you don’t have the budget to sign up for a media database, you can build a media list manually.
You can connect with many journalists and influencers on social media. While this takes time, it is much less expensive than buying a beauty and cosmetics media list. However, if you’re concerned about your budget and you need access to media contacts with minimum hassle, then you should consider signing up for one of Pressfarm’s PR packages.
As a firm that specializes in generating publicity for startups, Pressfarm can build custom media lists for you and help you craft content that is sure to bring in replies from your target journalists. With a professional press release, some compelling guest posts, and a creative media kit, you can make a journalist’s head turn.
If you would prefer to do this on your own, you can also sign up for a PR package and use the Pressfarm media database at no additional cost. Here, you will find comprehensive, relevant, and up-to-date information on over 1 million journalists, bloggers, and influencers across different industries. With this database, you can do your own media outreach for your brand for up to a year after you sign up.
Whatever path you choose, be sure to keep an eye on the changes in the media and keep an up-to-date media list. Furthermore, remember that before you start pitching any products to members of the media, you must take the initiative to build relationships with these people.
If you want to maintain your beauty media relationships, you need to make sure you’re always sending your contacts relevant content. What should you look for? Your brand’s deliverables should correspond to the media outlet’s goals. For example, you can do the following:
- Engage with beauty blogs, bloggers, and influencers if your company sells cosmetics.
- Whether you operate a day spa, a skincare center, or a brick-and-mortar store, offering product samples or free services to local media sources may help you attract new clients.
- Similarly, television advertising works well for selling cosmetics and beauty products. Thanks to their visual appeal, producers, and bookers like demos and before/after portions. When it comes to reaching people in your area (or across the country), establishing trust is an effective first step to marketing your company successfully.
Spend time reading, watching, and listening to more content and news in your niche so that you can get a better understanding of the audience to whom you’re selling. You can then decide if your brand matches the subjects covered and the demographics targeted.
When approaching relevant beauty journalists, keep freelance writers in mind. As one expert puts it:
Numerous cosmetics and beauty companies vie for top spots in magazines such as Vogue, In Style, and The Zoe Report. Along with contacting in-house editors, you should look into who freelances for these publications. When funds are scarce, many publications rely primarily on independent freelancers for the bulk of their work. Spend some time getting to know and interacting with these people. Since many of them write for several publications simultaneously, you’ll probably be able to reach a larger audience with your goods.
Take note of the best public relations firms and beauty industry consultants
If you don’t have the contacts or PR resources to promote your beauty products and cosmetics in-house, beauty PR firms can help.
When it comes to doing public relations in the beauty industry, building relationships is crucial. If you don’t have the right contacts, employ a beauty PR specialist. You’ll have a far greater chance of being covered if you approach it in this way.
Want to make a name for yourself in the cosmetics business but don’t know where to start?
When it comes to getting to know beauty bloggers, you need to be patient. Consider partnering with PR specialists, expert writers, and skilled content creators at a PR agency like Pressfarm. By doing this, you can cut down on lengthy research and trial and error. After all, professionals know what it takes to get your brand in front of the right audiences and entice people to try your products. As a comprehensive public relations agency, Pressfarm can help you manage your media relations in one location and refine your skills so that your beauty brand gets even more exposure.
Here are a few examples of what you can do before you hire the services of a PR agency:
- Form good connections with other beauty writers
- Send eye-catching news releases highlighting your cosmetics and beauty products.
- Create an online newsroom for disseminating essential information about your cosmetics business to journalists.
- Set up an email marketing strategy and track the efficacy of email marketing to beauty industry contacts.
Getting your beauty or cosmetics brand out there is easy with the right PR strategy. While the standard elements of a public relations campaign are the same in all industries, an effective campaign in the beauty and cosmetics industries requires a constant connection with your audience. Keeping in touch with your target audience will help you to adjust your PR strategy accordingly. Taking time to understand your audience’s needs will also help you learn how to speak to them effectively. Keep the advice above in mind and you can generate positive publicity in the right spaces when it matters most.