As the founder of a new beauty brand, the thought of public relations is daunting. It’s hard enough to get a brand off the ground- from the original idea, to ingredient creation, packaging, working with off-site production, it’s exhausting and mentally draining. Most public relations agencies have no idea what it’s like to create a brand from scratch. Edith Press is one of the few boutique PR firms co-founded by a brand founder. We have experience what a brand founder goes through before researching beauty public relations.
Not all public relations agencies are created equally. Many are large where publicists work on several different accounts at one time. These have a time and a place, but for small and growing beauty brands, we recommend boutique PR firms. Also, not all publicists are the same. Because your brand is new, doesn’t mean you don’t need PR- you deserve for your new line to be recognized. We hope to shed insight into what to look for when searching for a beauty public relations agency.
1.) Boutique Agency
As a new beauty brand, Edith Press recommends searching for smaller, boutique agencies. Boutique PR firms are smaller than their counterparts and often cater to niche and growing brands. Many publicists working for boutique public relations firms have fewer accounts to manage which means they can dedicate more time to each client. There are many boutique agencies which specialize in beauty.
2.) Ask Questions
Public relations is expensive and many new brands end up working with several different firms before they find the right fit. Before working with an agency for the first time, it’s important to understand what you are looking for. Via Google search, you will undoubtably come across many boutique public relations firms. Reach out via email to ask if they work via month to month retainer or if they make you sign a 3 or 6 month contract. Also ask about the monthly retainer fee. Don’t be scared to ask if they have startup packages which differ from monthly retainers. Sometimes public relations firms use a concept similar to pay-per-placement. The client pays them a small pitching fee and then if the agency lands them press, they pay another bonus.
Figure out your budget and when you hear back from a boutique PR agency, ask if they can work with that. The worse they can say is no.
3.) Print and Digital
Another important aspect in selecting the right beauty public relations agency is knowing how they pitch media. As you probably know, print magazines are downsizing with some even closing. Newsstand sales have been in a slump for a while, but that’s nothing new. We still believe print media is incredibly important. We believe it’s never safe to put all of your media eggs in one basket - such as digital. When you find a boutique agency you like, find out if they pitch to both print and online. What no one is telling you is that readership on many online sites is also down. Eyeballs are important offline and online.
4.) Client Base
When our co-founder worked with public relations, she found many had attitudes towards brands and founders who weren’t based in NYC or LA. Judgmental, right? So many talented business owners are spread across the United States; it’s incredibly closed minded to think only top tiered talent exists in certain large cities. If you are close to signing with a new boutique beauty public relations agency, ask if they have clients throughout the country.
If you would like more guidance how to select a beauty PR agency, simply get in touch and Edith Press will help you as much as we can.
