Author: Julia Kendrick
The global beauty industry – defined as skincare, fragrance, makeup and haircare – is worth over $430 billion and is predicted to reach $580 billion in 2027. Its bright and resilient glow is attracting significant investment in exciting and innovative products, brands, and treatments. So, competition amongst brands is fierce! Consumers are presented with an overwhelming amount of choice and capturing their attention is becoming trickier for established and new players alike. So, when you’re trading in a hyper-competitive and crowded marketplace, how do you get your beauty or skincare brand to standout?
In this article, I explain the importance of PR for skincare brands and share 6 effective ways your skincare brand can standout against its competitors in 2024 and attract target consumers.
The benefits of PR for skincare brands
Within any industry and for any brand, the key role of PR is to build and maintain a positive brand reputation. Within competitive industries like the beauty industry, there are many voices shouting be heard and vying for attention and this is where PR plays a vital role. The key benefits of a great PR strategy for beauty and skincare brands is to:
- Nurture a good brand reputation.
- Increase brand visibility amongst target audiences, offline and online.
- Build strong credibility and trust with all stakeholders – from suppliers to customers.
- Grow demand and sales/profit.
- Establish a clear position versus the competition i.e. stand out!
- Present and publicise key messages i.e. new products, USPs.
- Create a buzz around new products or a special event, celebrity partnership etc.
- Attract and engage target audience segments.
- Build loyalty amongst existing customers and fans.
- Attract brand partners and ambassadors
6 Ways to standout with PR in 2024
2024 is set to be another exciting and prosperous year for the beauty industry and ensuring your brand gets the attention it deserves will be crucial to its success. Putting in place an effective PR strategy that perfectly combines strategic and tactical thinking will help you to achieve your 2024 PR goals and make it a year to be proud of. Here are my top 6 tried and tested ways that will help your skincare brand standout this year:
1. Make a plan: All good plans begin with a list, so note down your tangible hopes and goals for your brand in 2024. First, consider what you want to achieve overall. For example, does your brand need more awareness? Does it need to build more trust or credibility? What are the barriers you need to overcome? Next note down your available resources, these should include:
– Amount of budget you can afford to invest for the year.
– Key product launches and desired dates/milestones.
– Seasonal and relevant events i.e. London Fashion Week, movie premieres, awareness months.
– Target audience personas/segments.
2. Appoint a brilliant PR partner: If you’re hoping to see tangible results from your PR activity quickly, then we strongly advise appointing an experienced beauty PR team who have a network that you can tap into and a wealth of skills and experience that you can draw upon. The team within a beauty PR agency, like Kendrick PR, spend years nurturing relationships with key press, influencers, and VIPs to create influential and valuable networks for their clients to leverage. In addition to impressive results, appointing the right PR agency can save you time, money and stress in the long run.
3. Define priority USPs: Why should customers choose YOU? USP stands for “unique selling proposition” and it sets the foundation for the existence of your brand i.e. it’s the thing that sets you apart from the competition so that you can clearly position yourself in a marketplace. Trying to define a compelling USP that accurately portrays what your brand does can be a challenging task, but once your USPs are set they will shape all of your future messaging and help your brand to stand out. If you don’t know your USPs, read my tips to help you define them or get in touch and we can work on them together!
4. Host an interactive PR event: A great PR event will be memorable and designed to drive brand engagement and create buzz with your target audiences. They are one of the most effective tools in a PR toolkit! Events are so much more engaging than a press release or product sample, it’s your opportunity to bring your brand to life in an interactive and immersive way. Their ultimate role is to get press, influencers, and industry leaders talking about your new brand or product. So, if you’re brand is looking to stand out in 2024 a PR event is a must! Find out more about our creative PR event planning service.
5. Collaborate with KOLs and influencers: KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) and influencers continue to play an important role in a brand strategy especially in the beauty industry. Why? They have the power to influence the products and brands that consumers want and buy. Influencer marketing is one the most accessible PR strategies, and it can deliver increased brand awareness, media attention, and product sales. However, creating an authentic partnership that resonates with your target audiences and adds credibility to your brand is key. Get it right the first time by working with a team who understood how to create exciting influencer marketing campaigns.
6. Secure coverage in key media: If you haven’t listed better media coverage as one of your goals in step 1 then you might be reading the wrong article. Our clients at Kendrick PR are always seeking premium media coverage in print and digital formats. The media have the biggest reach and influence and brands who want to standout are constantly seeking to tap into their power. However, securing media coverage isn’t easy as it’s heavily reliant on strong relationships between brands (or their agencies) and the media (editors, journalists etc.), alongside nuances like paid and unpaid content, plsu an increasing focus to digital partnerships. Good and fruitful media relationships take time to build and appointing an agency partner with a good reputation and strong network will increase your likelihood of securing coverage in key media. Take a look at our collection of client case studies to see the fantastic coverage we’ve won for our clients.
With all or some of the above tactics in place you’re well on way to creating a fantastic 2024 PR strategy for your beauty or skincare brand. Just remember to always start with a plan and a set of goals!
The role of a good PR agency
A PR agency can save you and your team time, money, and stress – if you’ve got big goals for your beauty or skincare brand in 2024 now is a good time to book a discovery call with a potential PR partner.
At Kendrick PR, our expert team consistently create winning formulas of strategic and tactical support for premium beauty aesthetics, beauty, and wellness brands with clear ambitions for growth. Founded in 2015 by award-winning communications expert Julia Kendrick, Kendrick PR are a passionate and experienced agency who thrive on creating tangible success for every client. Please browse our PR services portfolio or do get in touch to book a complimentary discovery call with me!