Strong media relations are at the core of every successful PR strategy and help to underpin a good brand reputation in the aesthetics, beauty, and wellness industries. Media relationships can be built directly between a brand’s team or via a brand’s appointed PR agency – or even a blend of both. A lot of time and effort is involved in building media relations with editors, journalists, and influencers – there is an element of delivering the right information or experience at the right time, as well as building trust and reliability, responsive interactions and understanding that often, coverage results can take a long time to appear, so it’s not a ‘pick up and drop’ activity. An effective media relations strategy should be a top priority for any brand with ambitions to stand out amongst their competition.
In this article, our beauty PR experts explain everything you need to know about building media relations – including practical tips to help you start nurturing your own media relationships.
What are media relations?
Traditionally, media relations refer to the relationships a company or public relations professional has with the media or the press. Today we also need to consider social media influencers, blog authors, vloggers etc and build relationships with them to access their audience or following. Media relationships are often mutually beneficial in some way, for example, a journalist may be given a product or treatment experience free of charge, with the hope that they will write about the brand in some way, perhaps offering a review of their experience/opinions, or include it within a broader article they’re writing and feature this across print, digital or social media platforms.
The key types of media outlets
With the boom in social media and the expansion of digital platforms in recent years, traditional print media (newspapers, magazines) have reduced somewhat, with many converting to primarily digital formats, fewer print issues or folding altogether. Digital and social platforms have expanded significantly, with blogs, social platforms and podcasts seeing a huge rise in popularity and opportunity for you to access specific target customers. When developing your media relations strategy or deciding who you’d like on your contacts list, start by considering your target customer and what media/titles they consume – this is where you need to get your brand featured. The key types of media across print and digital are:
- Magazines and newspapers (local and national)
- News websites (local and national)
- TV and radio shows
- Magazine or lifestyle websites within your industry (i.e. Grazia, Get the Gloss)
- Influencer or KOL websites within your industry (ie. Alice Hart-Davis, Olivia Falcon, The Beauty Triangle)
- Blogs, Vlogs and videos from influencers, industry commentators and tastemakers
- Social platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok via press and influencers
- Podcasts
Tip! Focus on building meaningful media relations with appropriate contacts who have influence over or access to your brand’s target audiences.
The role of the media for aesthetics and beauty brands
Most brands strive for coverage in the media – however, a key question for many business owners and prospective clients of Kendrick PR is often “What can the media do for my brand?” There are many ways the media can support a brand’s path to success, these include:
- Raising awareness of a personal or brand profile
- Adding credibility or endorsement to your brand and products
- Building and nurturing a good brand reputation
- Providing a channel to get key messages to your target audience
- Attracting new patients and customers
- Driving sales and repeat business
- Helping you outshine competitors
- Publicising new products and events or special offers
With the above benefits in mind there is no better time to consider how you can start building media relations and getting a head start with your PR strategy – the sooner you start the sooner you will reap the rewards!
Start by building your contact list
When building media relations, it’s essential that you understand the media landscape that is relevant to your industry and your target audiences. It’s time to research, so we recommend:
- A trip to your local newsagents to identify relevant magazines and newspapers – both national and local, also don’t forget to pop back on Sunday to view the Sunday supplements.
- A review of social media to identify key local influencers, groups and potential media contacts, use your best online sleuthing skills on Instagram and Facebook
- Join local groups online such as Facebook or LinkedIn groups for business owners, aesthetics professionals or residents of your local town or neighbourhood.
- Google to find the most popular beauty, aesthetics, and wellness related blogs, podcasts, vloggers and websites.
- Check in with your current customer base to find out what they read, spend time online, any key podcasts or influencers they follow regularly
As you research, consider whether your target audience are likely to read or consume this media? If the answer is yes, start ‘collecting’ relevant names by media outlet along with some notes about the type of content they create. You don’t need a list of 100 contacts, perhaps aim for about 20 good quality contacts and you add to your list as your media network grows.
How to make first contact and build rapport
Now that you have a quality media contact list that is relevant to your brand the next step is to reach out and make contact. Emails or direct messages (via social media) are the best ways to reach out at first. Here are our beauty PR experts’ top tips to help you make the first move:
- Introductions: Make a brief introduction of yourself and your business, (think MICRO elevator pitch) giving them one or two key points.
- Feedback: Comment on a recent story they have written / video / post that you found interesting and how it links to your expertise / brand / business.
- Offer value: Can you build on the above story and offer a different perspective or expert opinion? Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.
- Seed: Only after you’ve built a foundation of credibility by following the above steps can you begin to carefully seed in your own news and features for consideration. Always consider your story from their target audience’s perspective and ensure it will meet their needs or wants.
- Face time: invite them for a coffee or invite to your clinic, store or office to show them what you do.
Nurture strong media relations
Like any relationship, media relations need nurturing to build a strong and meaningful bond. If you do get coverage or a post, ensure that you say thank you and share (including tags / credits) on your social media accounts.
Connect with your contacts little and often and make it count by sharing some kind of value, e.g. looping them in on something their readers/audience/followers will find interesting, such as new insights, facts, trends, or providing context and expert opinion on a recent story.
4 Common mistakes to avoid in media relations
Unfortunately, when building media relations directly some brand owners fall into one or two common mistakes which can harm their overall PR strategy. The good news is once you’re aware of these pitfalls they are very easy to avoid! Here are the key mistakes to watch out for:
- Pick up and drop: remember you’re in a marathon, not a sprint so don’t disappear on your prospective media contact or be inconsistent in your communication with them – especially if your first few interactions haven’t resulted in coverage. Always respond in a timely manner and check in every now and again to keep the relationship going.
- Over reliance on freebies: it’s true, everybody loves a freebie, but they are not a substitute for proper relationship building. Treat your media contents occasionally, but not every time.
- Don’t hound: learn to take your time and be receptive to feedback, follow up on emails after a few days to see if there’s interest – but don’t over chase.
- No value: always ensure that you’re giving value in your interactions, they won’t promote your brand or business for you if there is nothing in it for them or their audiences.
Maximise your success
It’s extremely unlikely that every contact you speak with will want to connect with you, or promote your brand. You will get non-responses and push backs so take them gracefully and brace yourself to reach out again with your next story or approach. To maximise your success rate always share interesting news, opinions, and additional content with your contacts as you make their job easier and build your reputation as a valued source.
We specialise in winning PR strategies
At Kendrick PR, we thrive on creating winning formulas of strategic and tactical support for premium brands, clinics, practitioners and entrepreneurs in teh aesthetics, beauty, and wellness industries. We lead with our values: passion, professionalism, and authenticity! 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 us!