Why PR Packages Beat Ads for Small Businesses

Sep 23

I have spoken to a lot of small business owners who think all they have to do is create content and buy ads to get people to buy their products or services. But you can also send PR packages to content creators or collaborate with them. In this blog, I'm going to go over how to find the right content creators to send your products to.

Before I get into that, I want to talk about the math behind sending PR. There are some risks, but the payoff is worth it. Let's say you are a candle company and you send 20 candles at $8 each. That's $160. You send them to the right content creator, and one honest video reaches her audience. They trust her, and they become interested in your candles. Say 150 of them end up buying a candle. That's $1,200 in sales off of $160 of spend. You would probably need to spend double to get those results in ad spend.

If there were no payoff, brands would not send their products to creators. There are gifting suites, and a huge amount of product gets gifted. I use the word "gifted," but it's not really a gift. What you're really doing is buying exposure. The problem is that there isn't a contract, and creators don't have to show your product in a video. That's why I always recommend sending it to the right person, someone you have a relationship with and who is more likely to show your product on camera.

People trust content creators over ads because creators don't want to show a product that could risk their personal brand. They typically only show products they trust. So you're essentially building trust with the content creator so they will showcase your product to an audience that already trusts them. Branding is all about trust at the end of the day, and with PR, you are borrowing that trust from the creator.

Because a creator has built trust around which products they show, and which they don't, their audience takes that recommendation seriously.

You can also pay for collaborations or simply reach out to a content creator. Some creators are looking to expand the type of content they make, so it's worth trying to see if they would like to collaborate on a video. For example, I've seen videos where Lush Cosmetics collaborated with influencers by inviting them to make bath bombs.

The key is to make sure your audience matches the creator's audience, so you have a better chance of selling your product.

Here are the six strategies that I use to find the right content creator

One way content creators look to get PR is they’ll tag a company. Or maybe your own audience, or somebody discovered your product and they tagged you. By seeing who is actually purchasing your product, you can see how many followers they have and the engagement they get out of their videos. You can use the engagement rate from that video that they tagged you in.
Engagement rate = (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ followers × 100
Many content creators have a PO Box.
If you’re a small business looking to send PR, you could send that PR to the mailing box. If you do go down this route, I would reach out to the content creator separately in a DM and let them know that you had sent them PR. On the package, write some kind of a cute little note saying that you feel you love their product for your Instagram, so if they did decide to open that, then you’ll have all the information for them. I’d also include a little story about your business and how you got started.
Seek out micro-influencers who have 10,000 followers.
The trick with this one, though, is that you want to still ensure that they have a high engagement rate. These types of audiences tend to actually be a better option than working with a large influencer. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but they’re more likely to showcase your product than a massive creator.
Build a relationship with content creators.
It is nice to send out PR, but you also want to make sure that you are following these content creators and engaging with their content. Share their work. Send them a short personal message about your story and that you’d like to send them PR. This may actually go further than all of the other strategies that I’ve mentioned.
Take the time to make the packaging worth it.
From the videos that I have seen and that I’ve studied, the content creators that share the most PR are the ones that get excited over the packaging. It doesn’t have to be over the top, but it should stay true to your brand and the product that you’re trying to get them to talk about. Like I mentioned earlier, it goes a long way to also include a little thank you note and talk about the story behind your product, and of course, your Instagram handle and where they can shop the product. For a little added bonus, you can also add a discount code.
Offer paid collaboration or an affiliate link.
When you feel like a creator is a really great fit for your brand, having a paid promotion can be more of a guarantee that they will show your product. What I would do is send a product to various content creators and monitor to see which creator's audience actually engages with the product. Those are the creators that you want to collaborate with.

Bottom Line

Ads rent attention. PR and collaboration earn trust. Start small, choose creators whose audience matches yours, and focus on relationships over transactions. One honest recommendation from the right person can outperform months of ad spend. Track what you send and what you get back so you know which creators are worth building long-term relationships with.