Being featured in a magazine doesn’t only create brand awareness and exposure to new customers, but also builds the credibility of your business. You must be legit if a magazine decides to cover you! More people will start to follow you, your website traffic will increase, and you will become more relevant in your industry.
Before attempting any media outreach make sure you have all your marketing assets in place. That means your logo, website, social media handles, high-res images, testimonials etc.. Also have your mission statement and key messages written out. Think of a newsworthy story to tell. What’s newsworthy? Something that’s trending, something you can tie into a special holiday (e.g. how is your product/service helping mothers celebrate mother’s day?). How is your product/service making a positive impact on a community? Do you have a rags to riches story that can inspire others. Do you have a product/service that’s disrupting the industry?
Once you have these elements identified proceed to your 5 options:
- Hire a PR firm like Dynamically Branded, which has contacts and relationships with journalists, they will come up with the storylines are familiar with industry lingo and are aware of deadlines and editorial calendars.
- Gift or dress a Celebrity/Influencer, who has a following and creates engaging content around your product. This spring for example beauty editors are looking for the hottest skincare products their favorite Celeb is using. Fashion editors are always on the lookout for seasonal trends.
- Send samples to magazines. Make sure you address it to the right editor. With many editors still working from home, I would call the magazine’s front office and ask who to best address your package to. Get creative! Include a cute handwritten note and unique packaging that will jump out.
- Pitch your business yourself. This requires a little bit of research, start with 5 magazines and editors that write about your product/service. Most writers have their email addresses listed on their IG or website. Keep the news cycle in mind, online stories need to be pitched at least a month in advanced print is 3 months +. I have created a FREE PITCH TEMPLATE for you, that will help you craft a killer pitch ;-). Simply click on Free Resources and download your guide.
- Pay for an ad. You can always decide to pay for a feature, sometimes this can help to create brand awareness and spark interest or editors. Some of those brands you think are featured all the time actually pay for it. If you read between the lines and the fine print you will be able to tell ;-). For more info on that check out their media kits or contact their advertising department. Just to get a grip on pricing a full-page ad in Essence Magazine is $183,000. So you might want to start with a digital ad or with a magazine with lower rates.
I hope this has given you more insight into how magazine features work. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. So comment below or email me directly at sschirru@dynamicallybpr.com.
XOXO,
DYnamically Branded
Hey there this is really helpful! What would you recommend gifting for a brand that does high end, one of a kind, reworked garments? Unfortunately I am not in the position to send sample garments.
Can you do pulls? That means just loaning the garments instead of gifting them. All my high-end clients execute pulls samples are really expensive to make. I would also hire influencers for photo shoots or campaigns to help spread the word.