How To Work With Brands And PR Companies During Covid-19
Let’s be real, Covid-19 has hit influencer marketing hard. From a content creator perspective, work is slim to none, and a lot of brands are hoping for a lot in exchange for almost nothing. From a PR perspective, clients are struggling, trying to make ends meet and there is little budget to give out. It’s tough on both sides, so how can we work together, build relationships, earn money and promote brand’s products as best as possible?
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I’ve spoken to PR company Cru, which was created by two extremely experienced and intelligent PR gurus, to get insight from a PR/brand perspective. The experiences and opinion shared from a content creator perspective is my own.
Before I jump in, I want to clarify that a brand’s product could be anything from a food item to a home decor item to a hotel to a destination. I’m just going to use the word product to blanket this to make everything a little easier to understand.
Let’s jump right in.
“I feel like brands won’t want to work with me, especially now, so why bother?”
This is a question I often get messages about, from other content creator friends or new bloggers who are nervous to reach out to work with someone even before covid-19.
I always go by the phrase, “if you don’t ask, you won’t get,” and I think you should, too.
All those content creators who sit back and wait for brands to come to them are very lucky and fortunate when they do get partnerships, but if you want something — go out and get it. This doesn’t mean ambushing brands asking for free products, paid campaigns, etc, but just show you care about the brand and their product and ask them if they’d like to work with you. If you don’t ask, the answer is 100% no. If you ask, the answer could be yes!
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Working with a brand doesn’t mean just getting paid
If you’re thinking “know your worth, Gemma!”, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is, building relationships is just as important, or more important than being paid for a partnership. If there is a brand you want to work with who you think may not be able to support a paid partnership now, still reach out. It’s better to express your appreciation for the product, show your support for them during this tough time and share that you would love to partner with them in the future than say nothing at all. You don’t have to agree to creating content for free, or in exchange for free products if they don’t have the budget for you — but you can tell them that you would like to work with them when they do and that until then, you will continue to support them and are there as soon as they can take the leap to form a partnership.
What Should You Say When Contacting A Brand?
If you are wanting to dive in and show your support for a brand in this time, and show that you would love to work with them now or in the future, I’ve put together a little list of do’s and do not’s for what to include (or not include) when contacting a brand.
DO
Introduce yourself:
Who are you?
What platform are you most active on and what is your following like?
What does YOUR brand represent? Are you bright, colourful, budget-friendly, luxurious, homely, recipe-creating, restaurant trying, etc.
Tell a story
Where did you find out about the brand and what attracted you to it?
Have you already tried the products, what did you use them for? Which product did you use?
Are you a weekly purchaser, super recommend-er, exclusive follower?
Is there an experience you’ve had with the brand/product that ties you to it?
Tell them you’d love to work with them
Tell them you’re interested in establishing a long-term relationship to support them
Sign off in a friendly way
DO NOT
Tell them how you’ve worked with other brands
Tell them how much you charge for paid partnerships
Except them to want to gift you, pay you, or work with you right off the bat
Share irrelevant information that will make the email difficult to read
Be too formal or generic
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From a Brand and PR perspective
I spoke with Colleen, from Cru Communications, who gives us the lowdown on what is going on on the PR and brand side of things and explains how she finds it best to work with a brands or PR company during Covid-19.
“From a hospitality PR side of things, we have had to adapt to these unprecedented times very quickly and alter our strategies for how we can get the word out about our clients’ activity during this time. We typically work with influencers and journalists to book them into restaurants, bars, hotels, etc but as most businesses are closed for the foreseeable, we have been working with journalists and influencers in new ways.
At the beginning of the Coronavirus lockdown, we sent an email out to influencers about the different delivery services or products our clients were working on to keep business running and asked that they re-post and to promote on their Instagram stories. This was a great way to spread the word quickly for our clients and get the buzz going on social media. Having those influencers support was incredibly helpful and it made a huge difference to a lot of our clients.
One of the best ways that you can help brands and businesses as an influencer right now, is to support as much as you can through promoting different initiatives on your profile and stories without charging. In a time when everybody is struggling, especially the hospitality industry, every little bit of promotion helps and it will not go unnoticed. If you could give a shout out on your Instagram stories about a new “Make your own pizza at home kit,” or a drinks brand who is offering Buy One Get One Free and delivering nationwide for free; or a virtual wine tasting taking place, etc, that would be hugely helpful and so appreciated. Your influence goes a long way and PRs and brands will do what they can from their side as well to support you where possible in return.
If you are looking to continue to forge relationships with PRs and different PR/Marketing companies, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask them what their clients are up to and promote what works best for you and your audience.
It has been amazing seeing everyone pulling together to help one another out during this pandemic and if you can continue to support the brands you love or lesser known brands that are doing incredible things, then I encourage you to shout about it as much as you can. Sharing news with hundreds of thousands of loyal followers can make a huge difference to a brand or company and really help them out in a massive way.”
Jefferson’s Ice Cream, a local ice cream parlour, now offering delivery and soon to open a contactless pick-up service from their shop in Balham.
Use These Tips Anytime
These tips for working with brands during Covid-19 can be used anytime, too, after this has passed (hopefully soon). So from this, don’t be discouraged to ask or reach out, make a connection and build a relationship - showing you care is the best way to do that. So why not try today and write an email to your dream brand…and send it! Even if you don’t press send, it’s great practice, and maybe one day the send button will call your name.
As always, I’m here to answer questions, assist and help you as much as I can — and if you loved this blog post, watch the video, share it with your friends, bulk email it to your family, or just leave me a comment because that is super helpful to know if this was useful for you.
