It doesn’t matter whether you’re a big fan of influencers' PR package unboxing videos. What matters is if your potential customers are (and the chance for this is beyond high).
PR packages are a powerful tool for brands to build relationships and generate buzz. This article unveils everything you need to know about crafting impactful PR packages, from inspiring ideas to effective strategies.
Learn how to choose the right products, create a captivating presentation, and leave a lasting impression that drives results:
- What is a PR package?
- Do you even need PR packages? Why PR lists and packages matter
- When to send a PR package
- Track the performance of PR package posts
- 12 best PR package examples for every industry
- Beauty PR package examples
- PR packages for fashion brands
- New restaurant/ cocktail bar opening invite PR packages
- Coffee/tea food shop PR package ideas
- Book PR package ideas
- Stationery PR package ideas
- Measure the impact of your PR campaigns
Monitoring your campaign's effectiveness and brand reputation becomes a piece of cake 🍰 when you prioritize social listening. Keep an eye on your audience's conversations and sentiments towards your brand, stay informed, and react quickly.
What is a PR package?
So in a nutshell, what are these mysterious boxes many influencers receive? These influencer boxes usually include a selection of free products, samples, or other branded materials.
What is a PR box?
Basically, these boxes are PR packages, but mostly used for special occasions or announcements. "PR package" is a more general term that can encompass a wide range of promotional materials and formats.
🎯 The goal is to increase brand awareness, make some buzz, and thus increase sales rates.
The idea is simple:
- Once a brand launches new products, it sends them out to influencers.
- They then show these products to their followers and increase their audience’s curiosity about the new items.
However, many brands do this, so now you have to think outside the box - literally.
👉🏼 Unique influencer packaging ideas are a must.
They can prolong brand recognition and potentially establish itself as the preferred choice among consumers.
👉🏼 Some companies send PR packages with personal notes.
Each is dedicated to a different social media influencer. Even simple personalization (such as changing only the name of the recipient on the card) makes a long-lasting impression and fits into the current industry trends.
Such activities create a bond between the audience and a brand and improve its PR.
Do you even need PR packages? Why PR lists and packages matter
What is a PR list?
To receive a PR package, you have to be on THE LIST.
Sounds like a joke from “Mean Girls?”
Luckily it’s a bit different, although a journalist or influencer needs to meet specific criteria to get there.
PR lists are just specific collections of media contacts. That means they cover contact details and the areas of interest of journalists, bloggers, and influencers.
Such listings help with aiming outreach, personalizing pitches, and building media relationships. They also aid in tracking and analyzing outreach campaigns to refine communication strategies.
PR package benefits
👉🏼 Visibility and Awareness
PR packages help brands present their products or services to the world. This happens via influencers, journalists, and other media contacts, enhancing visibility and creating excitement.
👉🏼 Relationship Building
By offering valuable content and information, brands can forge connections and credibility with influencers and journalists. This can prepare the ground for potential collaborations in the future.
👉🏼 Media Coverage and Exposure
PR packages and PR lists are crucial for brands seeking media coverage and exposure. Individuals who receive PR packages may show the products in their content and present the benefits of using them.
When to send a PR package?
1️⃣ Product Launches
New products require some buzz. Sending PR packages before the official launch generates curiosity and gives customers a hint of what is coming. Below you can see a PR package sent by the Pixi brand to a beauty influencer.
2️⃣ Seasonal Campaigns
Throughout the year, companies often have the chance to send seasonal PR packages. One trendy idea is to send advent calendars to influencers, who then open them day by day on social media for everyone to see (or open them with their followers).
3️⃣ Collaborations and Partnerships
There is no better way to announce a new collab than showcasing hints via PR packages. Collaboration merch is one the the best PR packages that one could get.
4️⃣ Special Events
One of the PR box’s intentions may be to invite. Whether it's to host a charity event your brand is patronizing or to announce a new collaboration. Every occasion is a good reason to celebrate (and send PR packages).
5️⃣ Brand Anniversaries or Milestones
Let people know that you’ve reached a certain level. PR boxes can be a way to tell others about your journey and celebrate with your community.
6️⃣ Fostering Media Relations
Sending a PR package is also a good way to improve relationships with media outlets. An example of such is the buzz created around the Barbie movie. Many outlets and hot names receive pink goods to make the buzz even louder.
7️⃣ Introducing a new product
Not every occasion calls for a grand launch; sometimes, it's about introducing a single product or service to the market. As with the Taco Bell SOS Kit, which the company sent to influencers to show users how to make their own Taco Bell at home.
Track the performance of PR package posts
You should monitor & listen to what’s being said about the packages. The main differences between these two can be found in the tab below.
But if you want to dig a little deeper, you can check out the full article: What's the difference between social listening and monitoring in PR.
Thanks to social listening you can identify relevant influencers and brand advocates with engaged audiences to send PR packages to.
Then you can set up monitoring streams in Prowly.
It’s good practice to create monitoring streams specifically for influencers who received the PR packages. Establish streams to track mentions of their social media profiles, blog posts, and relevant hashtags or keywords linked to the PR campaign or products.
You can also easily identify the impact. To formulate a strategy, it's essential to understand what is effective and what is not.
Social listening data lets you:
👉🏼 Determine whose PR package unboxings are generating the most engagement, reach, and positive sentiment.
👉🏼 Analyze patterns and trends in influencer performance to identify those who are most successful in amplifying your brand's message.
12 best PR package examples and ideas for every industry
Beauty PR package examples
#1 Glossier
This beauty brand positions itself as a fun and minimal skincare option. Its design is simple and its communication matches that simplicity. So their packages couldn't be any different. Minimalistic, elegant and simple.
Takeaways for PR pros: Keep it simple. Try to minimize plastic and other non-eco-friendly materials. Send the essentials and focus on the message.
#2 Gisou
Gisou is a well-known hair and skincare brand. They position their brand as sophisticated and high-class. Their branding and product give a sense of luxury which their PR packages to influencers embody.
Takeaways for PR pros: Try to include coherent surprises, like scented candles or water bottles.
#3 Drunk elephant
Below you can see a Drunk Elephant PR box which includes many, and we mean it, many products from the brand. The whole package seems to be wrapped up in a funny colorful way, which are coherent with the colors used in their branding.
They sent products in a vanity case. Which kept it protected in transit and was a nice touch the influencer could use daily. Keeping the brand in her mind.
Takeaways for PR pros: Think about the package. Consider not only the box itself, but also how to securely pack the product inside. If you can incorporate branding and position it as a daily essential, it is a win-win situation.
#4 Pixi
What are PR packages in the beauty industry? Sometimes they could be like small works of art. Pixi knows how this works and each of their boxes is done subtly and coherently with their branding and collections.
Takeaways for PR pros: Remember to indicate what kind of products are inside and how to use them. If you sent packages before a premiere, highlight its date.
#5 Rare beauty
This particular Rare Beauty PR box is an example of more minimalistic packing. What is the PR package in this case? You can see it includes a catalog of products, branded with a picture of Selena Gomez, the founder and face of the company.
Takeaways for PR pros: Make your packages even more personal and human with pictures. It could be a picture of your team, the founder, or a celebrity you've collaborated with.
PR package examples for tech brands
#1 Google
It would be nice to receive a box from Google, don't you think? In the B2B world, relationships with influencers and brand ambassadors are so important. Usually, there is more money on the table and decisions are made collegially. So you need to be as convincing as you possibly can.
Takeaways for PR pros: Don't skimp on generosity. Send the influencer multiple products, even if they're slightly pricier on the market.
#2 Prowly
At Prowly, we sent to our brand ambassadors and PR pros that take part in our events PR boxes to thank them for their support.
All the branding was outside the box but what was inside was strictly practical. We added things they could use daily. Moreover, we made sure the quality of each piece was top-notch. We’re talking green, soy candles instead of artificial wax, an easy to recycle box, a good quality natural fabric tote bag.
Takeaways for PR pros: Go green and use eco or natural materials in your packages. We mean both the wrapping and items.
PR packages for fashion brands
Sezane
What are PR packages in the fashion industry? A feeling like Christmas came early to every influencer. By making a note, as Sezane did, you can make it even more personal and start bonding.
Takeaways for PR pros: Follow your brand ambassadors and learn about their habits or style. Send items that would be practical and useful to them.
New restaurant/ cocktail bar opening invite PR packages
The big date is approaching and you have no idea how to create some buzz about your new spot?
Send the local influencers (or even households in the neighborhood) stuff connected to your new place. You can make a package with a pack of the coffee beans you would use, a wine (an alcohol free version would be a good choice, too), and do not forget about an invite and the menu!
Get inspired by this example 👇🏼
Takeaways for PR pros: Let people taste what your spot would be like. Send some hints of products/courses that they could find on the menu.
Coffee/tea food shop PR package ideas
PR packages from coffee shops and the like don’t have to (but can) be very complex. Overall, they should focus on the right message.
So do not send your whole range of products. Give a hint of what they can expect and use products they could buy at your place.
See how Chamberlain Coffee PR packages nailed the game: matcha PR box and canned coffee.
Takeaways for PR pros: What about some DIY products? Giving influencers something to do on their own is a good way to get stuck in your audience's memory for longer.
Book PR package ideas
Any bookworms out there?
If you want to open a spot for the readers, what you can do is collaborate with authors and send some premiere-related boxes or make your packages show the whole range of books your customers could find.
Watch the unboxing of the first (and second) book PR box on Instagram
Takeaways for PR pros: If you decide to send several books, remember to add items related to the plot. This would show that you are also a reader and you are ready to give advice to expand their TBRs (To Be Reads).
Stationery PR package ideas
Cute stationery items are made for being sent as PR packages.
There’s a but! Do not send pens and notebooks just as everybody does in their welcome/thank you packs.
Pick products that will please the eye and be useful. You can create a whole package of your products to show them in action, just like on the first and second example below.
Takeaways for PR pros: Put some effort into your box and make it personal. Add notes and show your recipients it is a thoughtful effort.
Measure the impact of your PR campaigns
What comes afterward is measuring and analyzing the effects. How can you get valuable and practical data?
Monitor mentions and engagement
Monitor the volume and sentiment of mentions related to the selected influencers and the PR packages they received. Track engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, shares and retweets on their social media posts and blog content featuring the PR packages.
Track reach and impressions
Keep track of the reach and impressions generated by the influencers' content featuring the PR packages. Measure the number of views, impressions, and potential reach of their social media posts and blog articles.
With Prowly you can measure many relevant metrics, such as Share of Voice.
Analyze audience sentiment
Analyze audience sentiment towards the influencers' content featuring the PR packages. Monitor positive, negative, and neutral sentiments to understand overall audience perceptions and reactions to the PR campaign.
You can also set email notifications to keep aware of any negative mention spikes to quickly mitigate rising PR crises.
Assess content performance
Assess the performance of the influencers' content featuring the PR packages. Look for trends in the content formats, messaging, and visual elements that resonate most with your audience.
You can also ask your influencers for exact numbers from their social media stats.
Provide feedback and support
Use the insights gathered from social listening to provide feedback and support to your influencers. Acknowledge their efforts, share positive feedback with them, and offer assistance or additional resources as needed to optimize their content performance.
Create PR packages and track them with ease
Delivering PR boxes for brand ambassadors and influencers is a nice way to create a bond with them and expand your brand recognition. The harder thing is to pick the right recipients. For that, Prowly's got your back.
Check out our extensive database and craft your pitch with Prowly AI. Save some time with the help of the proper tools and reach out to the right influencers.
