Today’s fast paced, digital landscape offers brands endless opportunities to create a point of differentiation. A new medium to do this, and one that’s grown rapidly in popularity over the past few years, is the PR Box. If you’re a brand owner, marketer or influencer, understanding about PR boxes can fundamentally change your approach to product marketing and how you engage with your audience.
We will dive deep into PR Boxes and share everything you need to know: what they are; why they are effective; how you create your own PR Box; and how you can use them, smartly, to drive engagement with your audience.
What Is a PR Box?
PR Boxes are specially curated boxes of product samples that are sent manufacturers in order to create buzz for their products, by giving influencers, content creators, journalists, and brand ambassadors an exclusive look into the brand.
Unlike random samples sent to influencers, PR Boxes are carefully designed, beautifully packaged, and typically reflect the brand’s theme to create a memorable unboxing experience for the recipient. As a result, when the influencer/talent opens their PR Box and shares it on social media, the brand is afforded organic exposure to thousands (if not millions) of new customers.
Why are PR boxes powerful?
There are fundamental psychological behaviours that make PR boxes so effective. All humans enjoy receiving gifts, and receiving an extraordinarily well-presented gift box filled with things that you like creates an emotional bond with the recipient that drives them to share their experience honestly.
PR boxes have tremendous brand power due to the following reasons:
Honest Content
Influencers and others create honest unboxing videos when they receive PR packages. The authentic content created in this way is perceived far more favorably than a typical advertisement.
Wide Reach
One PR box sent to an influencer with 500,000 followers can create massive amounts of free word-of-mouth exposure that would be much more costly with paid advertising.
Storytelling
A well-thought-out PR box allows the brand to tell a story through the way the box is presented, how it is packaged, the tissue paper, handwritten notes, and the distribution of products.
Potential to Go Viral
PR unboxing videos and PR haul videos continually trend on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. If the packaging is done creatively, the PR box has the potential to become viral, generating buzz well beyond the original recipient.
Different kinds of PR Boxes
PR Box types vary by specification. Depending on your budget and goals, different PR Box types can be selected.
Product Launch PR Box
Product Launch PR Boxes should be sent out prior to or during the product launch to help create buzz about the product and provide early reviews. The brands usually add some kind of “first look” aspect to the box so the influencer feels like an insider when they receive it.
Seasonal/ Holiday PR Box
Many brands send Seasonal or Holiday PR Boxes around holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Eid. They usually have some kind of theme to tie them to the season, plus each box will typically have a unique festive feel because of the different types of products included and how the products are packaged.
Brand Awareness PR Box
Brand Awareness PR Boxes should be sent without any specific launch in mind (when there is no product launch). The goal of a Brand Awareness PR Box is to introduce the brand to new audiences while keeping them engaged with current brands. Brand Awareness PR Boxes also contain a mixture of new and bestselling products.
Collaboration PR Box
A brand creates a Collaborative PR Box to celebrate the collaboration between their brand and either an influencer or another brand. Collaborative PR Boxes typically generate excitement for both parties’ audiences.
Gifting PR Box
Brands sometimes send out PR Boxes as gifts to celebrate long-term customers and loyal customers. Brands typically send out PR Boxes as gifts to share their appreciation for being loyal customers and long-term customers.
Essential Components of an Ideal PR Box
Constructing an effective public relations box is a skill. A non-effective public relations box can create more problems than solutions. Here are some of the essential components to creating a successful public relations box:
An Attention-Grabbing Way to Package
This is the first impression people will have of your public relations box, so use quality materials and branded colors; have a neat design with your record; and allow the first impression made by the public relations box to directly communicate who you are and to create anticipation for the recipient, who will open the box.
An Inclusive Personal Approach
A unique touch like a handwritten note (addressed personally) takes the relationship to the next level. By addressing the recipient by name and using a non-automated message, he or she will feel valued as an individual rather than automatically delivered a form of advertising
A Common Theme Among Products Curated in the PR Box
Every item included in a public relations box should relate to one another; therefore if you have a skin-care company, be sure to send out the cleansers, toners, moisturizers, masks etc., to create a cohesive package. Sending out items based upon chance is inferior and confusing for the recipient to receive.
Branded Details Are Important
Attention to detail is important when creating a box that will wow the recipients. Examples of branded details that enhance the unboxing experience include custom looking tissue paper, stickers, ribbons, and the scent inside your package will help reinforce the perception of quality that you want to project to recipients.
How to Create a PR Box Strategy
Define Your Purpose
It is important to decide why you are sending your PR box. Are you looking to promote a new product, increase your social media followers, build brand awareness etc? The purpose will be a determining factor in all aspects of the PR box campaign including who receives the box; what is included in the box; and how you will evaluate the success of the campaign.
Identify the Right Influencers:
Not all influencers will be good fits for your company. Therefore, it is crucial to find those influencers whose audience is your desired target customer. Micro-influencers (those with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers) tend to have higher levels of engagement from their audience, along with more loyal audiences than do larger named influencers.
Set a Budget:
Just because something is of high quality does not mean that it should cost you an arm and a leg. Be sure to include in your budget products, packaging, personalization, and shipping; and make sure that your budget allows you to send out enought boxes to enough influencers to have a larger impact as well.
Create the Experience:
Think about every part of the unboxing experience. For instance, what does lifting the box lid feel like; what is the first thing you see when the lid is lifted; if there is a scent; will everything fit within the theme of the packaged items; and envision the entire experience from start to finish, and then create the actual experience when you construct the actual PR box.
Mistakes That Brands Frequently Make When Using PR Boxes
Even when brands are trying to do the right thing, sometimes they’ll miss an opportunity for success. Here we breakdown some common mistakes brands can easily avoid:
Sending PR Boxes to the Wrong Target Audience –
For example, a luxury skincare brand sending out PR boxes to gaming influencers does not paint a good picture for their brand and is a waste of budget. Be sure that creators and influencers who receive PR boxes from you fall within your ideall customer profile.
Sending a PR Box and Using Poor Quality Packaging
Sending out PR boxes in flimsy, unbranded boxes depicts an unprofessional image of you and your brand. The package in which an influencer receives a PR box directly relates to their impression of you and your brand.
Sending a PR Box Without Adding a Personal Touch
Sending out generic PR boxes without adding personalisation to each PR box is an indication of bulk or mass marketing messages as opposed to building and developing a relationship with influencers. Always add personalisation to each PR box, even if all you add is a first name on the enclosed note card to that influencer.
Sending an Overloaded PR Box
More isn’t always better. Providing an influencer with an overflowing PR box full of multiple products makes it hard for an influencer to understand the message from this submission. Send products that can all be essentially linked together and present a clear message.
Failing to Follow-Up with Influencer After Sending PR Box
Always reach out to creators and/or influencers after you send out your PR box. Thank them for sharing your product(s) with others, engage with them on social media, comment and provide feedback on content related to your brand(s), thank them for helping to build the relationship. Rarely does a one-time interaction create a long-term relationship leading to creating a loyal customer and/or advocate to your brand.
PR Boxes and Social Media Engagement
The social media landscape of today is where PR boxes obtain their true power. The unboxing phenomenon is huge on TikTok and Instagram, so the right PR box can provide an abundance of great, original content – dozens of pieces, in fact – when done correctly.
To maximize the impact of your PR box on social:
Incorporate a branded hashtag for recipients to use when posting about their PR box. This will create a searchable feed for user-generated content about your brand.
Ensure your PR boxes are visually eye-catching. Bold colors, unique packaging styles and interactive elements (such as sound and hidden compartments) are more likely to be filmed and shared.
Be strategic about when you launch your PR box campaign. Try to coincide the release with major holidays, product launches or events that are trending at the time. More content generated this way is likely to be picked up by the algorithms.
Encourage sharing, but don’t make it mandatory. The best influencer-generated content comes from being excited about the product, not feeling obligated.
How To Measure The Effectiveness of Your PR Box Campaign
Everyone has a different definition of success. Below are some of the most common ways to measure success with metrics you should track:
Total Reach & Impressions – How many unique people/operators saw any content related to your PR Box?
Engagement Rate- Likes, Comments, Shares, & Saves on Influencer (Contracted or paid)
Sponsor Posts Featuring Your PR Box
Website Traffic – Did you receive more website visits than average when the PR Boxes went out?
Sales & Conversions – Monitor promo codes & affiliate links included with each PR Box to show pure dollar value from direct sales.
New Followers – Did your social media following increase from the campaign?
Key Takeaway
A PR Box is more than a box of free items. A PR Box is an essential marketing tool when used correctly that creates brand loyalty, generates genuine content, and creates a viral wave of organic engagement at a level that no paid advertising can achieve.
The most important thing is to purposely and creatively promote each PR Box. Understand your audience, tell them a story and make sure that every client feels like they are important to you, the brand.
