Media Training Your Fashion Brand Needs Before a PR Blitz

Media training is essential when preparing a PR campaign for your fashion brand. When you own a fashion business, you must be ready to pitch at all times to promote your company and media training in advance will mean you’re ready for any opportunity that comes along. One of the essential features of your business is being able to promote it. How to promote ourselves and our companies and get that pitch right? What to expect when you start doing PR? During the Fashion Mingle’s Mastermind session “Media Training To Help You Nail Your Next Interview”, DCG Public Relations’ CEO Dee Rivera and other fashion experts will touch on the most critical points to keep in mind and speak well about your fashion business, helping you set realistic expectations and successfully send out a message.

Media Training To Help You Nail Your Next Interview

 

Media kit

 

As an entrepreneur, it is necessary to think about the PR for your business right in the beginning, like Oh Tepmongkol-Wheaton, CEO of the fashion tech startup The Ohzone, Inc, said. From the perspective of a business only getting started, many may question what to include in your media kit if you don’t have enough material yet. Dee Rivera points out that you must begin with a great headshot and bio; the goal is to convince people that you are social, can speak well, and are used to an audience. Show that you are an expert in this field and what you’ve done. Don’t forget how you visually portray yourself, as reminded by personal stylist and consultant Jes Ruzic; dress for the position you’re looking for. If you send out pitches and don’t get an immediate response, don’t get discouraged; instead, keep pitching new ideas until you start getting answers.

A media kit doesn’t need more than two to three pages. People only need to see that you can speak and have a social media presence and your engagement. Arrange everything well because people want to know who, what, where, and why they should book you. If you’re able to, you can always hire a PR professional. But, if you can’t afford it right now, it’s very easy to find media kits online to get inspiration. Fashion Mingle cofounder and CEO Melissa Shea suggests building the files on Google Slides instead of WordPress since the platform has excellent backgrounds and keeps the text straightforward and concise. Canva is also a perfect tool, allowing the creation and download of layouts.

Target media

 

As the founder of Runway The Real Way Catherine Schuller said, you need to be “on your game”. Targeting the wrong media when reaching out to book an interview is a waste of time and should be avoided at all costs. It’s crucial to choose the suitable channel to be on, the right journalists for your expertise area, and the ones doing business at your level.

Narrow down what lane you’re in and what your business is good at. This will help you create topics and pitches with great subjects to discuss. Now, look for magazines and shows covering those topics, and investigate what else they often talk about; the internet is a vital tool nowadays. Ensure that your press release accentuates what makes you different than other companies.

Overcoming stage fright

 

Nobody is entirely immune to stage fright. Not even the most experienced people. So what can you do as a beginner not to allow your nerves to impact your performance? If you are not the type of person who likes to speak in front of large groups and prefer to be behind the scenes, you can always start by getting media trained and practicing your speaking skills. Getting a spokesperson in certain situations is also recommended, as that allows you to focus on your strategies while someone else handles the communication part.

Maximizing your PR for total marketing value

 

The fashion industry moves faster every day, and sometimes we do not have much time to focus on particular PR due to the following projects that need attention. Besides making social media publications, creating a press release of your different shows is advised. Include details such as the celebrity attendees, and distribute it. Utilize your networking opportunities, for example, offering your skills to work on production companies’ lookbooks, and add all that to your media kit.

Dale Noelle, founder of TRUE Model Management, says that relationship building is very effective, leading to referrals, and that word of mouth travels fast, especially in the attire universe. Fashion Mingle also has a directory with different people in the industry who can help you. Some PR companies like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) can connect you to journalists and editors who may be interested in posting articles about you, sometimes even allowing you control over what is said.

Protect your brand

 

Shirin Movahed is the founder of Rakomova Law and has over 13 years experience practicing corporate, commercial, litigation and intellectual property law. She highlighted that before you put your media kit out, ensure that you own the rights to it and that the content is completely protected. If you share something you don’t wholly own or have the right to, you will get backlash. Know your rights to submit publications, and always do your research beforehand on what can be spoken about. If you’ve got a brand, protect it before it’s in the media. If it gets popular before, someone may try to take advantage of you and register your trademark.

 

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