7 New Year's Resolutions Every Fashion PR Should Have

It's that time of the year! We're all looking back and appreciating the results of our hard work, but also thinking about how we could've done better... and so, we start jotting down our New Year's resolutions.

In PR, especially in an ever changing industry that is fashion, luxury and cosmetics, teams need to constantly improve to keep up.  Not only should they have their eyes on the horizon to anticipate industry trends, but strive to offer even better services than before.

To help you get organized for 2019, we've prepared a New Year's Resolutions Checklist. Read on and download the PDF at the end of this post!

7 New Year's Resolutions Every PR team Should Have in 2019

1. Give up your Excel sheets

2019. The year you'll finally say goodbye to your old excel sheets. Yes, they might be old companions that have always been by your side, but the truth is that they have always been far from error-proof, easy to misplace, and hard to update when sharing with a team. To manage your contacts database, your samples, your events or editorial calendar, the market offers many digital solutions that will adapt to the specific needs of your brand/s.

They centralize all your data online, making it easily shareable with other team members and accessible from anywhere, at any time. If you can, pick solutions that can integrate with each other. Instead of working with different platforms to manage your various PR activities, you will get a 360 degree view of your entire PR department and initiatives.

2. Clean & organize your contacts database

The start of a new year is always the perfect opportunity to start anew and tackle those i'll-get-to-it-later tasks. Cleaning your PR contacts database is probably one of them.

If you're frustrated of working off old and inaccurate contact lists, of not knowing where your latest Excel was saved, or struggling with many duplicates, then it's time to upgrade. Keep your contacts' information up-to-date at all times by managing your entire database in one online central location. This is the best way to make sure that every update is shared immediately with your entire team and to never again lose precious data. Whether it is the new job title of a contact, the contact details of an assistant, an allergy to food or the direction of where to send samples, always having all of this information at hand (and making it easily editable) will help your PR team stay organized.

Also, handpicking contacts one-by-one for certain types of emails is unnecessarily time consuming. Make it a 2019 goal to segment your entire database by industry, profession, contact type or other categories to help speed up your emailings.

3. Build stronger relationships with influencers

Influencers are an essential part of brand marketing strategies, as we've seen in our yearly State of Influencer Marketing report. Developing strong relationships with new influencers and strengthening the ones you already have will be key for the years to come.

This resolution is all about easing communication with influencers and making it the best experience possible for everyone. Start by centralizing the management of your campaigns in one online location.  You'll be able to streamline draft reviews and validation processes, communicate timelines and guidelines about social media posting, facilitate contracts agreement and payments, and even share post campaign results. By facilitating communication through the whole campaign process, you'll be able to focus on delivering great content and building your relationships.

4. Stop saying no to editorial opportunities

Did you miss a photoshoot this year because your sample was not available or its location unknown? Were you not able to answer to this magazine’s request to provide pictures of your latest denim jacket? Let’s call these as they are: PR fails. Let’s make sure you don't miss any coverage opportunities in 2019. Track your samples between departments and offices, and setup a reservation portal so your key editorial partners can plan their shootings accordingly. 

5. Go global

If you want your brand to grow, expanding into new markets is a must. However, being physically present in every country is just impossible. Setting up a virtual showroom can help your brand get the global recognition it's looking for. Reach industry insiders all around the world by making your product images available for download. By adding the option to request samples, you'll also help achieve your fourth resolution on this list. You will quickly identify the markets that are showing more interest, as well as build up contacts who are requesting samples.

6. Stop making people wait

There's nothing more nerve-wracking than seeing check-in lines at your events get longer and longer. Are you desperately trying to spot if one of your VIPs is stuck at the back of the line? In 2019, make these stressful situations a thing of the past. Make your check-in process seamless and digital by adding QR codes to your physical or digital invites that your team will quickly scan with a tablet or their mobile.

Got any major events coming up with endless guest lists? Get your invites embedded with RFID chips so your guests don’t even have to stop to check in. As long as their invites are on them, they'll walk through your entrance and the antennas will pick up the signal for you, sending notifications directly to your tablet/phone with the photos, names, and details of guests arriving. 

Photo by Rosanna Ryan

7. Stop wasting time on tedious reports

Did you happen to spend any days locked up in your office with Slack on mute and a "don't disturb" sign on the door, just to get those tedious performance reports ready for management?  Commit to minimizing time spent on reports by upgrading your reporting capabilities. 

Automate the creation of your coverage reports, clip books or post-events performance data, and all the analytics associated to them. We all know you need to break down coverage of your offline, online and social media channels to analyze the results of your latest campaigns and identify which voices are generating the most Media Impact Value™. But you don't need to waste hours and hours crunching the numbers. Take advantage of new technologies that can help you deliver better reports so you can focus more on what really matters. Making your clients happy and boosting your brands' notoriety.

Your PR New Year's Resolution 2019 Checklist

Now that we've helped you define your 2019 PR New Year's resolutions, access your very own checklist to help you achieve these goals by clicking on this link.

Wishing you a Happy New Year from #teamlaunchmetrics.