7 Ways to Get PR Packages For Free
Apply for brand ambassador programs. Many fashion, beauty, beverage, and lifestyle brands have brand ambassador programs you can apply to through their official websites. Ambassadors receive free products, usually in exchange for posting about them or reviewing them. Besides PR packages, you can also potentially receive exclusive discounts and invitations to brand events if you become a brand ambassador. To find application forms, search for phrases like “apply + brand ambassador,” “apply + influencer partnerships,” and “[brand name] + ambassador + apply.” You can also look for “Contact” or “Work With Us” pages on the bottom of brands’ websites. Some brands with ambassador applications on their websites include Revolve, Windsor, and Sweetgreen. If you’re a current college student, look for campus ambassador programs. Companies like SHEIN, Princess Polly, Red Bull, and poppi have yearly applications exclusively for university students—and many have no minimum follower requirement. Ambassadors typically receive PR packages in exchange for promoting the brand to peers online and on campus.
Reach out to brands you want to work with. Find general emails for influencer partnerships and PR package requests on brand’s websites. Additionally, you can reach out to members of their influencer marketing team directly if they post that they’re open to pitches. Always be polite, professional, and patient when contacting brands. Don’t be discouraged to reach out because you have a small following. “Really what [brands are] looking for is somebody who has pull with their audience. So even if you're an account with 800 [followers], but your audience is really engaged, then they’ll be more willing to work with you,” says social media consultant Candace Gasper. You can also reach out via email to PR agencies that represent brands in your niche. They may be able to connect you directly with brands’ influencer marketing teams—or, add you to mailing lists to receive PR packages from their brands.
Sign up for product-reviewing platforms. If you’re looking to get free products and don’t mind providing an honest review or creating content, this is an easy way to get PR packages. Popular platforms include Influenster, Aspire, and Shopify Collabs. Some platforms require reviews, while others connect influencers with brands to collaborate on paid, sponsored content. While brands on these platforms are usually vetted and legitimate, be wary of scams. You should never have to pay for PR packages, shipping, or brand collaborations—brands send products to build a working relationship with you and potentially reach your audience.
Search PR-related hashtags for requests for influencer reviews. This method is most applicable for getting PR from new and small businesses. Because such businesses may not have PR or influencer marketing teams, they use social media to find content creators to review their products. Browse through hashtags like #ambassadorswanted and #PRgifting to look for opportunities. As always, be wary of scams—for example, accounts asking you to pay for PR packages or shipping, businesses with no website or presence outside of Instagram/TikTok, and accounts impersonating actual brands. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Add your email to your bio and open your DMs. If you have a following online, post consistently, and get high engagement, brands may reach out to you to send PR packages. Make it easy for them to contact you by having your DMs open and putting your email address in your bio on all social media platforms. Check your DMs and email regularly so you don’t miss potential opportunities. Research the accounts and brands that reach out to you to make sure their offers are legitimate. Create a separate email address for public social media profiles to avoid spam and harassment. Put this email address in your bios instead of your personal one. You can even put “PR/Collabs: [your email]” in your bio to make it clear who should contact you.
Create organic content about brands you want to work with. An easy way to get your dream PR package is to show a brand how much you love their products. Make organic content featuring products you already own and enjoy—for example, a review or feature in a GRWM video—and tag the brand. Use brand-relevant hashtags to increase the chance the brand will see your content. Talk about products you actually like and use regularly. If your reviews are vague or negative in tone, brands may hesitate to work with you. Plus, you’ll enjoy PR packages from brands you like more than free products from brands you’re not really a fan of.
Post consistently and use relevant hashtags. When brands look at your profile, they want to see that you’re an active user and fit into their niche. Post on a daily or weekly basis to show that you take content creation seriously. Use hashtags specific to your niche to help the right brands find your content. The more specific the hashtags, the better, says social media expert Ramin Ahmari. “Don't use hashtags that are like #beauty or #fashion, because there are millions of posts there. If you're not big, you're not gonna be discovered there,” he advises. Instead, he recommends replicating the hashtags used by successful profiles and creating your own.
How to Reach Out to Brands for PR Packages
Create a list of brands you want to receive PR packages from. You can do this in a Word or Google Doc, your phone’s Notes app, or even in a spreadsheet. Think of brands you like and use, as well as brands that send PR packages to creators in your niche. View the #PRunboxing pages on TikTok and Instagram for inspiration. Go beyond big brands—new brands and small businesses send out PR packages, too, and they can be easier to connect with if you have a smaller following.
Find a general email or specific contact. This is usually located on the “Contact Us” page of a brand’s website. You can also Google “[brand name] + contact” or “[brand name] + influencer partnerships.” Avoid email addresses that are for press or customer complaints only—your email will probably be ignored or go to spam.
Write a professional message pitching yourself to them. Gasper suggests using Chat GPT to help you draft an email, or searching for a template of a PR email on Google. “You also usually want to include a media kit,” she notes. This is a document or slide deck featuring statistics about your accounts’ engagement, examples of past brand collaborations, and a brief bio introducing you and your content. An example email might look like this: “Hello [brand or PR contact name], My name is [your name] and I’m a content creator who makes videos about [your niche]. I’m reaching out to inquire about PR and collaboration opportunities with [your brand]. [Sentence about what you like about the brand.] I’d love to be considered for your mailing list so I can showcase your products to my [follower count] followers and provide thoughtful reviews. Please let me know what opportunities are possible. Sincerely, [your name].” Attach a media kit or document with your account’s engagement breakdown if applicable. Embed links to your social media profiles in your email so brands can quickly view your content.
Be patient—responses take time. Because brands and PR agencies receive hundreds to thousands of emails each week, they can’t get back to everyone. Follow up after a month if you haven’t heard anything. In the meantime, focus on growing your following and increasing your engagement to be more appealing to brands. Once you start receiving PR packages, consider opening up a P.O. box to maintain privacy. You don’t want your address to accidentally be leaked online. You can share the P.O. box address with brands in future emails.
What’s the difference between PR packages and gifted campaigns?
PR packages are free gifts—you aren’t required to make content about them. If you have a large following or high engagement as a micro-influencer, brands may reach out asking to send you something. These are PR packages, free gifts they hope you’ll consider sharing about with your followers through posts and reviews. If you’ve worked with a brand or PR agency before, they may add your address to a mailing list to send PR packages without notifying you first. Mailing lists are used to send out many PR packages to different creators at the same time—usually, ahead of a product launch.
Gifted campaigns send you free products in exchange for reviews or content. Receiving these opportunities show that the brand takes your content and input seriously. The brand will reach out to you to arrange to send you free products, similar to a PR package—but in exchange, they require you to include the product in your content on their terms. When making content for a gifted campaign, you usually have to indicate that this content is sponsored or an ad using specific hashtags and labels. You have to follow FTC regulations about disclosure and transparency when you post.
Why do brands send influencers PR packages?
Influencers give brands and products exposure. When you receive a PR package and use the products inside, it’s likely they’ll appear in your content naturally. PR packages also familiarize you with brands you haven’t heard of before. By sharing their products with your followers in reviews and PR unboxings, you give the brand exposure and help them reach a broader audience.
Audiences trust influencer reviews. Many social media users find influencer recommendations to be trustworthy and inform their purchases. PR packages may lead influencers to recommend a product they were sent if they end up loving it. Plus, ad-blocking software doesn’t block organic influencer content on TikTok or Instagram—so brands get to reach audiences that wouldn’t otherwise see their advertisements when influencers talk about their products.
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