Holiday Marketing: How to Land Your Product in Gift Guides
It may be hard to believe, but come summer, our teams are already thinking about and working on holiday gift guides. We are off to the races and pitching heavily during two key periods throughout the year (more or less June-July = long lead, Sept-Nov = short lead) and we don’t even see the fruits of our labor and results in print/online until Thanksgiving through the holidays.
Holiday-themed roundups are a huge opportunity for CPG and lifestyle businesses to build sales, often as a result of coverage opportunities during one of the biggest shopping periods of the year. It’s also a time when many outlets and publications that might not typically cover certain products, are! Needless to say, it’s crunch time for any PR & marketing professional.
Here are a few tips on how to land your clients and products in gift guides:
Research: Start with some targeted research focusing on to whom and where to pitch your product. What are the media outlets your target consumer reads? Have those outlets published gift guides in the past? Who writes those? Google it, get sleuthy. Many journalists have their emails listed in bios on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn (these are also great places to connect with media, but be careful when sliding into DMs). Regardless, build a media list with targeted, researched contacts where you can stay organized, track your outreach, responses, who’s requested samples/interested, and timelines for following up.
Quality photography: It is A MUST to have quality product photography on deck. It’s a noisy time for writers and editors who are working on tight deadlines. And if they want to include your product, you’ll need to provide professional high-res product photography immediately upon request.
Sampling: Generally journalists are not going to cover something they haven't tried or experienced first hand, so it’s important to reserve samples for those who are interested in the product.
Get savvy on affiliate marketing: A BIG buzzword in marketing these days, and rightfully so. As the media landscape continues to evolve, affiliate marketing partnerships will continue to play a big role (for affiliate marketing 101 for food & bev brands, read our recent blog post here). If editors are choosing between products to slot into their gift guide, they’re most likely to go with a product with an affiliate.
Utilize free tools: HARO (aka ‘Help a Reporter Out’) is one of our favorite free PR tools. Sign up and receive daily alerts via email about leads and media opportunities.
The pitch: You’ve got your list of contacts, photography and samples ready to go. Before you hit send, it’s important to personalize your pitch with as much detail as possible. Why is this product perfect for this specific writer, publication and their readers? It’s important to understand what writers/editors are looking for and deliver this information in a quick, digestible, interesting and relevant way. These folks get hundreds (even thousands!) of emails per day, so you’ve got to present this info quickly and efficiently. For example, does your product fit into a certain price range that is appealing to a certain publication? Is it for a specific type of consumer or demographic?
Are you launching a new food and beverage product in 2023? Need help telling your story or getting your brand out during the biggest sales periods of the year? We’re currently working on creative marketing plans for next year and would love to talk to you about your needs—get in touch here.
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Written by Kim Elwell, partner, TJC West.