There’s only a few short weeks until Christmas! And for many brands, Christmas is the most important retail period of the year.
Have you ever flicked through your favourite magazine, blogger or newspaper’s Christmas gift guide and wished “Why isn’t my product in there?”
It’s very unlikely that media will come to you begging to feature your product – you have to get their attention! Here’s our tips to help you get your Christmas gifts noticed by the right influencers for some valuable Christmas publicity.
Media and bloggers are looking for stunning, top quality product photography for your Christmas products. This means high resolution, deep etched images (on a plain white background) as well as in-situ images (in a scenario, like a flat lay or a plant in a garden or a framed print on a shelf)
Giving your influencers plenty of photography to choose from is a great way to stand out from other brands.
Media – especially print media – lock this stuff in really early – so it’s important to contact them well in advance. (It will be too late for many monthly and weekly magazines by now, but you will know for next year.)
Magazines and newspapers often require an advertising investment for brands wanting to feature in Christmas gift guides. So approach the advertising team and see if a deal can be arranged.
It’s important to understand each publication, blogger or journalist you are wanting to reach. There is nothing more annoying than putting together a gift guide for kids, and being sent power tools or fancy glassware. Those gifts are great, but not right for the audience. Don’t send out mass emails – tailor each approach and pitch according to their readers’ interests.
Approach each journalist with a well thought out offer, one which appeals to their readers. Use their medium of choice, whether that be post, email, Instagram or Twitter – get creative about how you reach them and give them a great offer for a product they can’t find elsewhere
Media love to give prizes to readers. So you could donate products as a prize, and the investment will be well worth it for valuable brand exposure. So check if your desired publication runs competitions and giveaways, and make them a great offer.
Follow your favourite magazines on twitter, Instagram and Facebook and engage! Comment, share their content, and generally be their biggest fan. This way, when you make your approach, you are known to them. It’s important to stand out from the clutter of hundreds of other requests so get your foot in the door by getting to know each journalist, blogger and publication as much as possible. Use business Facebook groups and PR subscription services like SourceBottle to get notifications of influencers looking for products for Christmas gift guides – they often post shout-outs looking for products.
If you are lucky enough to be featured it’s vital to ensure you have plenty of stock in hand. Many brands have failed to capitalise on gift guide publicity by quickly selling out of stock. So be prepared to convert as many clicks or enquiries as possible, to make that publicity really work for you – get more likes on your social media sites, newsletter subscribers or footfall into your stores and make the experience memorable so that one query turns into a repeat customer.
Good luck and happy pitching!
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